Top Ten Favorite Batgirl Stories! | Classic Comics Forum

Farrar
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Top Ten Favorite Batgirl Stories! Feb 27, 2019 17:49:59 GMT -5 Hoosier X likes this

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Post by Farrar on Feb 27, 2019 17:49:59 GMT -5

I know I've posted this before (at CCF and elsewhere), but the mention of Brave and Bold #78 never fails to bring to mind that two-week stretch in 1968 when these three DCs were published:

Brave and Bold #78: Wonder Woman and Batgirl
World's fInest #176: Batgirl now appearing with Supergirl
Woinder Woman #177: Supergirl now appearing with Wonder Woman

Batgirl didn't have her own feature yet, so I was really glad to see that DC considered her a major leaguer by having her co-star in quick succession with the super-powered WW and Supergirl. Unfortunately back then I only managed to get WF #176 off the stands. I'd seen the house ads for the other two comics, but didn't see them at any of the candy stores I frequented. So I bought WW and B&B later on, as back issues.

Three different editors (it was the era of DC's editorial fiefdoms, remember), three different writers. I don't think it was planned, because: fiefdoms; but in any event it's interesting timing, with this spotlighting of DC's preeminent female heroes during this two-week period...even if, disappointingly, in each of these three separate comics the writers resorted to having the female heroes in opposition to one another (gosh, how imaginative!

) In the Silver Age characters/teams fighting each other was usually Marvel's shtick; and when DC's male heroes appeared in a book together, it was usually to join forces against a common foe.

Last Edit: Feb 27, 2019 21:39:54 GMT -5 by Farrar

Hoosier X
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Top Ten Favorite Batgirl Stories! Mar 2, 2019 19:09:57 GMT -5

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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 2, 2019 19:09:57 GMT -5

I read this last night. I love this one! I just keep reading it over and over again! It's so crazy!

It definitely goes on the Top Ten Favorite Batgirl Stories list. It won't be Number One, but only because I won't be ranking them. I'll just be listing them in the order in which they were published.

With this flying dreadnaught under me, I can wipe out all mankind! Now the Hulk will be the HUNTER instead of the HUNTED!

Hoosier X
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Posts: 9,963

Top Ten Favorite Batgirl Stories! Mar 4, 2019 16:43:10 GMT -5

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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 4, 2019 16:43:10 GMT -5

I've got my Top Ten Favorite Batgirl Stories list pretty much worked out but it might be a few days until I will be able to post it.

Until then, here's my favorite stories for Oracle, and everybody who's ever been Batgirl that isn't Barbara Gordon.

Bat-Girl (Betty Kane)

Batman #144 - "Bat-Mite Meets Bat-Girl"; Detective Comics #322 -"The Bizarre Batman Genie"

I had planned on just picking one "best" story or story arc for each of these characters, but I just can't decide between these two stories! Bat-Mite really livens up Batman #141 and Bat-Girl has a large role in it and it's one of the most fun stories of the era. And in Detective Comics #322, Batman turns into a genie, and Robin and Bat-Girl must figure how to beat the Bat-Genie on their own! Well, they roll up their sleeves and put their heads together and they get it done! Good job, kids!

Oracle (Barbara Gordon)

Suicide Squad #48 - "In Control"; Suicide Squad #49 -"Out of Control"

I haven't read this one in a long time, but when I was looking around for candidates for Best Batgirl Stories, I found a short write-up of this two-parter that reminded me how much I liked Suicide Squad back then ... and also that this was the first time I liked Oracle! I still can't stand The Killing Joke, but you have to give a lot of credit to the writers who took what they were given in the aftermath. They turned Barbara Gordon into Oracle, and she was more important to the DC Universe than she had ever been as Batgirl.

Batgirl (Cassandra Cain)

Batgirl #50 - "Tough Love"

I don't really know that much about Cassandra Cain. I remember seeing her here and there in the 1990s and beyond, but I never thought too much about her, good or bad. But she's grown on me over the years, and lately I've read a few trade paperbacks of her adventures and I even bought a few floppies. I ended up really liking "Fists of Fury," which reprints Batgirl (2000) #15, #16, #21, #26, #27 and #28, and I considered that arc as Cassandra's best. But then I remember how much I liked Batgirl #50, and the way that story tells us at least as much about Batman as it does about Batgirl. So I'm going with "Tough Love," but also recommending Fists of Fury for anybody who's curious about Cass.

Batgirl (Stephanie Brown)

Batgirl #18 - "Chalk (heart) Outline"

I really loved the 2009 Batgirl series with Stephanie Brown as Batgirl. I started buying it about the time the last few issues hit the stand, and I managed to amass the whole series within a year or so. I haven't read them since, but I've been wanting to, and I will probably start that little project within a few weeks. When I was thinking of the series and trying to remember a story that stuck out, I remembered that I liked the one where Klarion the Witch-Boy showed up, having trouble with his cat. So I picked that one. It's adorable! (Although I'm not real sure about the way Teekl is depicted.) After I get a chance to re-read the whole series, I might change my mind about which story should represent Steph's tenure as Batgirl.

Last Edit: Mar 4, 2019 17:29:57 GMT -5 by Hoosier X

With this flying dreadnaught under me, I can wipe out all mankind! Now the Hulk will be the HUNTER instead of the HUNTED!

Hoosier X
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Posts: 9,963

Top Ten Favorite Batgirl Stories! Mar 7, 2019 22:02:47 GMT -5

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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 7, 2019 22:02:47 GMT -5

So here it! My TOP TEN FAVORITE BATGIRL STORIES! I decided not to rank them, so they're in the chronological order of when they were published.

