#batgirl (2000) 57

[bamboozled-distress]

trans rights!

[casscainmainly]

Gender and Sexuality in Batgirl (2000)

While Kelley Puckett's opening run on Batgirl (2000) deals with Cass experiencing human connections and human life outside of fighting, issue 37 onwards takes a hard turn into gendered experiences. For sure there's some problematic elements (Cass gets sexualised a LOT more), but Horrocks' run does explore Cass' view on gender and romance in an interesting way. I'll be focusing on issues 37 - 57, essentially Horrocks' run but including guest writers (Gabrych, for instance, is our starting point). By the way I'm not a gender studies expert so feel free to disagree with any of these readings.

Riot Girls

Issue #38 (written by Gabrych) opens with this Batman conversation, which sets up Horrocks' run perfectly. Cass has never experienced a close female friendship (Babs is more mother/daughter) until Stephanie. Yet Bruce strikes a nerve here: she's not like you, and she never will be. He tells Cass something she already suspects - there's something she lacks that Stephanie has. (Bruce is, ironically, trying to say that Stephanie's the one lacking, but that's not what Cass hears).

This leads into the iconic Steph-Cass conversation:

Steph reveals she's had a baby, and this is Cass' reaction. She realises how much she doesn't understand about her body, romance, and gender in general. Stephanie has "finally beat [her] at something." She has experienced 'girlhood' in ways Cass can only dream of.

At the end of the issue, Stephanie asks if Cass thinks "he's right" (referring to Bruce), and Cass says yes. By siding with the male perspective (Bruce, or the he), Cass falls out with Stephanie, losing her first female friend. The whole of Horrocks' run should be understood in the context of this issue, with Cass searching for an understanding of her gender/sexuality.

The Superboy Saga

When Babs takes her on vacation, she makes Cass put on a bikini. Cass ends up meeting Superboy, getting grossed out, and delivering this excellent speech. It's Cass' first proper encounter with the male gaze, and it's especially disquieting for her because a) she knows the power of vision and b) she's brushing up against sexism and systemic injustice, something she hasn't really experienced before. She's encountering a power that can't be defeated with fists, and she is struggling to understand it.

She eventually does kiss Conner, and decides to take a trip to Metropolis. The decision occurs after this panel. Cass' desire to be with Conner stems from her desire to understand these feelings of passion, to want/need and be wanted/needed by others. The top panel here is interesting, too; she sees sexism playing out with other people ("check me out, girls!" / "Jerk."). Her anguished expression indicates she's having trouble reconciling the harmful forms of passion (top panel) with the sweeter forms of love (bottom panel).

At the end of the Superboy saga, Cass learns to distinguish between her romantic and platonic feelings. This taking place after the fallout with Stephanie (who explicitly repudiated her friendship) makes this extra intriguing - Cass calls the creature they're fighting "lonely," clearly meant to show insight into herself. Without Steph, she felt 'lonely', thus sort of falling into this relationship with Conner. Conner, however, is unable to fulfil that loneliness. Which leads us to...

Bruce Wayne Strikes Again

I noted in my other post how Bruce is super disapproving of Cass' love life. While it's hilarious, it genuinely impacts Cass' ability to express her sexuality freely. Here, Bruce pits Cass' sexuality against Batgirl; he implies that these attempts to understand herself harm her vigilante career. The way Cass responds ("I want to. I need to") is strikingly similar to the passions panel ("I want you. I need you"). Instead of being directed to another person, Cass directs her passions to Batgirl as a career. She's sliding back into her early mindset where Batgirl was all she was.

Again, another contrast between her and Stephanie: Stephanie fought for recognition in the suit, but Cass has to fight for an identity outside of it.

The Tai'Darshan Tale

But the real motivator for Cass' sexual awakening is, of course, Tai'Darshan, the semi-racist-caricature metahuman terrorist from Tarakstan. He flirts with Cass constantly, and makes a lot of gendered references ("easy, girl," "I don't understand why a woman like you," he calls her "beautiful") (#39, #40). He is the first significant character to take an interest in Cass as a girl, and without his flirting Cass probably wouldn't have kissed Conner (she kisses him after fighting Tai'Darshan twice).

