Batgirl Publication History

Batgirl Publication History
Gallery
First Appearance	Detective Comics #359 (January, 1967)

Batgirl is the name of several female superheroines that serve as female counterparts and allies to Batman. Batgirl traditionally operates in and around Gotham City alongside Batman, Robin, and other masked vigilantes. First appearing in the 1960s, Batgirl was one of the earliest major female superheroes and has been an enduringly popular addition to the Batman mythos, anchoring multiple solo comic books and appearing in several pieces of DC media. The most well-known Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, debuted in Detective Comics #359 (1967) and was created by writer Gardner Fox, artist Carmine Infantino, and editor Julius Schwartz. Cassandra Cain’s Batgirl is the star of the current Batgirl solo title.

History

Although Batman adopted Robin in Detective Comics #38 (1940), only ten issues after his first appearance, two decades would pass until the appearance of Gotham City's first female crime-fighters.

Pre-Crisis

Betty Kane

Bat-Girl makes it to scene

As a result of the public and political reaction to Frederic Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent, the comics industry created the Comics Code Authority in 1954 as an alternative to government regulation. DC, then called National Comics, also created the character of Kathy Kane (Batwoman) in 1956 to act as a romantic interest to Batman and refute accusations generated by the book suggesting that he was homosexual.

A few years later, Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff introduced Betty Kane, Kathy's niece and biggest fan, as Bat-Girl (with a hyphen) in Batman #139 (1961) to serve a similar role for Robin. Wishing to emulate her aunt, Betty made her own costume and gadgets and set out to fight crime. Bat-Girl appeared seven times between 1961 and 1963 before vanishing along with Batwoman, Vicki Vale, Ace the Bat-Hound, and several other characters when editor Julius Schwartz believed they did not fit his planned new direction for Batman. Betty's last appearance in Batman comics was Detective Comics #322 (1963), just prior to the revamp that began with Detective Comics #327 (1964). Betty herself would continue to gain sporadic appearances, first as part of a planned Teen Titans revival in the 1970s with her joining the Titans West prior to the titles cancellation, then in an issue of Batman Annual (by the same author, Bob Rozakis) and later as a guest of Donna Troy's wedding in Tales of the Teen Titans #50.

Following Crisis, Bette's history as Batgirl was erased and replaced as Flamebird, in a callback to the Nightwing and Flamebird feature in Superman Family (Volume 1). However, her prior existence would be referenced numerous times in Post-Crisis: as a photograph in Batman: The Killing Joke, as an explicit callback to her then-successor Cassandra Cain in Young Justice #21, as a cameo in Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, and then finally being re-established in canon during Batman Incorporated Vol 1.

Following Flashpoint, Bette wouldn't have any acknowledgements as Batgirl until Dark Nights: Death Metal when her membership in the Bronze Age Teen Titans was explicitly confirmed on panel. From Infinite Frontier onwards, her existence would be implied such as the first Batgirl such as acknowledging Cassandra as being the fourth person to hold the mantle or mentioning Flamebird as being from Gotham, an explicitly Pre-Crisis trait.

Barbara Gordon

Barbara Gordon's first appearance

On 1966 Batman live-action show premiered and became an instant hit. Two years later, though, the ratings started to slip, and the show's producers asked DC to create a new Batgirl so she could be added to the series.

Thus, in Detective Comics #359 (January, 1967) debuted the most popular character to ever take up the Batgirl mantle. Created by Julius Schwartz, Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino after a concept by William Dozier, Barbara Gordon was James Gordon's daughter, as well as the head librarian at the Gotham City Public Library and a martial arts practitioner, Barbara lamented her boring life. One night she slipped on a Batgirl costume to attend a masquerade ball, and on her way she ran into Killer Moth attempting to kidnap Bruce Wayne. Barbara would interfere with the villain and help Batman and Robin bust Killer Moth's protection racket.

In the process Barbara realized she loved the thrill of crime-fighting and became another ally to Batman and Robin. Just like Batman and Superman were the World's Finest, Batgirl was often partners with Supergirl.

"Batgirl" became a regular backup feature in Detective Comics #384 (1969), as well as the Batman Family book, being finally retired in Detective Comics #519. Throughout those years, Barbara would change careers several times -becoming Congresswoman and later activist-, and would eventually reveal her identity to her father in Detective Comics #422.

