More Nerdly Advice
More Nerdly Advice
Sep 01Nerds have questions, and we have the answers.
Every week, Jeff dips into the Alert Nerd mailbag and sheds the light of his questionable wisdom onto the things you want to know. We call it Nerdly Advice.
This week, we have an etiquette question about the One True Batgirl.
DC Damsel writes:
Dear Madam Hawk,
I have a massive Batgirl collection which spans from her first appearance on Detective Comic #359 (in near mint condition!) to her current role as Oracle.
Here’s where the problem begins.W hen people find out about my Batgirl collection, they usually ask if it includes Cassandra Cain or even the most current version, Stephanie Brown, previously Spoiler, if they are included in the collection. The answer is no and it usually ends the conversation. Am I closed-minded for thinking that Barbara Gordon is the only and only true Batgirl. Should I give the other versions a try? Should it affect my action figure collection and open it up as well?
DC,
As Dan Didio once said, there’s a lot of value in the idea of a Barbara Gordon Batgirl. She held the mantle longer than Bette Kane, Cassandra Cain, Charlie Gage-Radcliffe (who had a good two issue or so run in the pages of Birds of Prey before becoming Misfit*) and now Stephanie “Spoiler’ Brown, and she’s one of the first real strong female characters to arise out of the Silver Age, despite her earlier appearances being less than empowering. She figures heavily and tragically into the most iconic Joker story, and despite her current disabled status, she’s managed to redefine herself and remain important and relevant – the argument that Barbara is more valuable as Oracle than she ever was as Batgirl certainly has merit – to the DC universe and its readership. Of course she’s THE Batgirl.
There’s nothing wrong with being a fan of Barbara Gordon, but not of her antecedents. Liking Batgirl should never require that you also like Bat-Girl or the frankly creepy Cassandra Cain or start signing petitions for Steph to get a walk-in closet in the Batcave. No fan, even the ones that love stuff that I hate, should ever feel the need to apologize for liking the thing that’s their favorite thing. That’s one of the great things about this hobby – the sheer breadth of different comics out there for us to like.
That said, DC Damsel, you’re maybe doing yourself a disservice by not collecting the other Batgirl titles. I can’t speak for the current series, but Barbara was a major supporting character throughout Kelley Puckett’s underappreciated run on Batgirl from 2000 to 2003. No Man’s Land is a good lead-in to that series, but like many 90s events, it hasn’t aged well. Greg Rucka’s novelization of NML gives substantial attention to Barbara and Cassandra, though, and is worth reading for the sections narrated by Babs. Dylan Horrocks’ run with Cassie is not as consistently good as Puckett’s, and the end of the series is rushed and muddled, but the early arcs of the comic may be something that interests you.
So, in short, is there only one true Batgirl? It’s all up to you.
As for toys, there aren’t as many Cassie action figures as there are Barbara ones. Aside from her First Appearances figure and the 6″ DC Super Heroes figure that is a repaint of the Barbara Gordon one, the only one that springs to mind is quasi-exploitative Ame-Comi figure. The two that I mentioned are a bit on the bland side, and are probably for Cassie fans only.
Hope that helps, Damsel!
I’ll be back next week with more Nerdly Advice. Send me your questions and you might see your question here.
* DAAAAARK VENGEANCE!