Tai'Darshan does a big tornado thing and Bruce, intent on not letting him kill, knocks him aside, killing him. I'm low-key mad about this plot point, but that's okay 'cause so is Cass! In an echo of the Steph-Cass situation above, Bruce entirely disapproves of Tai'Darshan, but Cass likes him. Unlike with Stephanie, however, Cass doesn't side with Bruce. Instead, she keeps her feelings "secret" from Batman. It's the start of their relationship fracturing, as well as the start of Cass prioritising her own feelings and self-development over Bruce's perception of her.

No Soul

After all of this boy drama Cass understands romance a bit better, but is still in the dark about her gender. When a woman tells her she has "no soul," Cass goes to Barbara, who tells her the following:

Barbara connects 'soul' with Batgirl and femininity. Cass believes her, putting on Barbara's old suit (which one panel associates with "girl power!") and heading into the streets. What's interesting is that to achieve girlhood, Cass discards her suit in favour of Barbara's. Once again, there's this belief she's not 'feminine enough'; she's not like other girls, and she never will be.

But the suit obviously doesn't match Cass' fighting style, and in the end Cass returns to her old one. We get this great speech from Babs:

Cass is asleep here, but I do think she's learning that there's no 'right way' to be a girl - that she doesn't have to be Stephanie or Conner's girlfriend or Batgirl or Barbara, but just Cass.

The Dick Debacle

Cass gets hit with a drug called 'Soul' and has these hallucinations. This mostly male group sexualises her, criticises her for being sexual, calls her ugly, calls her hot; Cass is visualising the overwhelming contradictory standards applied to women everywhere, a compression of all her experiences thus far. Even Babs has fallen victim to pushing Cass towards stereotypically feminine experiences, and Cass' anguish is not so much at these people but at the patriarchy she's finally beginning to understand.

Dick, in particular, seems to represent this anger:

Finding out Dick broke Babs' heart seems to be the final straw. Here, her hallucinations paint her rage as feminine; the devil repeatedly calls her "girl," and Soul is being peddled by an all-female group who were 'tired of being girlfriends'. Then Cass kicks Dick out a window.

The Dick incident represents a culmination of her negative gendered experiences, beginning from her fallout with Steph and ending with another one of her close female companions (Babs) being hurt by a man.

Fallout

In the final issue before War Games, Cass essentially loses both Barbara and Steph (after making up with her and seeing her as Robin). I just like the parallel between Cass looking at Barbara as she leaves, and Stephanie looking at Cass - in a way, this is the most 'like' Stephanie Cass ever gets.

There isn't really a satisfactory conclusion to the explorations of gender or sexuality in Horrocks' run, or even in Gabrych's after. I think there's a lot to explore and I hope whenever Cass gets her next solo they look into all this a little further!

[wintersettled]

Here's a list of recs if you'd like to read somecomics about different batfam characters:

BRUCE WAYNE - Batman: Year One (1987) - Batman: The Long Halloween (1996) & Dark Victory (2000) - Batman: Knightfall Saga (1993) - Batman: No Man's Land Saga (1999)

SELINA KYLE - Catwoman (1989) - Catwoman (1993) - Catwoman: When in Rome - Catwoman: Selina's Big Score

DICK GRAYSON - Robin & Batman (2022) - Robin: Year One - The New Teen Titans (1980) - Nightwing (2016) #35-43 - Batman: Black Mirror

JASON TODD - Batman: The Cult - Batman: A Death in the Family (i dont actually care for this but i feel obligated to include it so here...) - Batman: Under the Red Hood

- Robin Lives!

TIM DRAKE - Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying - Robin (1993) - Young Justice (1998)

CASSANDRA CAIN - Batgirl (2000) - Batgirl (2008) - Batgirl (2024) - Birds of Prey (2023) (which also includes barbara!)

BARBARA GORDON - Batgirl: Year One - Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey - Birds of Prey (1999) (especially Gail Simones run!!) Barbara also appears frequently in the batgirl runs

DAMIAN WAYNE - Batman and Robin (2011) - Robin: Son of Batman - Robin (2021)

- The Boy Wonder - Batman & Robin (2023) (currently ongoing! imo this would be a good place to start reading since its happening right now so you can see it happen along with everyone else!)

