I'm Not Obsessed..... :)

So it's B post day.  And of course this letter allows me to give in to my teeny tiny obsession with the Batman universe.  This will deviate a little from my general write about writing rule but it's a nice fun post.  No this post isn't about Batman, those who know me automatically assumed that I'm sure.  Actually this post is about Batgirl, or Barbara Gordon.

Barbara Gordon is considered the one and only Batgirl though technically she's not the first.  In the pre Crisis on Infinite Earths days, Batwoman was created as a possible source of romance for Batman.  Kathy Kane, aka Batwoman, had a sidekick named Bat-Girl who also happened to be her niece Betty Kane.  The romance factor didn't really work and post Crisis, Batwoman was written out.

All this paved the way for my favorite Batgirl, Barbara Gordon.  From her we get the trademark flaming red hair and feisty attitude.  She is the daughter of the beloved Commissioner James Gordon and on again, off again love interest of Dick Grayson.  She was originally written as head librarian of the Gotham city library and evolved into the lead library researcher (can we say major geek anyone?) and she's an ace with computers.  She can definitely give Batman a run for his money, and even when she was paralyzed by the Joker she still managed to kick ass from her wheelchair.

Her stint as Oracle gave her even more power.  She was this all knowing, all seeing power in the Batman universe.  She was hooked into every bit of information in the world.  She formed the Birds of Prey and in my opinion is one of several super heroines that define the word girl power.  Yeah there's a little hero worship going on in my brain.  It really can't be helped.  I used to play her when my friends and I played Batman at the playground during recess....yeah this goes that far back.

Research on Batgirl and then specifically Barbara Gordon gave me a list of past and present Batgirls, here in chronological order:

Betty Kane
Barbara Gordon
Cassandra Caine
Stephanie Brown

Stephanie was the latest to pick up the mantle of Batgirl but I'm extremely happy to say that Barbara is back.  The DC relaunch brought Barbara out of paralysis and back into her crime fighting costume.  I'm way behind on my comic books but my next paycheck is going to find me at the local comic bookstore to get as many back issues as I can get.  So far the 52 relaunch is proving to be really fun.  That leads into another obsession of mine, Jason Todd or the Red Hood but that's another post.

Basically Barbara is the one and only Batgirl.  I love the others too but not as much as her.  She's definitely a good role model for us geek girls.