I love Batman. Ironically I only read Batwoman right now, and whenever The Question pops up in another comic, but really I dig the Bats. Lately they’ve gone way too far out. I don’t like Damian Wayne (yes, he has a son), I don’t care about “Batman Inc.” (where Bruce is openly paying for a ton of people to be Batman), and I’m not really pleased with the whole six-million Batman titles.
When you add in the fact that they’re having a new ‘Crisis’ (not called Crisis, but ‘Flashpoint’) and are re-rebooting everything all over again (seriously – we’re going back to issue #1 for 52 comics… 52 is a … right it’s a thing – a trope – just stick with me here). So we get Batman #1, Wonder Woman #1. All the heavy hitters. Me? I panicked because Batwoman #1 has been ‘pending’ for almost a freakin’ year. Now the delay is starting to make a little bit of sense. It looks like they decided to hold it back for Flashpoint, but didn’t want to tell us. Okay, fine. She’s still a lesbian? Okay. Then I heard Batgirl, which is a new series with a new Batgirl (Stephanie ‘Spoiler’ Brown, who was also the chick Robin), is getting rebooted. And Barbara Gordon is Batgirl.
If you’re a comic nerd, you know Barbara Gordon is Batgirl. You know she’s the daughter (or niece) of Commissioner Gordon. She was Batgirl to the Dick Grayson Robin (they dated), and when he graduated to being Nightwing, she got shot by the Joker and was crippled and reinvented herself as Oracle. Cool, right? Right. She was so badass, being a paraplegic didn’t stop her. Well all that’s all over now. She’s back in the air. I was ready to be pissed, up until I paid attention and realized Gail Simone was writing her. Gail is pretty much the best female comic book writer in the world, IMO. She’s amazing. She got started by being pissed off about “Women in Refrigerators” and became a hugely respected writer. Love her. So … wait, you’re taking one of my favorite authors and putting her on a reboot? AND she’s telling us how much she loves Babs and wants to write her?
But … but wait. If Barbara is Batgirl and Damian is still Robin, then where’s Dick (and Tim and Stephanie)? And if she’s Batgirl, she’s younger than Batwoman, logically, who is the same age as The Question, who was a the same age as Barbara. But Nightwing (who was Robin) is back in his own #1, which (if he is Dick Grayson) implies he’s older than Batgirl/Barbara and then we still have Birds of Prey, which was a group organized by Barbara when she was Oracle and in a wheelchair and … God, if your head hurts, don’t feel bad. So does mine.
Okay, Gail. I’ll pick up Batgirl #1 and give you a chance. But you’d better explain why Batgirl is crosseyed.
Source: Gail Simone on Barbara Gordon as Batgirl
No, I won’t be buying ALL of these titles. I’m comitted to Batwoman. I will try Batgirl. But I’ll probably wait for trade of the other titles at best. I don’t like Damian Wayne and will be skipping Batman while he’s there.