Hi, I’m looking to get into some Batgirl. What’s some recommendations for Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl? I’ve read Batgirl: Year One. But I want more, Thanks!
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Barbara was introduced in Detective Comics #359 and made many appearances in that same magazine throughout the late 1960s and 1970s.
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She was essentially the lead character of Batman Family in the mid-to-late 1970s.
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The character received a retold origin story and a final adventure by Barbara Randall right before her fate in The Killing Joke.
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She returned to the Batgirl role in the New 52, leading titles in 2011 and 2016.
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Batgirl (2011) #0 is an updated origin.
Batgirl (2016) #25 is an anniversary type issue that starts the currently running string of story arcs and introduces her current cowl-less costume and supporting cast.
If you want series featuring Babs as Batgirl, then the Batgirl (2011) and Batgirl (2016) series are both on here. Note that the tone of these series are pretty different. The Burnside stories (lighter in tone and costume) start in Batgirl (2011) #35 and rolls into the 2016/Rebirth series.
If you’re interested in classic/Bronze Age Batgirl, Babs debuted in Detective Comics #359 and starred in a lot of wacky adventures in Batman Family.
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I recently read through the entire Batgirl New 52 series and loved the whole thing. She’s one of my favorite characters and is well represented here…
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Batgirl New 52
The killing joke
Some birds of prey fan here will probably suggest that too, but I’m not familiar with them.
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BOP is great, really great mostly Oracle tho, but if I’m not mistaken I believe she returns as Batgirl at one point in that series. Oh yeah, she does when Ivy & Katana are involved.
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Now that I’ve laid out the groundwork, here are some additional options:
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Legends of the DC Universe #10-11 and Batman Chronicles #9 depict early Batgirl adventures.
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Batman: Batgirl (1997) and DC1st: Batgirl/Joker offer takes on the first confrontation between Barbara and the man who would eventually paralyze her.
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She meets Catwoman in a 5-issue arc beginning in Batman Confidential #17, and she works with Jason Todd’s Robin in Gotham Knights #43.
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Girlfrenzy: Batgirl offers another look at her original tenure in the role, while Batman Chronicles #5 includes the story Oracle: Year One.
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Speaking of her time as Oracle, you can check out Birds of Prey. Even after she regained the ability to walk, she still found time to lead the book Batgirl and the Birds of Prey.
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Top 3 I would recommend
New 52
Birds of Prey
Killing Joke
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Rebirth imo
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Wow, thanks everyone for the recs. I’m excited to start reading all those! I gotta a lot of reading ahead of me!
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Okay, PSA time. Don’t read The Killing Joke. Particularly if you like Barbara Gordon.
TKJ mistreats her to an absurd degree, making a strong, confident superheroine into a powerless victim. Her only role in the story is to be shot, so that Jim Gordon can have a tragic motivation. Yes, it did lead to her tenure as Oracle (which, I feel most will agree, is a high point of the character) but that was never Alan Moore’s intent. Instead, Oracle was a rejection of the story, crafted by John Ostrander and Kim Yale (if I’m remembering rightly) during their run on Suicide Squad.
So, instead of TKJ, read those Suicide Squad issues (48 and 49, I think), Gail Simone’s Birds of Prey, Batgirl of Burnside (the stories from the New 52 Batgirl series after Simone left), and the Batman: Batgirl one-shot from 1997.
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Also, if you just want Batgirl comics, not necessarily Barbara Gordon comics, you should check out the Cassandra Cain Batgirl series from 2000 and the Stephanie Brown Batgirl series from 2009. Both are wonderful.
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For modern Batgirl, her New 52 run by Gail Simone stands far above the rest.
Start at Batgirl (2011) #1 and prepare to lose yourself in a very solid run.
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I loathe The Killing Joke - but not primarily for what it does to Babs. It’s more because it envisions Batman as having more compassion for Joker than for the people Joker hurts. That is not my Batman at all.
In addition to the recommendation of Simone’s Birds of Prey and Suicide Squad, I’d also add the Dixon run of Birds of Prey (1-42ish), and Batman Chronicles #5, which contains a short story called “Oracle Year One” and is magnificent, as Alexander Knox said above.
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I’ve started reading Stephanie Browns Batgirl series. I am really liking it so far
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For future reference. I can’t open links, so if I repeat a suggestion u already mentioned I apologize. Idk if I did obviously. If I did, or do tho, it’s b/c I can’t access them.
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Stephanine Brown as Batgirl is much better than all the rest.
Readable fun with a competent hero.
I liked the issue with Supergirl especially.
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