#When you used to be a librarian and a Congresswoman and now you live in a tower

[aingeal98]

If you asked a young Barbara Gordon what her life would look like in 10 years time... There's no way she could have predicted this part.

[sebeth]

Who's Who In The DC Universe #2: Batcave, Batgirl

Batcave by Howard Bender & Gary Martin

Located beneath Wayne Manor

The ultra-secret sanctum sanctorum of the Dark Knight Detective

Discovered by Bruce Wayne when he fell through the rotted flooring of the old manor barn he originally intended to use as his headquarters

Wayne once maintained a second Batcave in an unused subway tunnel beneath the Wayne Foundation building during the days when he lived in its penthouse

The second Batcave now serves as the sometimes headquarters of the Outsiders

Everyone knows the Batcave – it’s the most famous superhero headquarters of all time. The Batcave is featured prominently in all Bat Family titles, Batman cartoons, live-action adaptations, and video games.

Batgirl by Brent Anderson and Terry Austin

A PH.D graduate of Gotham State University, Barbara Gordon began her career as a quiet librarian, which left her time to pursue her interest in the martial arts.

On her way to the Policeman’s Masquerade Ball, wearing a self-designed Batgirl costume, Barbara saved Bruce Wayne from Killer Moth

Babs enjoyed the excitement and danger and decided to become a hero.

She later served one term as a Congresswoman in Washington DC.

Babs is now an Associate Director of Humanities Research and Development

She is now a semi-retired vigilante.

The Barbara Gordon version of Batgirl is one of the most famous heroines in comic book history. She was in numerous Bat titles from the 60s thru the 80s, made multiple appearances in the Batman 60’s tv series. Batgirl, along with Supergirl and Wonder Woman, was featured heavily in all of DC’s merchandising – attire, coloring books, etc, from the 60’s through the 80’s. Silver Age Babs adventures tended towards silliness but Bronze Age Bab is my jam.  See Secret Origins #20 and the 1987 Batgirl Special for two prime Batgirl stories. The Killing Joke tossed Babs in the fridge but John Ostrander took her back out and transformed her into the phenomenal Oracle.  Batman: The Animated Series would bring Babs back as Batgirl and she would feature in the various BTAS series as well as Batman Beyond. She would make appearances in multiple Batman animated movies, the live action Batman & Robin, the Birds of Prey tv series (as Oracle), and the Young Justice series.  She also made appearances as both Oracle and Batgirl in the Arkham Asylum and Gotham Knights video games. Babs may be the most featured female in comic book adaptations.

Back to the comics, Babs as Oracle continued her groundbreaking role in comics as the information broker of the Bat Family and the founder and leader of the Birds of Prey. Unfortunately, DC decided to remove much of her education and career accomplishments so they could de-age Babs to be Dick Grayson’s first love and yet another teen protégé of the Batman. Babs was easily 5 to 10 years older than Dick in the Bronze Age era. Babs flirted with Bruce Wayne, went on a date with Clark Kent, and almost married Jason Bard. This is the main reason I dislike Babs & Dick as a couple – if you must diminish one character to make it work, it is not a good pairing. There are many other reasons I dislike the pairing, but I’ll leave that to another post.

Barbara returned to the Batgirl role in the New 52 for no other reason than Silver Age nostalgia.  Babs has outgrown the role and her shoes had been nicely filled by Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown. Barbara went from the unique, important Oracle – one of the leaders of the Bat Family and extended vigilantes – to one of a dozen vigilantes running around the Gotham rooftops.

[justagirl-andherbooks]

Books Purchased in May 2023

There was a Sunday in May when my husband and I decided to shirk our responsibilities and hit a slew of bookstores across town. I picked up three in total and even though I'm still juggling, reading two very different books right now - which I will make a separate post for - I'm honestly so excited to dive into these!

Summaries are below the cut.

Thank you to @firefly-graphics for these cool dividers!

The Woman Left Behind by Linda Howard

Jina Modell works in Communications for a paramilitary organization and she loves it. When she displays a high aptitude for spatial awareness and action, she's reassigned to work as an on-site drone operator with one of the elite GO-Teams. Far from athletic, she needs to be fit for the field and learn how to run and swim for miles, jump out of a plane, shoot a gun...or else be out of a job.

Team leader Levi Butcher doesn't have much confidence in Jina completing her rigorous training, so no one is more surprised - or proud - when she thrives in her new environment. Even more surprising is that the disciplined leader can't stop thinking about her smart mouth...

