Batgirl to walk again thanks to DC Comics revamp

Fans of the Batgirl comics have been stunned by a decision by owners DC Comics to give the lead character Barbara Gordon the use of her legs 20 years after she was paralysed.

DC comics will launch Batgirl this September Photo: DC Comics

For the past two decades Gordon has been unable to walk after she was shot through the spine by the Joker the 1988 story The Killing Joke.


In 1989, Gordon was reintroduced as the wheelchair-bound character Oracle who used her genius to work as a hacker fighting cybercrime while two other characters wore the Batgirl mask.

But DC Comics has announced that in September the crime fighting heroine will return to full strength. The controversial move is part of a relaunch by DC Comics that will begin the series again from issue number one.

This decision has sparked the most outcry among fans of the series, who have claimed that Oracle was the only disabled superhero on the shelves.

Batgirl writer Gail Simone has said that she understands the concern.

"She's been removed from the action and danger for a long time," Simone told Newsarama. "With this relaunch she is still very much Barbara but she can reclaim part of her history and legacy with modern stories - in her own book and elsewhere - drawn by some wonderful artists."


Batgirl 1 will launch this September.

Eventually all of DC Universe's 52 comic book series will go back to square one, with new, modern storylines, in an attempt to reignite reader interest in the genre.


from: Telegraph