DUKE THOMAS - Batman: Zero Year - We Are Robin - Batman & The Signal

HELENA BERTINELLI - Huntress: Year One - The Huntress (1989) - Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood - Helena is also a character in birds of prey from issues #57-127

STEPHANIE BROWN - Detective Comics #647-649 - Showcase '95 #5 - Robin (1993) #126-147 (steph has a ton of appearances in Robin 1993 so it would be good to read that for more or to look through her appearances on locg if you just want to read about her! these chapters are her as Robin.) - Batgirl (2009)

I haven't read a super large amount for every single one of them so disclaimer that some of the ones I mention here might not be their best! These are what I could think of but there are plenty more, especially as standalone issues, so if anyone sees this please mention more!! also, there are lots of comics that are questionable but this list was very much on the fly off the top of my head so i was kind of sat here with my head in my hands like 'god i need to give more than one jason todd comic dont i....' and this was all i could come up with that wasnt like.... a random detective comics issue idk

I'd also like to say these feature a lot of minis just for ease but there are a ton of really good guides available for these character -- imo a lot of Jason's best stuff is as Robin within tec and batman

[mysteriousbeetle]

I think an underrated and under explored relationship for Cass is her relationship with Onyx.

Onyx acts as a mentor figure in a way that is distinct from Babs or Bruce. While Cass is able to relate to Babs and Bruce with her ideals, Cass is able to relate to Onyx in other, more tangible ways.

I think Cass also sees herself in Onyx at this moment during their first time meeting:

(From Batgirl (2000) #57)

Onyx smiles while a gun is pointed right at her in a way that mirrors some moments with Cass earlier on in Batgirl (2000) (an example of this is issue #13) and I think Cass recognizes this resemblance in the panels above.

Even though it’s not explored much in the comics, I think it’s also worth bringing up that unlike Babs or Bruce, Onyx is a woman of color similar to Cass.

Cass is also able to recognize herself in Onyx with her background. With Babs and Bruce, neither of them have backgrounds that resemble Cass’s own. Onyx is someone who came from a somewhat similar background as someone who’s a former assassin who changed her ways and chooses to fight for good.

(From Batgirl (2000) #60)

Cass being able to recognize herself in someone she looks up to is important because it shows her that even with the attitude she has and even with her background, she’s able to be someone that she can be proud of.

With their similarities, comes an ability from Onyx to provide Cass with insight that’s suited toward her.

(From Batgirl (2000) #60)

Unlike Bruce and Babs who struggled to console Cass over the murder she committed, Onyx is able to effectively address it in a meaningful and productive way.

Another thing Onyx is able to do effectively is get across the message that having a secret identity is important:

(From Batgirl (2000) #60)

Earlier on in the series, this is an idea that Cass struggles with. I think Onyx being able to explain it with her own lived experience to back it up helps. And I think this more tangible example of regret with not having a secret identity has more impact than the previous appeals made by Babs earlier on in the series.

I think one of the most important things is that Onyx meet Cass on her level.

(From Batgirl (2000) #65)

Onyx lets Cass work out her issues through sparring and can call out Cass on what’s really bothering her.

All of their interactions in comics happen in just three issues. Yet with how Cass is able to see herself in Onyx and how Onyx can understand Cass in a way that’s unique from her previous mentors, these interactions are all able to have a meaningful effect on Cass’s life.

With Onyx joining the Birds of Prey in October, I look forward to seeing how Thompson will write their interactions and if she’ll call back to their relationship in Batgirl (2000) in any way.

[blackbatcass]

For the Cass-as-next-batman deniers.

Batgirl (2000) #57 / #58 / #59 / #67

[pridequest64]

Klarion The Witch Boy Reading Order

This is, based of my research the complete reading list in release order for all Klarion Comics as of September 24th 2024. Release dates were used when available but compromises were made with cover date when necessary. If you see anything that is wrong or needs new additions feel free to let me know!

(Comic Vine was a massive help with this project)