Meanwhile, a powerful Congresswoman is setting a trap to ambush the GO-Team. Once the squad is deployed to Syria, Jina remains at the base for remote surveillance, when suddenly the station is attacked with exlposives. Escaping to the desert, Jina must remain undetected by the enemy and make it to her crew before they're exfiltrated from the country.

But Levi never leaves a soldier behind, and he's determined to bring back the brave woman he's fall for - dead or alive.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules, with one exception: an online account where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere feels like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when peril comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for...

Night Broken: A Mercy Thompson Novel by Patricia Briggs

When her mate's ex-wife storms back into their lives, Mercy knows something isn't right. Christy has the furthest thing from good intentions - she wants Adam back, and she's willing to do whatever it takes to get him, including turning the pack against Mercy.

Mercy isn't about to step down without a fight, but there's a more dangerous threat circling. As the bodies start piling up, she must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.

I've quickly become a fan of the Mercy Thompson novels and I mean, come on, the summaries for Howard and Mandanna's stories are just so intriguing!

I do enjoy my romance woven into action and adventure - clearly. 😉

Happy Reading!

Yvette

[geekyzelda]

Let’s college AU

Cuz why the hell not. And @annieisyourfavourite ‘s Beetle art inspired me (US based, hence the “college” not uni, cuz im american & too lazy to figure out my own school system let alone other countries)

Septimus is in his first year training to be a pilot and takes as many science courses as he can. He is especially interested in astrophysics and aeronautics and, ironically, chemistry.

Jenna is in her first year but has enough credits to be in her second year. She’s studying political science. She’s aiming for governor but, of course, her big dream would be to be president one day. Or maybe just a congresswoman, who knows.

Beetle is in his last year & finishing his degree in English with an emphasis in Literature. He hopes to get into grad school to get his Library Science degree and become a librarian at the public level.

Marwick is in natural sciences. He wants to become a national or state park ranger. He loves the outdoors and wants to spend every working hour outside, teaching others.

Sep and Marwick have known each other since kindergarten, they got stuck in time out with each other.

Beetle and Jenna met in a general statistics class. Beetle put it off because he despises math. Jenna took it immediately to get it out of the way. It took them almost a year to start dating tho, Beetle felt weird about dating someone so much younger than him (18 to 21 is a big jump) and Jenna was convinced she only saw him as a friend for a while. The pair meets for coffee before class every Tuesday and Thursday. They’re that couple that is always together but don’t make you sick to look at. Everyone assumed they were dating much earlier than they were just because they were around each other so much.

Marcia is the head of the flight program at the university. She takes a special liking to Septimus as he tends to involve himself in EVERYTHING, head of social media, in with the competition planning, picking up random jobs at the airport, at every fundraiser helping out. You name it, he’s there.

(Alther is dean of the college the aviation program is apart of? Or he’s the old head of the aviation program & just comes around to fly planes once in a while.)

Sep TA’d for prof. Marcellus’s chem class & loved it.

Miss Marcia Overstrand is in a dead end relationship with a local shop owner, Milo Banda. They know each other from their own time in college and Marcia convinced herself he was going to propose when they graduated. Well it’s been a few years (try 10) and there’s still no ring on her finger and that chemistry professor on south campus is looking mighty fine.

Septimus invites Jenna to an aviation banquet as his date, because when in doubt, ask your siblings. Milo is there as Marcia’s date and he can’t help but think Jenna’s eyes look a lot like an ex girlfriends of his who died in childbirth. But the kid was a stillborn, right?

The gang hangs out at Beetle’s apartment (he’s the only one with a private room & is relativly close to campus. Plus he owns a TV!)

Sep and Beetle met when they ran into each other in the library. Sep was lost looking for a research book and Beetle helped him before asking about the Zelda shirt Sep wore. Beetle owns a switch and Sep hadn’t had time to even touch a controller since he got to college. Beetle invited him over to play Breath of the Wild and they became good friends after. It just so happened Jenna was Sep’s sister.

Mar smokes weed/makes edibles on the weekends but he does it SMARTLY so he wouldn’t get kicked out. He ain’t no dumbass. Sep tried it once, decided it wasn’t for him. (He takes a hit off of Marwick’s blunt when he’s feeling super stressed about stuff)

Simon is working as a chemist for a local pharmaceutical company. His and Sep’s fight came from 10 the normal dichotomy of oldest kid vs youngest. But 2) Sep got accepted to a better college than Simon ever had the opportunity to attend. Simon is over it now but he avoided coming home for a good few months when he heard. “He’s petty as hell” Jenna declared one night at dinner. No one disagreed

Sam is part of the states local fishing and wildlife board. Marwick walked in one day (when he was done with college) asking about a job application. Sam handed it to him with his phone number on the back.

