Be Like Batgirl

Most Superheroes get some satisfaction about their crime fighting ways. But, one of them seems to really enjoy everything about it. Batgirl. In the early pages of Batgirl: A Celebration of 50 Years, the stories are pure fun. Here we have Barbara Gordon with a Can-Do spirit, setting off with obvious joy and zeal to make things right in the world. She is not a grim warrior or a person possessed of an overwhelming sense of duty. She fights injustice because, well, it is fun to fight injustice. She dresses up like Batgirl, runs for Congress, and works at the library, all with that same gusto.

Back in the 1960s, she even fights sexism and a patronizing attitude toward women. Batman and Robin are, to put it mildly, initially dismissive of this girl superhero. Sorry to report, a story from 1967, shows that they are right to have such disdain. Poor Batgirl was quite concerned about messing up her hair and the run in her tights and getting her make-up just right…and the bad guys get away. She realizes she needs to stop worrying about such things, and next thing you know she is impressing Batman with her ability to capture the villains. Yeah, it’s corny, loaded with stereotypes, but it is all done in a spirit of zest and joy and let’s show everyone that women can be every bit as good a men at this crime fighting gig.

Batgirl, in other words was fun. Well, until she met Alan Moore. In 1988, Alan Moore got the go-ahead to write a story which would rock the DC Universe. Joker shows up one day and…well, it’s horrific. End result, Barbara Gordon is left wheelchair bound, unable to walk.

Until reading this Batgirl collection, I had never realized just how brutal The Killing Joke was. I mean it was obviously brutal, but it is even worse when you saw what Batgirl was like before. It is not just that Joker paralyzed Barbara Gordon. He paralyzed the most chipper, upbeat, fun-loving, wholesome superhero out there. Comics are grimmer since the late-1980s (which is not entirely bad). I assumed it was Frank Miller who brought the Grim. But, The Killing Joke may actually be the break point.

There are a couple of comics in this collection which are the immediate aftermath of The Killing Joke, and they are as good as anything that precedes them. Barbara Gordon, dealing with rather obvious trauma, rebuilds her life. But, what do you do when you are an ex-Superhero? It’s a curious problem, which gets investigated every now and then in the “Let’s imagine Superhero X has retired” genre. But, Batgirl didn’t retire; she was paralyzed. And, fascinatingly, they did not have a “Well, she was paralyzed but wow, look, she got better” story arc. (Cf: Superman dies, but look, he is better! Batman has his back broken, but look he is better!)

Instead, Barbra Gordon goes from being Batgirl to being the Oracle; the computer hub who lives her life plugged into the network. The Oracle is not as chipper as Batgirl, to put it mildly. But, it gives Barbara purpose as she rebuilds a life. OK, this is not the most psychologically deep exploration of overcoming trauma and loss (shocking, I know), but it is curious to see this sort of thing happening in a Superhero Comic book.

What happens to Batgirl? Well, here is where DC gets it wrong (shocking). Rather than retire the title, they try out some new Batgirls, none of who are in the least bit interesting. Then in the New 52, suddenly Barbara Gordon is back, but it all feels like a cheat—after spending time recasting her life as Oracle, suddenly, Barbara is rebooted back to her younger, pre-paralyzation years when she can go back to being Batgirl? DC is a failing company; the signs are everywhere.

But, let us not end on a dismal note. Batgirl, the real Batgirl, the pre-Moore Batgirl, was fun. She loved what she was doing. You want a role model? You could do a lot worse than someone who exudes joy all the time at her work, both her paid day job and her after hours Batgirl work. Barbara Gordon has a vocation, and she loves it. Be like Batgirl.