The Dark Knightress

If it isn't apparent by now loyal readers, I am a HUGE fan of Robin. All four of them. Even Damian. Pretty sure I'm the only person on Earth who likes Damian. But for all the praise I give the Sons of The Batman, the Caped Crusader has had some little ladies don the pointy-eared cowl. Today we're talking Batgirl. All three of them!

First we have Barbara Gordon who was created in 1967 by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino. Barbara Gordon was the daughter of Commissioner Jim Gordon (Batman's loyal ally) and Barbara Gordon Sr (who divorced Jim and later got murdered by The Joker) and was the older sister of James Gordon Jr (who would grow up to be a serial killer). Babs was first portrayed as a pure and spunky young woman, she worked as a librarian and participated in academics and athletics as she followed her  father's long career of law enforcement. Babs once dressed in a Batman costume and attended a Costume Party, but after she spotted Bruce Wayne being kidnapped by the villain Killer Moth, she attempted to rescue the billionaire. This event inspired Babs to follow in Batman's example and become Batgirl, only occasionally working with Batman, but establishing a mutual respect between them. She was eventually welcomed into the Batman Family and learned the identities of her allies Batman and Robin and had a romantic relationship with The Boy Wonder. Years later Babs would retire from the Batgirl mantle, but become paralyzed after The Joker's assault on her family. But losing her legs only drove Babs further into stopping crime as she advanced her technological prowess and helped guide The Batman Family via communicators and computers as The Oracle. As Oracle she'd also found The Birds of Prey, rekindle her relationship with Robin (now Nightwing) and become one the greatest technological minds in the DCU. Then DC was rebooted and she recovered. Yep, she recovered from being handicapped. Comics everyone!

In 1999, a character named Cassandra Cain would be introduced as Barbara Gordon's apprentice. When Gotham was leveled from an earthquake and became a "no man's land" she saved Commissioner Gordon and was given the Batgirl persona by Batman and Oracle. Cassie was mute, therefor she had to communicate via sign language, being able to read people's motions helped her predict an enemies moves and she became the deadliest member of The Batman Family. However like her predecessor, Cassie would "recover" from her lack of voice and loses some of her fighting capabilities as well. I'm sensing a pattern here. Batman learns Cassie is the daughter of two assassins and when she was eight years old she was ordered to murder a businessman. Despite the knowledge of her past, Batman still accepted Cassie and allowed her to continue her redemption mission. Even after murdering her own assassin father, Cassie is given forgiveness by The Batman Family and becomes the first Batgirl to be adopted by Bruce Wayne, taking the name Cassandra Wayne. When Batman was thought dead, Cassie followed an order from him-in the event of his death-to pass the Batgirl mantle on and relocate to Hong Kong under the name Black Bat. I'd like to point out that this Batgirl is my favorite, she just seems much more deserving of the Batman-asthetic than others. Another thing to point out is the "I was raised by assassins to be an assassin" motif that Damian Wayne would later replicate.

The final Batgirl was Stephanie Brown, but she appeared in 1992 as The Spoiler. First acting as ally/love interest to Tim Drake/Robin, Steph was the daughter of a third-rate criminal known as The Cluemaster. She took the moniker of Spoiler because she'd spoil her father's plans and stop him from committing crimes. She later admits to Robin that when she was a child, her babysitter attempted to rape her and her father possible killed him, additionally she was pregnant from an ex-boyfriend and she was the first prominent teenage mother in comics. With Robin's help she worked up the courage to put the baby up for adoption. After this Robin traveled to Tibet and Spoiler trained with Batman, Batgirl and The Birds of Prey, further becoming a member of The Batman Family. Stephanie actually became the first mainstream female Robin after Tim Drake's father requested he stop being a superhero. Though it was believed the criminal Black Mask murdered her, Stephanie's death was only a ruse and she returned as The Spoiler once again. I mentioned before that Cassandra Cain passed on the Batgirl mantle before going to Hong Kong, she passed the mantle on to Stephanie Brown and she became a much more light-hearted Batgirl. After DC Comics rebooted their universe with The New 52, Babs took the mantle back and Steph would appear much later as Spoiler once again.
Other characters like Batwoman, Huntress and Misfit have a close relation to the Batgirl Lineage, but have otherwise served under different roles. Batgirl is one the earliest female superheroes and much like Wonder Woman and Supergirl are aimed to motivate young women into becoming successful members of society, not just by honoring their mentors, but by proving their self worth. The big difference between Robins and Batgirls is that Batgirls always seem more independent and only occasionally follow Batman's lead. The Batgirls have such different backgrounds, but find no reason for their pasts to decide their future's. Almost naturally, the Batgirls are enduring characters and I can say undoubtably that despite how these characters change and bend to the world we live in, their lesson remains: The symbol doesn't make you a fan, it makes you an example. Thanks for reading!

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