Jojo still lives at home and works at the local Hot Topic and/or Spencer’s.

Idk what the twins do they have too little personality. They do go to fucking furry cons and you and I both know it.

Nicko went to trade school for boat repair and is loving every single minute of it. Hey, small world! He happens to work with his sister-in-law’s brother!

The Heaps ended up adopting Jenna through a roundabout way. Silas & Sarah were accidentally given the wrong baby in the hospital, never mind the darker skin & the fact that she was a girl while their baby was a boy. Silas notified a nurse & when they got Septimus back they asked to meet the mother of that charming baby girl. When they heard her mom had passed and her dad was out of the picture, they felt an immediate concern for the baby. After some serious deliberation, and a bit of prompting from the boys about wanting a sister, they decided to adopt her.

[sebeth]

Babs-a-thon, part 2

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

 Barbara’s first appearance in the post-Crisis DC universe was her revised entry in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory Update ’87 #1.

Known Relatives: Roger (father, deceased), Thelma (mother, deceased), James (adoptive father/uncle), Barbara (adoptive mother/aunt), James Jr (adoptive brother/cousin)

Occupation: Former librarian, former Congresswoman, now civil servant

DC decided to make Barbara taller – before the Crisis she was 5’6”, post-crisis she is 5’11”

I’m not going to quote as much from Barbara’s updated Who’s Who entry as her Secret Origins issue expands on it.

A few items of note:

“Barbara’s mother died in a car accident when Barbara was four years old, which ultimately led to her father’s death from alcoholism.  At thirteen she moved to Gotham City to live with her aunt and uncle, who later adopted her.”

The changing of Barbara’s parentage was pointless and only adds unnecessary tragedy to her past. Was it changed because Frank Miller was unwilling to write Barbara into Year One.  Or is it simply not allowed to be a hero in Gotham unless you’ve lost a parent?

“After earning her Master’s degree in Library and Information Systems from Gotham State University, Barbara worked as head reference librarian at the Gotham Public Library until the chance to run for Congress came along, and success made her a one-term Congresswoman.  A re-election defeat led her to a position at Humanities Research and Development, where she works as an Associate Director, mostly on public work projects.”

The de-aging of Barbara has begun – first her Ph.D. is downgraded to a Master’s degree and her term as a Congresswoman is later hand-waved away.

I’ll be honest – the de-aging annoys me.  It takes away from Barbara’s character and history.  It only gets worse as Chuck Dixon and DC become hell-bent on making Bab’s Dick Grayson’s “one true love”.

“James Gordon later learned of her identity.” – Then why did I read dozens of post-Crisis comics of Barbara trying to hide her secret from her dad?

“Barbara’s nocturnal adventures are less frequent lately, due partly to what she perceives as her ‘failures’ during the events known as the Crisis…”

For those who weren’t reading DC Comics in the immediate aftermath of the Crisis –

1)      Psycho-Pirate is the only individual with full memories of the Crisis and the pre-Crisis multiverse

2)      Everyone else lost their memories of the pre-Crisis multiverse and have murky memories of the actual Crisis.

Could Barbara’s “perceived failures” be subconscious memories of Supergirl’s death?

Barbara’s hand to hand combat abilities are the same pre & post Crisis – she’s still a brown belt. However, Babs is now an Olympic-level runner.

 Secret Origins #20 – “Flawed Gems” by Barbara Randall & Rick Leonardi

The issue opens with Barbara pursuing a thief.

“As always, my mind races to catalog the image, then file it away among similar ones.  My brain’s a tidy place, lists and pictures in endless lines.  Nothing is ever lost.  They call it a photographic memory?”

An upgrade from pre-Crisis Babs: photographic memory.

“I like flawed gems. They remind me of me.  It’s impossible to tell from the outside what’s hidden on the inside.  The gem keeps private corners, holding secrets. So do I.”

Babs recalls how her mother and aunt died in a car accident when she was a toddler.  

“I wish I had a sister or a friend or someone who knew what it was like to do this.  Why I was compelled to be here to protect others. I used to pretend I had a friend. But it hurt much more when I realized I was talking to myself.”

Barbara’s lived a lonely life.  Babs chooses not to let her father in on her crime-fighting career.  She’s not close to the Bat-Clan either.  It’s especially sad that the Crisis erased/made her forget her close friendship with Supergirl.

We receive another clue about Bab’s intelligence: “Years ago, I developed a multi-light tracer for my bike.”