Detective Comics #359 (January 1967) - "The Million-Dollar Debut of Batgirl!"

I first read this story in the 1990s, when DC issued their "Silver Age Classics" reprints. I was so unmoved that I forgot I had it, and so when DC published the "Millennium Edition" of Detective #359, I bought it again! It wasn't until 2011 or 2012 when I started reading and collecting so many Silver Age Batgirl appearances in Detective Comics (and Batman and world's Finest) that Babs started to grow on me. Nowadays when I read "The Million-Dollar Debut of Batgirl," I recognize it for the Silver Age Classic that it always was!

World's Finest #169 (September 1967) - "The Supergirl-Batgirl Plot!"

If I was ranking them, this would be first! This story is so wacky, it has to be seen to be believed. It's the essence of the DC Silver Age distilled into one insane story! The big revelation ... well, just read it! (And I love it that Batgirl is already conspiring with Supergirl to destroy Batman and Superman in only her third appearance! DC was serious about getting her integrated into the DC Universe!)

Detective Comics #369 (November 1967) - "Batgirl Breaks Up the Dynamic Duo!"; Batman #197 (December 1967) - "Catwoman Sets Her Claws for Batman!"

I'm fudging it a little bit here just to fit in an extra Silver Age Batgirl story, but I decided to allow it because Catwoman shows up at the very end of the story in Detective Comics #369 to announce that she wants Batman for herself and she sets the ball rolling in Batman #197. Both these stories are exhilarating Silver Age fun and I'm not sure which of them makes the least sense.

The Brave and the Bold #78 (June/July 1968) - "In the Coils of Copperhead!"

I remember seeing this one reprinted in a later issue of The Brave and the Bold (#116, I think) and though I wasn't much of a Batgirl fan then or for years later, I really loved this story! Years later, when I started to get into Batgirl a little more and hadn't read this story for more than thirty years, I remembered it and bought a beat-up coppy off eBay. It's irresistible! From the villain Copperhead (who needs to be brought back as a member of Batgirl's rogues gallery) to the silly love triangle between Batman, Wonder Woman and Batgirl to the Bob Brown art to all the twists and turns to the wonderful purple background on the cover, this is Some Stellar Silver Age Insanity! Written by Bob Haney!

Detective Comics #422 (April 1972) - "The Unmasking of Batgirl!"; Detective Comics #423 (May 1972) - "Candidate for Danger!"; Detective Comics #424 (June 1972) - "Batgirl's Last Case!"

This is the storyline where Barbara Gordon runs for Congress and becomes Rep. Barbara "Boots" Gordon (D-N.J.). Well, that's what I call her. She does become the congresswoman, though, for about eight years, I think! I love this storyline. I had to include this one.

Batman Family #10 (March/April 1977) - "Those Were the Bad Old Days!"

This might be a surprising choice because it's such a mishmash and might seem like a "filler" Batgirl/Batwoman team-up against the Killer Moth and the Cavalier to some. Also, it's goofy as hell! Also - Vince Colletta! But it works for me! I love it! And Colletta looks really good here, inking Bob Brown's pencils.

Detective Comics #514 (May 1982) - "Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth!"; Detective Comics #515 (June 1982) - "In the Coils of the Serpent!"; Detective Comics #516 (July 1982) - "Sleep While the Serpent Strikes!"; Detective Comics #517 (August 1982) - "A Tale of Two Serpents!"

I was reading Batman and Detective Comics fresh off the spinner racks at this point, but I hate to say I didn't always read the Batgirl back-up stories. When I started getting serious about amassing a Detective Comics collection in 2011 and 2012, I went back and read the issues I already had … and discovered these undiscovered treasures in the back of these comics I'd had for years! It's not always that great, but I do like the story of Lady Viper in Detective Comics #514 to #517. And another great asset (as far as I'm concerned) is the art by Jose Delbo and Joe Giella! I keep kicking myself that I scarcely noticed these stories in the 1980s! The Batgirl back-up was generally a lot better than the Green Arrow back-up that followed!

Detective Comics #518 (September 1982) - "He With Secrets Fears the Sound ..."; Detective Comics #519 (October 1982) - "When Velvet Paws Caress the Ground!"

The Velvet Tiger! And art by Trevor von Eeden! Writer Barbara Randall also wrote the Batgirl Special, which is next on the list. To me, she's a writer who really understands Barbara Gordon.

Batgirl Special #1 (1988) - "The Last Batgirl Story"

A wonderful and moving tribute to twenty years of Batgirl as she transitions from Batgirl to … what? Well, we now know she will become Oracle. But back then, I'm not sure what they had in mind. "The Killing Joke" is advertised in this issue, so it seems that somebody knew there were some disturbing plans for Barbara Gordon in the works … but what then?

Batgirl #17 to Batgirl #26 (April 2013 to February 2014)

I knew I had to include a James Gordon Jr. story. the conflict between Barbara and James Jr. is one of my favorite comic-book clashes of the last ten or twelve years. He knows she's Batgirl, but he has no intention of letting that information get out because Batgirl is HIS toy to play with! Ugh! James Jr., you evil little creep! This is a ten-issue run that starts with my favorite in the series of clashes between the Gordon siblings, gets sidetracked a bit here and there by the new new Ventriloquist and Zero Year, and concludes with the "Wanted" storyline where Commissioner Gordon is dead set on arresting Batgirl for the murder of … James Gordon Jr! One of the highlights of the New 52. (I mean, there had to be SOME.)

Last Edit: Jun 14, 2021 18:05:04 GMT -5 by Hoosier X

With this flying dreadnaught under me, I can wipe out all mankind! Now the Hulk will be the HUNTER instead of the HUNTED!