Unfortunately, despite immense popularity, DC decided to retire the character in the early 80's, motivated by their plans to reboot their comic-book line. Some while after her final strip, Barbara Gordon would quit after a failed mission. In DC Comics Presents #86/Crisis on Infinite Earths #4, Barbara Gordon met Kara Zor-El for the last time and admitted she was frightened in the face of cosmic annihilation. In spite of her feelings of helplessness and worthlessness, Batgirl would survive the Crisis whereas Supergirl would die in battle in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. Batgirl delivered the eulogy in her funeral.

Post-Crisis

Barbara Gordon

The Last Batgirl Story

After the Crisis, the Batman franchise was soft-rebooted. Due to Frank Miller forgetting about Barbara Gordon while penning Batman: Year One, Batgirl's backstory was forcefully redefined in Secret Origins (Volume 2) #20 (1987). Now she was James Gordon's niece and adopted daughter, and she was friends with Power Girl instead of Supergirl.

Shortly later, though, Alan Moore would be given permission to cripple Barbara Gordon in Batman: The Killing Joke. Prior to that, Barbara Kesel was hired to reveal the circumstances of Barbara's retirement in Batgirl Special #1, published as a send-off of Barbara's career as Batgirl. "The Killing Joke" came out only a few days later, featuring the Joker shooting Barbara through the spine.

An Elseworlds Team-up

Nonetheless, even though Barbara would be reinvented as Oracle by John Ostrander in Suicide Squad #23 (1989), DC still published stories featuring her as Batgirl during the 90's: Batman: Batgirl (1997), Batman: Batgirl (Volume 2) #1 (1998), The Batgirl Adventures #1 and Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl #1 (1998) are some few examples.

In 2003, Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty wrote Batgirl: Year One, which redefined and expanded on her origin, introducing some changes.

Cassandra Cain

Cassandra Cain comes into play

In 1999, Executive Editor Mike Carlin told Batman Editor Scott Peterson to create a new Batgirl. Peterson was resistant, believing that the Batgirl mantle should be worn by Barbara Gordon or no one at all, but "an edict was an edict" and he started brainstorming character concepts. A few days later, he called writer Kelley Puckett with an idea for a new Batgirl that was "young–late teens, I think–and Asian. And cheerful and chipper and always up and good natured and she has a complete and total death wish" and told Puckett to figure out how to make it work. Puckett called back the next day with a viable character concept and both men worked with artist Damion Scott to visually design her.

Cassandra Cain debuted later that year in Batman #567 (July 1999), during the No Man's Land event. This new Batgirl was introduced as the mute and illiterate daughter of famed assassin David Cain. Raised from birth as an experiment to produce the world's greatest assassin, Cassandra was deprived of speech during her childhood and taught to interpret body language as her primary form of communication. When she was eight, Cain took her to kill a businessman; she was able to read his body as he died and, horrified, she ran away and vowed to never take another life. She spent nine years wandering the world before arriving in Gotham City during the events of No Man's Land. After saving Commissioner Gordon's life from Cain's assassination attempt, she was gifted the Batgirl mantle by Barbara Gordon with the approval of Batman in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120, one month after her character debut.

Cassandra would be the first Batgirl to lead an ongoing Batgirl solo title (Barbara Gordon had only ever headlined a few oneshot issues). Batgirl Vol. 1 started publication in April, 2000, initially co-written by Puckett and Peterson with art by Damion Scott. Cassandra gained the capacity to properly speak English during a run-in with a well-intentioned meta in Issue #4, which also caused her to lose her body-reading abilities and forced her to re-learn her fighting skills, but she retained speech and reading disabilities throughout the entirety of the comic's run. Puckett took over sole writing duties with Issue #7 and would remain the book's writer until Issue #37, when he and Scott both left the title. Puckett's run included tie-in issues to the Joker's Last Laugh and Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive crossover events and revealed that David Cain was not just the man who raised Cassandra but also her father. After a single fill-in issue written by Andersen Gabrych, writer Dylan Horrocks took over writing duties from Issue #39-57. Horrocks left the book after concluding his War Games tie-in issues, upset and offended by the storyline's handling of Stephanie Brown and editorial's decision to kill her. He was replaced by Gabrych, who came back to the title starting with Issue #58 and wrote the book's last 16 issues. Gabrych moved Cassandra from Gotham to Bludhaven and sent her on a quest to discover the identity of her mother, later confirmed to be the famed assassin Lady Shiva in the comic's final issue.