1. The Demon 7- March 1973

2. The Demon 14- November 1st 1973

3. The Demon 15- December 1st 1973

4. Wonder Woman 280- June 1981

5. Wonder Woman 281- March 5th 1981

6. Wonder Woman 282- August 1981

7. The Demon 3- September 1990

8. The Demon 4- October 1990

9. The Demon 5- November 1990

10. The Demon 7- Janurary 1991

11. The Demon 8- February 1991

12. The Demon 9- March 1991

13. Books Of Magic 4- March 1991

14. The Demon 10- April 1991

15. The Demon 11- May 1991

16. The Demon 12- June 1991

17. The Demon 13- July 1991

18. The Demon 14 August 1991

19. The Demon 15- September 1991

20. War of the Gods 1- September 1st 1991

21. The Demon 17- November 1991

22. Conjurors 1- April 1999

23. Conjurors 2- May 1999

24. Conjurors 3- June 1999

25. Sins of Youth: Batboy and Robin- April 2000

26. Sins of Youth Secret Files- May 2000

27. Sins of Youth: The Secret/ Deadboy- May 2000

28. Sins of Youth: Aquaboy/Lagoon Man- May 2000

29. Young Justice: Sins of Youth 1- May 2000

30. Young Justice: Sins of Youth 2- May 2000

31. Young Justice 22- August 1st 2000

32. Seven Soldiers: Klarion 1- June 1st 2005

33. Seven Soldiers Klarion 2 August 1st 2005

34. Seven Soldiers Klarion 3- October 1st 2005

35. Seven Soldiers Klarion 4- December 1st 2005

36. Infinite Crisis 6- April 5th 2006

37. Infinite Crisis 7- May 3rd 2006

38. Robin 157- February 1st 2007

39. Robin 158- March 1st 2007

40. Countdown 34- September 5th 2007

41. Countdown 33- September 12th 2007

42. Countdown 32- September 19th 2007

43. Countdown 31- September 26th 2007

44. Countdown 30- October 3rd 2007

45. Justice League Of America 46- June 30th 2010

46. Justice League of America 47- July 28th 2010

47. DCU Halloween Special 2010- October 20th 2010

48. Batgirl 18- February 9th 2011

49. Superman/Batman 82- March 23rd 2011

50. Superman/Batman 83- April 20th 2011

51. Superman/Batman 84- May 18th 2011

52. The All New Batman: The Brave and the Bold 12- October 12th 2011

53. Batman: Li’l Gotham -8- September 8th 2013

54. Justice League Beyond 2.0 11- January 11th 2014

55. Batman Beyond Universe 6- January 22 2014

56. Justice League Beyond 2.0 12- January 25th 2014

57. Batman Beyond Universe 7- February 19th 2014

58. Justice League Beyond 2.0 13- February 8th 2014

59. Batman Beyond Universe 8- March 19th 2014

60. The Multiversity: The Society of super heroes: The conquerors of the counter world- September 17th 2014

61. Teen Titans: Futures End- September 17th 2014

62. Klarion 1- October 8th 2014

63. Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Three 2- October 22nd 2014

64. The Multiversity: The Just- October 22nd 2014

65. Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Three 3- November 5th 2014

66. Klarion 2- November 12th 2014

67. Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Three 4- November 19th 2014

68. Klarion 3- December 10th 2014

69. Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Three 6- December 24th 2014

