tryitonemoretime:
gailsimone:
APE IN A CAPE: Something To Think...
APE IN A CAPE: Something To Think About…
Dear Oracle-fans, New 52 haters, etc…
I understand your frustration against Barbara Gordon’s return as Batgirl. Honestly, I was at first. Of course, I did think that “reboot” meant Babs was going to be COMPLETELY restarted, like she hadn’t gone through The Killing Joke,…
Babs wasn’t ruined by taking her out of the chair. She was ruined by taking away what made her the most amazing hero and making her just another cape. They took away Oracle, something utterly unique. The most powerful hero in the DCU and she did it all without being able to walk. She was amazing and she was inspirational and she kicked ass.
Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying Gail writing Batgirl, but that speaks of her skill as a writer more than it does of the changes. Alone amongst the Bat-writers she apparently took the idea that the heroes were supposed to be at an earlier point in their careers and dialed back her skills and accomplishments. Dick, Jason, Bruce, Damian, they all seem to have kept their skills and their stories and a casual reader would have difficulty noticing the reboot ever happened. But Babs is clearly not as skilled as she was.
Everything about the reboot and Babs sucks. She lost her friends. She lost her team. From being the smartest Bat of them all and the lord of the internet she is apparently no longer allowed near a computer. Steph had to go away. Cass… who the fuck knows what happened to Cass. It is a testament to Gail’s writing I can even read this book without punching my screen, let alone enjoy it.
Its only been ten issues into the series. We don’t know what will happen!
I’ll judge future developments as and when they happen, my objections come from what has happened. Also my point was more a case of pointing out there are reasons to be sad about the loss of Oracle beyond wanting Babs to stay in the chair. She was dialled back from the A List. That makes me sad.
That is a very questionable assertion, really. Oracle was never going to have her own ongoing book, for example, whereas now she has one of the top female-lead books in the entire industry month in and month out. What defines A-list? Power? I’ll be honest, I think that’s one of the least interesting things about superheroes, and the more invincible they get, the more boring they become.
She did lose her team, but there’s still a Birds of Prey book. Even I don’t get the Steph and Cass stuff. I want them back, I’ve tried to make it happen. That’s a big loss, but again, the people who blame Barbara for that are just not looking at reality. Cass was pushed aside for Steph, and Steph was pushed aside for sales, BEFORE Barbara was tagged to be Batgirl again. I’m sorry, but those are the facts.
I don’t disagree with people who miss Oracle, I miss Oracle TREMENDOUSLY. But I also disagree that Barbara was the only one pushed back into her less-omnipotent period. If you look at almost the entire New52, there was a deliberate push to not have invincible characters who know everything, including Batman (but to an admittedly lesser degree). Superman, the JLA, Wonder Woman, Nightwing, on and on, they are all less connected, less unbeatable, more inexperienced. The exceptions may be the Green Lanterns.
I get why DC went that route. I don’t agree with everything in the new52…a lot of work I poured my heart into in the last decade is no longer in continuity and that really stings. I like to think I had a small part in why Oracle is so well-liked, and I still say it’s the same woman, whether in a cowl or in front of a bank of computers. The difference is, our Batgirl is just starting after a massive setback. She’ll make her way, she’s still Barbara Gordon.
Thank you for the kind words and critical comments.
She was A-List to me! Besides, I meant she was top tier in universe, anyway. One of the big guns. And to me she always had her own ongoing book, that book was BoP. Even BC could go away but she was always there.
As for Cass and Steph, I wasn’t saying that it was Bab’s fault, I was just explaining why I hate everything about what happened in the Batgirl world (and by extension why I’m impressed you made me like the book in spite of that).
As for dialling back… she never seemed unbeatable to me, at least when you wrote her. She always had to work for it. And I understand the desire to bring people down a level, but among the Batbooks I still feel that Babs got it much more severely than anyone else (that wasn’t outright wiped).
Ah, okay, I understand a little better. But that definition of ‘A-list’ seems pretty fluid. A-list could also mean having a non-exploitative book every month that outsells almost every other female lead book, you know? And I guess I never thought of Bop as Oracle’s book, it was always a triad to me, but certainly I get what you are saying now.
I’m bummed about Steph and Cass, too. I tried several things with Cass, no go. Tried a big thing with Steph (that I hoped to co-write with BQM) and that looks extremely unlikely as well. But I still want there to be a Batgirl book and I am happy it is doing well.
And I thank you about the Oracle point. I don’t think I wrote her as unbeatable, but there was always that temptation and it was felt in the bat-offices that she had become a god in the machine far too many times. I do understand the thinking that having someone control EVERYTHING like Oracle could presented some significant story challenges. I think there were ways around that, but I get why people felt it was a problem.
Anyway, I totally appreciate your comments, I hope things skew more towards the DCU you like with time, sincerely!
My issue with Babs becoming Batgirl again has less to do with the loss of Oracle (even though I completely understand and sympathize with people who were hurt by this), and more to do with the Batgirl history being wiped. And not (just) because of Steph and Cass. Hell, it’s not even really that Babs is Batgirl, it’s that they don’t have that relationship.
I always felt like the Batgirls had the same relationship with each other that the Robins had with each other. A kinda maternal/sisterly relationship (I understand bringing Babs back a few levels, so maybe mentoring someone might not be in the cards yet, but there’s nothing wrong with sibling type relationships.)
To me, the Batgirl clan was a huge female presence in the Batfamily, and to see it gone is frustrating and it hurts. (I have an attachment to fictional characters) It’s just adding salt to the wound that the Robins fully have all their history and all their members and all their solo books. (But they have penises, so no surprise)
Ugh, and I know all this is above your head and not in your control and you’ve tried (which I TOTALLY appreciate btw), but it’s just so frustrating. And I’m sorry people take out their anger with this decision on you, and I’m really glad your book is doing well, and I appreciate that you take the time to write to us fans. :)
All true, and a big reason why I have never been able to really argue that stuff, I get why people are upset.
At the same time, I’ve never quite gotten how specific some people are about it, why they focus on Batgirl with the idea that she was chosen specifically and no one else was rebooted to an earlier point, with a lot fewer complications. I mean, we have whole teams of characters that don’t even exist at all yet, dozens of characters in the same boat as Batgirl. But some people talk of it as if she was the only character in this situation, like she’d been singled out.
But the proof that that isn’t the case is in every New52 book (except GL, maybe), and even MORESO in the huge list of characters who don’t even EXIST yet in new continuity.
That seems a bit myopic, if you will excuse me for saying.
I do get that it’s frustrating, but I’m also frustrated by the lack of Lois and Clark romance, and a dozen other major things missing at least at this early date.
However, history shows us that stories grow with time.
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