Batgirl, American comic-strip superhero created for DC Comics by writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino. Batgirl first appeared in Detective Comics no. 359 (January 1967).
The first teenage heroine to join Batman’s extended family was Betty Kane, niece of the costumed hero Batwoman. As Bat-Girl, however, she was little more than a romantic interest for Batman’s sidekick Robin. Inspired by the declining ratings of the Batman television series, show creators proposed the introduction of a less-formulaic, more-developed female character to draw new viewers. Julius Schwartz, editor of DC’s Batman comics, embraced the suggestion, and a new Batgirl (without the hyphen) debuted in Detective Comics several months before her premiere on television.
The new Batgirl was Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon. Her early appearances portrayed her as an inexperienced, if enthusiastic, crime fighter, but by the 1970s Batgirl had matured, displaying a keen intellect, robust athleticism, and burgeoning detective skills. After winning a seat in the U.S. Congress, Gordon relocated to Washington, D.C., although she still occasionally appeared as Batgirl. As Batman comic books grew grimmer throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it was felt that Batgirl’s existence weakened Batman’s, and Gordon hung up her cowl.
By the time she resurfaced in Alan Moore’s graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke (1988), revisions to the DC universe had made her the niece—not the daughter—of Commissioner Gordon. In that story, the Joker, Batman’s most-maniacal foe, exacted revenge on his enemy by rampaging against those close to him. The Joker shot Gordon, leaving her paraplegic. Some readers at the time accused DC Comics of misogyny, as this brutal attack on Batgirl followed the poignant but violent death of Supergirl in DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985). In reality, this tragic moment ushered in a new era for Gordon as a character. In Suicide Squad no. 23 (January 1989), she became Oracle, a behind-the-scenes crusader whose development of a vast computer information network, along with her photographic memory and her uncanny hacking abilities, enabled her to ferret out information to help other heroes. In addition to aiding the Suicide Squad, Batman, and others, Oracle ultimately joined with Black Canary and the Huntress to form the Birds of Prey.
A new Batgirl was introduced in Batman no. 567 (July 1999), when Gordon befriended a teenage girl who happened to be the daughter of a notorious assassin. Cassandra Cain had been expertly trained in martial arts and other modes of combat, but she wished to break free of her violent heritage. The intervention of Oracle and Batman helped reshape Cain’s destiny, and she assumed the mantle of Batgirl. Cain was briefly involved with the villainous League of Assassins, but it was later revealed that she had been drugged and under the mental control of the mercenary supervillain Deathstroke at the time. In Batgirl no. 1 (2009), Cain relinquished the Batgirl identity to Stephanie Brown, formerly the costumed crime fighter known as the Spoiler. Subsequently, in Grant Morrison’s Batman, Incorporated series, Cain adopted the name Black Bat to work as part of Batman’s international crime-fighting network. When DC rebooted its entire superhero line in 2011, Barbara Gordon—no longer paralyzed—returned to her costumed identity in a new Batgirl series.