The book was cancelled in 2006 following the soft relaunch of company's entire publishing lineup in the aftermath of Infinite Crisis. It was not cancelled due to low sales but because DC was planning to reintroduce Batwoman and launch a Batwoman solo title written by Devin Grayson (confirmed by Jesse Delperdang, the inker for the final issue of Batgirl). The Batwoman book never materialized; Grayson was removed from the book, then-VP Dan Didio indicated that DC "had no intention of publishing a Batwoman series," and the character was instead reintroduced as Kate Kane by Greg Rucka and other writers in 52. Batgirl's cancellation thus resulted in DC publishing zero female-led Batman-related solo titles from February 2006 until September 2008, when Cassandra returned to star in a six-issue limited series, Batgirl Vol. 2. She would subsequently hand the Batgirl title to Stephanie Brown the following year after Bruce Wayne's apparent death during Final Crisis.

As of 2025, Batgirl Vol. 1 is the longest-running Batgirl comic (at 73 issues), the second-longest running superhero comic of all time (DC or Marvel) starring a protagonist who isn't white (behind Marvel Comics's Master of Kung-Fu), and one of the Top 10 longest-running solo comics starring a disabled superhero.

Stephanie Brown

A new bat in the town

Cassandra would eventually pass the mantle on another character. Stephanie Brown made her first appearance in Detective Comics #647 (August, 1992), created by Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle.

Daughter of third-rate villain Cluemaster, Stephanie tailored herself a costume, and creating the "Spoiler" identity, started working against her father. Stephanie took up the Robin identity for a short while until she was nearly killed by Black Mask and went into hiding for a while, eventually returning to Gotham and claiming her "Spoiler" identity.

After Batman's apparent death during Final Crisis, she was given the Batgirl's costume by her best friend Cassandra Cain, despite the whole Batman Family's total opposition, in Batgirl (Volume 3) #1 (October, 2009). Steph would star in Batgirl Vol 3 until its cancellation after twenty-four issues in October, 2011. During that while, Stephanie would earn the approval of the Bat-Family and would forge friendships with other heroes like Supergirl.

However, in late 2011 DC published the event Flashpoint which altered reality and wrote most of New Earth history out.

Other Mantle Holders

During Barbara Gordon's Oracle era, some other women tried to take up the Batgirl mantle: Huntress took the position in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #83 during Batman: No Man's Land but later relinquished it.

Misfit briefly called herself Batgirl when she started her vigilante career on the streets, although she changed her name after she was taken in by the Birds of Prey in Birds of Prey #96 (2006).

Post-Flashpoint

Barbara Gordon: Batgirl Again

Barbara back in the cowl

In the rebooted reality, Barbara Gordon had a new origin story, narrated in Batgirl (Volume 4) #0. Back to being James Gordon's biological daughter, Barbara idolized her father and craved for fighting crime like him, training hard both body and mind since she was a child. When she borrowed a Batsuit to put down a prison riot, Barbara earned Batman's attention and approval. Barbara spent one year crime-fighting with Batman and Robin until she messed up one mission and decided to quit. Later she would be shot through her spine by the Joker, and worked as Oracle for a while until she underwent surgery. Being able to walk again thanks to an implanted chip, and unwilling to be held by past trauma, Barbara got herself back in shape and took up her mantle, which hadn't been claimed by anybody during her retirement.

In November 2011 Barbara Gordon was given her own solo when Batgirl Vol 4 started publication. Issues Batgirl (Volume 4) #1 through Batgirl (Volume 4) #34 were written by Gail Simone, a run that gained notoriety for its darkness.

The Batgirl of Burnside

In Batgirl (Volume 4) #35, Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr were given creative control and opted for a more light-hearted and children-friendly direction. Sick of enduring trauma after trauma, Barbara decides to move to Burnside, Gotham's hipster neighborhood across the Gotham River.