70. Klarion 3- Janurary 14th 2015

71. The Multiversity Guidebook- January 28th 2015

72. Injustice: Gods Among Us Year three 9- February 11th 2015

73. Klarion 5- February 11th 2015

74. Klarion 6- March 11th 2015

75. Teen Titsns Annual 1- April 1st 2015

76. Multiversity 2- April 29th 2015

77. Teen Titans 9- June 24th 2015

78. Teen Titans 10- July 22nd 2015

79. Teen Titans 11- August 26th 2015

80. Secret Six 7- October 21st 2015

81. Teen Titans 13- November 11th 2015

82. Secret Six 8- November 18th 2015

83. Secret Six 10- January 20th 2016

84. Gotham Academy 17- April 13th 2016

85. Scooby-Doo Team-Up 19- October 26th 2016

86. Justice League 33 November 15th 2017

87. Justice League Dark 1- July 25th 2018

88. Sideways 7- August 8th 2018

89. Justice League Dark 2- August 22nd 2018

90. Catwoman/Tweety and Sylvester- August 29th 2018

91. Sideways 8- September 12th 2018

92. Raven: Daughter of Darkness 8- September 26th 2018

93. Raven: Daughter of Darkness 9- October 24th 2018

94. Sideways Annual- November 7th 2018

95. Suicide Squad Black Files 1- November 7th 2018

96. Raven: Daughter of Darkness 10- November 28th 2018

97. Sideways 10- November 21st 2018

98. Suicide Squad Black Files 2- December 5th 2018

99. Raven: Daughter of Darkness 11- January 2nd 2019

100. Suicide Squad Black Files- January 9th 2019

101. Raven: Daughter of Darkness 12- January 30th 2019

102. Suicide Squad Black Files 4- February 6th 2019

103. Justice League Dark 8- February 13th 2019

104. Suicide Squad Black Files 5- March 6th 2019

105. Justice League Dark 9- March 13th 2019

106. Suicide Squad Black Files 6- April 3rd 2019

107. Justice League Dark 10- April 24th 2019

108. DC’s Year of the Villain Special- May 1st 2019

109. Justice League Dark 11- May 22nd 2019

110. Justice League 26- June 19th 2019

111. Justice League Dark 14- August 28th 2019

112. Justice League 30- August 28th 2019

113. Justice League Dark 15- September 25th 2019

114. Justice League Dark 16- October 23rd 2019

115. Justice League Dark 17- November 27th 2019

116. Harley Quinn’s Villian of the year- December 11th 2019

117. Flash Forward 4- December 18th 2019

118. Justice League Dark 18- January 1st 2020

119. Justice League Dark 19-January 29th 2020

120. Zatana and the House of Secrets- February 2020

121. Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen 3- February 26th 2020

122. Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen 4- March 18th 2020

123. DC The Doomed and The Damned- October 13th 2020

124. DC’sVery Merry Multiverse- December 8th 2020

125. Wonder Woman Black & Gold 6- November 23rd 2021

126. Justice League Incarnate 2- December 21st 2021

127. DC VS Vampires 8- August 02 2022

128. The Flash 786- September 20th 2022

129. Batman VS Robin 2- October 11th 2022

130. Catwoman: Lonely City 4- October 25th 2022

131. Batman VS Robin 3- December 20th 2022

132. Lazarus Planet: Alpha- January 10 2023

133. Lazarus Planet: Omega- February 21st 2023

134. Superboy The Man Of Tomorrow 4- July 11th 2023

135. Speed Force 5- March 12th 2024

136. Outsiders 5- March 12th 2024

[dailycass-cain]

so this is my first time reading Batgirl (TYSM for the guide!) and I'm pretty new to comics in general. I've made it to #41 so far, and I can't help but notice the huge decline in writing from #38 onwards with the change of writers. Maybe it's just exacerbated by how good the previous issues were; but it really feels like Cass drastically went from a rare female character that is actually written with the same respect and depth as the male characters to being turned into a "girl superhero" with boy troubles who gets forced into bikinis and love triangles. Since you seem to know a lot about what was going on behind the scenes at the time, did something happen? I know there's misogynistic/racist men in the industry who hated Cass so I was wondering if that was already brewing back then during her 2000s run

I think when it came post-Puckett era, Dylan Horrocks was faced with a choice: ape off Puckett or try something different with the character.

I'll be honest, the early Horrocks' stuff you're in hasn't aged well. The ideas are interesting, of exploring sexuality and Cass realizing she can "see" what men think of her, and I think the utter realization of Babs making a mistake is good. It's just the overall execution is more of a miss.

The thing is, #41 gives us an excellent in-character reason for her choices. It's just this is all balanced with Bruce being pretty awful to Cass during this period (because this is all in a lead-up to Horrocks "big" story for #50).

Horrocks run can best be summed as: starts "meh" has interesting ideas, but fails to fully execute them well. There are some standoff amazing moments in the comics (I think the Doll Man issue is quite underrated).

Though, you're right. This is the era when Dan DiDio began to rise to power within the DC Comics Company, and it shows during this particular run.

So during this "run" we had A LOT of things happen outside the comic.

#1 Batman: Hush going on, and that story is particularly infamous for neglecting Cass due to story writer Jeph Loeb's distaste cause she wasn't Barbara Gordon (artist Jim Lee, who now currently runs DC too had this idea but since 2020 has softened this stance and realizes the mistake made).

Add this with DiDio's bias toward the Bronze Age "iconic" characters (Barry, Hal, and Babs) you have this growing problem.

#2 Cass DID get to be involved in another comic. The Justice League: Elite maxi-series. Though she didn't show up in THE Batman story, Cass was showing up in two other series at this time. One, well is in my "infamous" Cass reading guide (Batman: City of Light), and JL: Elite.

The later series did a nice job with the "twist" that Cass was on the team and as an agent of Batman spying on them. It is an actually interesting and good story.

#3 This is the era the "editorial edicts" started to come in. So a rather infamous thing during DiDio's reign was editorial edicts that would force changes in comics (leading to some outrageous OOC moments). This happened TWICE in Horrocks' Batgirl run.

At a certain point, Horrocks is told via top brass that he's losing Babs as a supporting cast member and has to write her off the comic. So he has to write a Babs/Cass go their separate ways due to well you'll see.

The other is in regards to Stephanie Brown who'll be back in the comic past #50 (she left the series in #38). What Horrocks didn't know until a Bat summit around this time (where all the Batman book creatives discussed where to take the books in the coming months) is that Stephanie's days were numbered.