Bab’s reflects more on her childhood.  Barbara had an active imagination and created many super-hero personas:  Rocket Girl, Marvelousgirl, Batgirl, Supergirl.  Babs often played super-hero with Marcy, a childhood friend.  We see Bab’s bedroom where all of her stuffed animals are dressed in hero costumes.

Bab’s father has descended into alcoholism since the death of his wife.  He eventually drinks himself to death.  Barbara moves to Gotham to live with Jim Gordon, her uncle. Barbara discovers that Jim’s wife is also named Barbara.  Jim and Barbara have recently given birth to a son.  The couple eventually adopts Barbara.

Babs developed an interest in helping Jim with his cases:

“This Two-Faced guy – did he ever kill anybody?”

“Only nosy thirteen-year-old girls.”

“Right. Gothcha”

Bab’s continues to sneak into Jim’s home office to peak at his case files.  Batman sneaks her a note that states “Don’t get caught.  He’ll get angry!”

Bab’s decides she’s going to become Batman’s partner.  She develops a list of skills and courses to improve herself:  karate lessons, track, visiting the library to study maps and city information, and concentrating hard-core on her academics.

I like this determined, ambitious Barbara – it’s a better approach than the “hey, this looks like fun” motive of pre-Crisis Barbara.

Fearing she’s attracting too much attention, Bab’s tones down her academic and physical performance. She’s already graduating two years early.

Barbara, at 16 years old, attends Gotham State University for a library and information systems degree. Barbara completes her master’s degree.

The night of the policemen’s masquerade ball arrives.  Barbara is going to attend in a Batgirl costume.  Barbara, in costume, breaks up a robbery by Killer Moth and his henchmen. The victim of the robbery?  Bruce Wayne! Needless to say, Batman is not impressed by these shenanigans.  An infuriated Batgirl stalks off.  Babs skips the costume ball and starts her career as Batgirl.

Barbara later decides to run for Congress.  She wins but is found to be too liberal for re-election.

Bab’s notes how her later cases were strange:  mindwiped, impersonated, and turned into a snake!

“I flirted with the first Robin for a while, but he was so young.  Batman was always the one on my mind.  Is he the reason I do this?  I can’t help feeling I know who he is.”

The above passage is notable for several reasons:

1)          It explains why I could never get aboard the Babs-Dick ship.  There is clearly a big age difference between the two.  Babs’ mind is clearly on the older, more age-appropriate Batman.  Think about it – when Dick and Babs meet – Bab’s has a master’s degree and is preparing for a Congress run, Dick isn’t even old enough to have a driver’s license. You have to be 25 years old to run for Congress so we have an age gap of 7 to 10 years.

2)          It’s also why I was never bothered by a Bruce – Barbara pairing. Barbara’s first post-Crisis story states she was aiming for the older, not the younger, Gotham hero. Barbara went on a date with Clark Kent in the pre-Crisis.  Babs dated and later became engaged to Jason Bard, another adult, in the pre and post Crisis.  To me, Barbara has always been an adult peer to Batman, not one of his teenage sidekicks. I don’t ship Barbara and Bruce but I’m not against it.

3)          It also shows the distance between Babs and the Bat Family.  Bruce clearly didn’t trust her enough to reveal Robin or his identity to her.

“There’s only one face I can’t remember.  Coromant. He killed me.  A dummy fell to the ground.  But part of my soul fell with it.  He made me realize I could die doing this.  I should thank him.  He made me work harder.  Next time, he’s the one to take the fall.  I saw his face everywhere.  When the red rains came, when all the heroes left to save the world, I was left behind to fight him.  He was everywhere.  I’m chasing him now.  I’ll always be trying to catch him, and when I do…first, I’ll strip off his mask. Expose his secret identity.  Know his face.  I never forget a face.  I’ll make him as afraid of me as I was afraid of him.”

The red rains are reference to the Crisis on Infinite Earths.  Babs seems to be battling some PTSD when it comes to Coromant.  Apparently, Coromant is Barbara’s “perceived failure” during the Crisis.  I still like “my subconscious memories of Kara’s death” theory.  As far as I can tell, Secret Origins #20 is the first appearance of Coromant.  The Coromant panels also set-up the Batgirl special that came out later in the year.

This issue would top my personal list of essential Barbara Gordon issues. It establishes Barbara’s new origin, hits the pre-Crisis highlights of Batgirl’s career, and sets the stage for her next appearance.  You were able to get inside Barbara’s head and understand her motivations and fears.

Babs-a-thon, part 3 will feature the 1988 Batgirl Special, the Killing Joke, and a Death In the Family.