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Tuesday, June 09, 2009

The Batgirl Promo

I have to admit, I'm intrigued by the Batgirl promo. I don't really have any theories about it, though I hope Rich is right. The promo images definitely don't suit Cassandra (which IS somewhat disappointing) but they seem awfully "young" to be Babs to me.

Also, while I understand that a lot of people enjoyed Barbara as Batgirl, I really do think it's a step down. Regardless of Barbara's ability to walk, she's definitely moved beyond the identity. (I wouldn't mind seeing her as BatWOMAN mind, though I do like Kate Kane.) Besides, now that Dick's Batman, it would be very off to have her as BatGIRL. Call me picky, but there's no way, in my opinion, that she should ever have even an apparently subordinate identity to him.

The idea makes me irrationally tetchy.

I never much cared for Stephanie Brown (she always seemed only barely competent to me, even when Chuck Dixon was writing her) but her as Batgirl to Tim's Red Robin could be pretty interesting. Especially considering her close friendship to Cassandra. There's a lot of potential in that idea.

I suppose I'll just have to wait and see. :-)

posted by kalinara @ 12:03 AM  

9 Comments:

  • At June 09, 2009 12:55 AM, Blogger tavella said…

    If they had gone for making her Batwoman and actually integrated her computer and intelligence skills, it could have been interesting. But Batgirl? No. It would invariably disintegrate back to her being the 60s somewhat fluffhead version. Apart from the ludicrousness of her being 'girl' anything.

     

  • At June 09, 2009 1:02 AM, Blogger ARS said…

    In my post about this I floated the Idea of Misfit.

     

  • At June 09, 2009 1:03 AM, Blogger Your Obedient Serpent said…

    While even the '60s fluffhead version was a capable researcher and detective with a photographic memory --eyah.

    Honestly, Babs has been Oracle for 20 years this year. She was Batgirl for 21 years ('67-'88). We're just around the corner from Oracle being the longer, more established identity. Having her go BACK to the Girl-Suit would be like Dick going back to short pants.

     

  • At June 09, 2009 9:07 AM, Blogger Rich said…

    Yeah. I think Babs is out if only because Batgirl should be markedly younger than Batwoman.

    I'd have liked Cass to continue and get a bit of fixing, but I'd also be happy to see her behind the scenes as an Oracle-in-training.

    Fingers crossed this is Steph, and not Misfit, Wendy or Squire

     

  • At June 09, 2009 6:17 PM, Anonymous Vincent Murphy said…

    My theory is that there are multiple Batgirls: Cassandra, Misfit and someone else (Wendy? Spoiler?). Oracle will be in charge of all of them. Bats of Prey. :)

    This allows them to show all sorts of promo art that leads us astray. Cassandra's mask, old Batgirl boots, etc.

     

  • At June 11, 2009 4:48 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    And now I'm irrationally excited about the "Bats of Prey" concept...

     

  • At June 11, 2009 4:53 PM, Blogger kalinara said…

    A Batgirl Corps would be AWESOME.

     

  • At June 11, 2009 11:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Steph? Barely competent?

    You do realize she was kicking ass and rescuing Robin with all the training of ... oh wait, she didn't get any!

     

  • At June 12, 2009 7:32 AM, Blogger kalinara said…

    Actually, as I recall, most of the time, he was protesting her involvement. She got involved anyway, botched it, and needed rescuing. I won't doubt that she did rescue him occasionally, as it's been a few years since I'd gone back and read the Dixon run, but I don't remember it happening all THAT often. (Feel free to prove me wrong with specific issues/storylines though. :-))

    She did get somewhat better after training, but I personally never found her War Games blunder particularly out of character.

    And I'm not one to find "no training" a plus in a Batclan member. A Green Lantern, sure. The ring isn't based on training, it's based on will, and some of their best members (Kyle and Guy) got almost no training starting out. (Granted, Kyle then embarked on more than a few arcs seeking out for example, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Batman, the Titans, and Alan Scott for training.)

    Considering that the Bats have no power what so ever, I think it's damn stupid for ANY of them to go out without some training. I will grant that Steph did pursue training as she went along, which I liked, but going out in costume with no training OR powers considering what tends to happen to even trained vigilantes is pretty idiotic, IMO.

    Steph had more than a few appealing qualities as I recall, but I never found competence to be among them.

     

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