The Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide to... Batgirl
Make room, Batman and Robin, there’s a new hero in town! It’s the Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide to the dark knights who call themselves... Batgirl!
Who is Batgirl?
Batgirl is the first female ally to the Bat-Family, joining Batman, Robin, and Nightwing in the fight against crime in Gotham City. Three different women have been Batgirl in the history of DC Comics: Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain, and Stephanie Brown.
Barbara Gordon
The first Batgirl is librarian Barbara Gordon, daughter of Gotham City police chief Commissioner Gordon. Barbara fought alongside the Caped Crusader for many years until an attack by the Joker left her paralysed. Using a wheelchair from then on, she set up a hi-tech headquarters in a clock tower and reinvented herself as Oracle, the 'mission control' for the Bat-Family and the Birds of Prey.
Post-Crisis
New 52
- Batgirl. Volume 1, The darkest reflection / Simone, Gail (also on Libby)
- Batgirl. Volume 3, Death of the family / Simone, Gail
- Batgirl. Volume 5, Deadline / Simone, Gail
- Batgirl. Volume 2, Family business / Stewart, Cameron
DC Rebirth
- Batgirl. Vol. 1, Beyond Burnside / Larson, Hope
- Batgirl. Vol. 2, Son of Penguin / Larson, Hope
- Batgirl. Vol. 3, Summer of lies / Larson, Hope
- Batgirl. Vol. 4, Strange loop / Larson, Hope
- Batgirl. Vol. 5, Art of the crime / Scott, Mairghread
- Batgirl. Vol. 6, Old enemies / Scott, Mairghread
- Batgirl. Vol. 7, Oracle rising / Castellucci, Cecil
- Batgirl. Vol. 8, The Joker war / Castellucci, Cecil
Other Barbara Gordon books
- Batman adventures : Batgirl : a league of her own
- The Oracle code : a graphic novel / Nijkamp, Marieke
Cassandra Cain
After Gotham City was struck by an earthquake, a new Batgirl appeared on the scene: Cassandra Cain, the daughter of a pair of assassins who trained her to become the world's deadliest fighter. Rebelling against her parents, Cassandra became a trusted member of the Bat-Family as Batgirl, and later as Black Bat as a part of Batman's global super-team Batman Incorporated. In the New 52, Cassandra goes by the moniker Orphan.
- Batgirl : destruction's daughter / Gabrych, Andersen
- Batgirl. Volume 1, Silent Knight / Peterson, Scott
- Batgirl. Volume 2, To the death / Puckett, Kelley
- Batgirl. Volume 3, Point blank / Puckett, Kelley
Other Cassandra Cain books
Stephanie Brown
Finally, the role of Batgirl passed to teenager Stephanie Brown, the daughter of the lesser-known Batman villain 'The Cluemaster'. First appearing as the vigilante Spoiler, in order to 'spoil' the clues to her father's crimes, she impressed Batman and Barbara Gordon enough to become the next Batgirl.
- Batgirl : Stephanie Brown. Volume 1 / Miller, Bryan Q (ONLY on Libby)
- Batgirl : Stephanie Brown. Volume 2 / Miller, Bryan Q
Teams
Birds of Prey
As Oracle, Barbara Gordon was the mission control for the Birds of Prey, a small team of heroines including Black Canary and the Huntress.
Post-Crisis
- Birds of prey. Volume 2
- Birds of Prey : murder & mystery / Simone, Gail
- Birds of Prey : perfect pitch / Simone, Gail
- Birds of Prey : progeny
- Birds of Prey : metropolis or dust / McKeever, Sean
- Birds of Prey : end run / Simone, Gail
- Birds of Prey : the death of Oracle / Simone, Gail
DC Rebirth
- Batgirl and the Birds of Prey. Vol. 1, Who is Oracle / Benson, Julie
- Batgirl and the Birds of Prey. Vol. 2, Source code / Benson, Julie
- Batgirl and the Birds of Prey. Vol. 3, Full circle / Benson, Julie
Infinite Frontier
Barbara, Cassandra and Stephanie have now teamed up together in their own title, Batgirls.
- Batgirls. Vol. 1, One way or another / Cloonan, Becky
- Batgirls. Vol. 2, Bat Girl summer / Cloonan, Becky
- Batgirls. Vol. 3, Girls to the front / Cloonan, Becky
Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain were members
of the Bat-Family team in James Tynion IV's run on Detective Comics.
- Batman : Detective Comics. Vol. 1, Rise of the Batmen / Tynion, James
- Batman : Detective Comics. Volume 2, The victim syndicate / Tynion, James
- Batman : Detective Comics. Vol. 3, League of shadows / Tynion, James
- Batman : Detective Comics. Vol. 4, Deus ex machina / Tynion, James
- Batman : Detective Comics. Volume 5, A lonely place of living / Tynion, James
- Batman : Detective Comics. Vol. 6, Fall of the Batmen / Tynion, James
- Batman : Detective Comics. Vol. 7, Batmen eternal / Tynion, James
All the Batgirls were members of Batman Incorporated, a global effort by Bruce Wayne to put 'a Batman in every city'.
- Batman, Incorporated / Morrison, Grant (also on Libby)
- Batman, Incorporated. Volume 1, Demon Star / Morrison, Grant
- Batman, Incorporated. Volume 2, Gotham's most wanted / Morrison, Grant
Batgirls Across the Multiverse
Batman ‘66 – A comic adaptation of the famed Adam West Batman show, where Barbara Gordon made her first TV appearance shortly after her comics debut.
Batman: Thrillkiller - Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson are vigilantes in an alternate Gotham on the eve of the 1960s
DC Bombshells – In this world amid World War II, baseball-playing vigilante Batwoman leads a team of Batgirls on the homefront, while a French vampire Barbara Gordon fights for the Allies.
DC vs Vampires – As the heroes of the DC Universe face an attack by legions of the undead, Batgirl ascends to becoming queen of the vampires.
Batman: White Knight – An alternate take on Batman which sees the Dark Knight questioning his methodology after a reformed Joker leads a populist revolution against him.
Batman : Wayne family adventures. Volume three – A collection of the beloved Webtoon series focusing on the various sidekicks and allies of the Bat-Family.
Gotham City Garage - Here, Batgirl is a member of a biker gang leading a revolt against corrupt mayor Lex Luthor.