Batgirl's fourth ongoing was cancelled in July, 2016 when Batgirl (Volume 4) #52 came out. In September, 2016, two new ongoings started publication, Batgirl Vol 5 and Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol 1. Batgirl's fifth volume was written by Hope Larson, who continued Cameron Stewart's approach. During Larson's run, Barbara would travel around Eastern Asia, enjoy a joint adventure with Supergirl, and would fight new and different villains.

Back in Gotham

"Batgirl and the Birds of Prey" was cancelled in July, 2018 after twenty-two issues. Batgirl's Larson's run was ended in Batgirl (Volume 5) #23. After some fill-in writers Mairghread Scott became Batgirl's new regular writer and decided a back-to-the-basics approach was needed, with Barbara wearing a new costume and back in Gotham and having darker adventures. After issue #37, Cecil Castellucci took over as the main Batgirl writer. The series concluded with issue #50 in October, 2020.

Batgirls

Following DC's Infinite Frontier relaunch, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain both began to be referred to as Batgirl once again. Barbara began to operate more frequently as Oracle, though she was still able-bodied and able to assume the Batgirl mantle. In December 2021, a series entitled Batgirls, starring Stephanie and Cassandra both as Batgirl, was launched, written by Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad.

Serials

Audiobooks

• Barbara Gordon (as Oracle) Cassandra Cain (as Batgirl) appear the audiobook version of Greg Rucka's Batman: No Man's Land novelization. The two-part audiobook was produced by GraphicAudio and features a full cast, music, and sound effects. The first part was released in October 2011 and the second part in November 2011. Barbara is voiced by Karen Novack and Cassandra is voiced by Nanette Savard.

Movies

Live-Action

• A Barbara-inspired Batgirl appears in Batman and Robin (1997). This version of the character, named Barbara Wilson, was Alfred Pennyworth's niece. She was portrayed by Alicia Silverstone.
• A young Barbara Gordon briefly appears in The Dark Knight (2008), portrayed by Hannah Gunn.
• Cassandra Cain appears in Birds of Prey (2020). This version is a twelve-year-old pickpocket who lives with neglectful foster parents, has no communication issues or significant fighting skills, and idolizes Harley Quinn. She was portrayed by Ella Jay Basco.

Animation

• Barbara Gordon appears in multiple DC Animated Universe films. As Batgirl, she is voiced by Mary Kay Bergman in Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero and Tara Strong in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Angie Harmon also voices an older Barbara Gordon in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
• Barbara Gordon cameos as Batgirl in Batman: Bad Blood (2016).
• Barbara Gordon appears as Batgirl in Batman: The Killing Joke (2016), voiced by Tara Strong.
• Barbara Gordon appears as Batgirl in The Lego Batman Movie (2017), voiced by Rosario Dawson.
• Barbara Gordon appears as Batgirl in Lego DC Super Hero Girls: Brain Drain (2017), voiced by Ashlyn Selich.
• An alternate universe incarnation of Cassandra Cain named Kai Li Cain appears in Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham (2023), voiced by Tati Gabrielle.

Television

Since the character's first media appearance in the Batman 1966 television show, Batgirl has had a long history of appearances in television:

Live-Action

• Barbara Gordon apppears as Batgirl in several episodes of Batman (1966), played by Yvonne Craig.
• Barbara Gordon stars as Oracle in Birds of Prey (2002), played by Dina Meyer. She also appears as Batgirl in flashback sequences.
• Barbara Gordon appears in multiple epsiodes of Titans (2018), played by Savannah Welch.
• Stephanie Brown appears in the Batwoman episode "I'll Give You a Clue" (2021), played by Morgan Kohan. This version of the character is a redheaded technological genius and in love with Luke Fox.
• Stephanie Brown co-stars in Gotham Knights (2023), played by Anna Lore. This version of the character is a student at Gotham Academy, the best friend of Bruce Wayne's adoptive son Turner Hayes, and a computer expert who has a romantic relationship with Harper Row.

Animation

• Barbara Gordon appears as Batgirl in The Batman/Superman Hour (1968), voiced by Jane Webb.
• Barbara Gordon appears as Batgirl in The New Adventures of Batman (1977), voiced by Melendy Britt.
• Barbara Gordon appears in several episodes of Batman: The Animated Series (1992) and other DCAU television properties. She was voiced by Melissa Gilbert in Batman: The Animated Series, Tara Strong in The New Batman Adventures (1997) and the Gotham Girls webseries, Stockard Channing in the first two seasons of Batman Beyond, and Angie Harmon in the third season of Batman Beyond.
• Barbara Gordon appears as Batgirl in The Batman (2004), voiced by Danielle Judovits.
• Barbara Gordon appears as Batgirl in Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008), voiced by Mae Whitman.
• Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain, and Stephanie Brown all appear in Young Justice (2010):
  • Barbara, voiced by Alyson Stoner, cameos in Season 1, appears as Batgirl in Season 2, and appears as Oracle in Seasons 3 and 4.
  • Cassandra appears as Orphan in Seasons 3 and 4. This version of Cassandra is named Cassandra Wu-San, was raised by her mother, Lady Shiva, and had her vocal cords removed as an infant. Barbara convinced her to defect from the League of Shadows.
  • Stephanie, voiced by Mae Whitman, cameos in Season 2 and appears as Spoiler in Seasons 3 and 4.
• Barbara Gordon stars as Batgirl in the Super Best Friends Forever (2012) shorts developed by Lauren Faust for DC Nation Block on Cartoon Network, voiced by Tara Strong.
• Barbara Gordon appears as Oracle in Beware the Batman (2013), voiced by Tara Strong.
• Barbara Gordon stars as Batgirl in DC Super Hero Girls, voiced by Mae Whitman.
• Barbara Gordon appears as Batgirl in Harley Quinn (2019), voiced by Briana Cuoco.
  • Stephanie Brown appears as Spoiler in the pilot episode of the Harley Quinn spin-off series Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, voiced by Stephanie Hsu.
• Cassandra Cain stars as Batgirl in Batwheels (2022), voiced by Leah Lewis.

Video Games

• Barbara Gordon is a recurring character in the Arkhamverse franchise.
• Barbara Gordon appears as Batgirl and Bette Kane, Cassandra Cain, and Stephanie Brown are all summonable characters as Batgirl in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure (2013).
• Barbara is playable in the next Lego Batman's games: Lego Batman: The Videogame, Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham and Lego Dimensions.
• Barbara Gordon is a playable character as Batgirl in Injustice: Gods Among Us (Video Game). Cassandra Cain is playable as Batgirl in the mobile version.
• Barbara is also playable in DC Legends.
• Cassandra Cain is playable in Batman: Dark Tomorrow.
• Cassandra is also playable in DC Universe Online.

Novels

The Batgirls have starred and appeared in several prose novels, traditionally published graphic novels, and comic novelizations:

• Batgirl: To Dare the Darkness is a tie-in novel to the 1997 film Batman & Robin written by Doug Moench. It stars Barbara Wilson as Batgirl.
• Barbara Gordon (as Oracle) and Cassandra Cain (as Batgirl) appear in the Batman: No Man's Land (2001) novelization, written by Greg Rucka.
• Barbara Gordon stars as Batgirl in Batgirl: New Hero of the Night (2017), a DC Backstories novel written by Matthew K. Manning.
• Barbara Gordon stars as Batgirl in Batgirl at Super Hero High (2017), a DC Super Hero Girls novel written by Lisa Yee.
• Barbara Gordon stars as Oracle in The Oracle Code (2020), a graphic novel written by Marieke Nijkamp.
• Cassandra Cain stars as Batgirl in Shadow of the Batgirl (2020), a graphic novel written by Sarah Kuhn. Barbara Gordon co-stars as Oracle.
• Barbara Gordon appears as Oracle in Black Canary: Breaking Silence (2021), a DC Icons novel written by Alexandra Monir.
• Barbara Gordon stars as Batgirl in Batgirl: Possession (2024), a DC Super Heroes novel written by Jade Adia.

Related Articles

• Batgirl Recommended Reading

• Batgirl Origins
• Batgirl Disambiguation Page
• Barbara Gordon
• Cassandra Cain
• Stephanie Brown