She was coming back (and as Robin), but they were killing off the character. Horrocks and Nightwing writer Devin Grayson HATED the idea and objected to it.

Sadly, they were outvoted and well whatever else occurred in those meetings (or after) resulted in Horrocks quitting the Batgirl series and DC Comics itself by #57 (this is why Horrocks' run on the book just ends abruptly with no real end). Horrocks is still currently just enjoying the life of writing and doing Indie comics.

Interestingly, whatever Horrocks said or did it's interesting to note his is the only run never collected fully by DC Comics. Sadly, the only Batgirl issues that were EVER put in a trade were the stuff that made him walk (Batman: War Games, the event that killed Stephanie Brown). That was until the mid-2010s when DC released a HC Batgirl Anniversary trade that also included stories of Bette Kane, Steph, and Cass as Batgirl. #45 (aka Cass wearing Babs' Batgirl costume) is in the trade collection.

Ironically, this bad management editorial would also eventually affect Kelley Puckett (who returns to DC with Supergirl Vol. 5 #23-29, 31-32) around 2008 to 2009 but then ALSO decided to leave DC and comics altogether.

Not those two, but also the writer who'd replaced Horrocks, Andersen Gabrych (who was one of the minds behind War Games). However, I honestly do love Gabrych's run on Batgirl more than Horrocks. It's just the edicts and the rushing toward the end of his run kind of sours it.

I hope all this information is helpful.

[psychedslash]

Was thinking about my favorite comics covers starring my favorite character. (Batgirl Vol. 1 (2000) #41-57, James Jean)

[cazzam]

THE NEW AND IMPROVED CASSANDRA CAIN READING GUIDE

Cassandra Cain is the daughter of assassins David Cain and Sandra Wu-San (better known as Lady Shiva), and was raised by Cain. She is an expert hand-to-hand combatant, and able to read body language to the point of interpreting complex thoughts, but learning to communicate better through speech and text. She has operated as a vigilante under the names of Batgirl, Kasumi, Black Bat, and Orphan, and is currently sharing the title of Batgirl with Stephanie Brown and Barbara Gordon.

Basic Reading

Batgirl (2000)

Batman: Gates of Gotham (2011)

Detective Comics (2016) #934-987

Batman and the Outsiders (2019)

Batgirls (2021)

Spirit World (2023)

Birds of Prey (2023)

Batgirl (2024)

Cassandra's major appearances are listed in chronological order (mostly) under the cut. My favorites are bolded.

No Man's Land

All issues collected in Batman: No Man's Land (2011) vol. 2-4. I recommend reading the entire event.

Batman (1940) #567 [first appearance]

Detective Comics (1937) #734

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120 [Cassandra takes up Batgirl mantle]

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #56-57

Batman (1940) #569

The Batman Chronicles #18

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #60-61

Robin (1993) #73

As Batgirl

Issues that are part of events may be confusing out of context.

Batman: Gotham Knights #2, 5

Batman: Gotham City Secret Files and Origins [first story]

Batgirl (2000) #1-2

Young Justice (1998) #21

Batgirl (2000) #3-11, 12 [Officer Down start]

Birds of Prey (1999) #27

Catwoman (1993) #90 [Officer Down end]

Batgirl (2000) Annual #1, #13-19

Harley Quinn (2000) #10

Robin (1993) #88 [first meeting with Stephanie Brown]

Batgirl (2000) #20, 21 [Joker: Last Laugh start]

Joker: Last Laugh #3

Supergirl (1996) #63 [transphobia cw, Joker: Last Laugh end]

DC First: Batgirl/Joker

Batgirl (2000) #22-23, 24 [Bruce Wayne: Murderer? / Fugitive start]

Robin (1993) #98

Batgirl (2000) #25-29

Batman (1940) #605 [Bruce Wayne: Murderer? / Fugitive end]

Batgirl: Secret Files and Origins

Batgirl (2000) #30-32

Batman: Gotham Knights #33, 35

Batgirl (2000) #33-38

Batman: Family #7

Detective Comics (1937) #782 [backup], 790

Nightwing (1996) #81

Superboy (1994) #85 [first meeting with Kon-El/Conner Kent]

Batgirl (2000) #39-44

Batman: Gotham Knights #42, 45-46, 48-49

Robin (1993) #119

Batgirl (2000) #45-47

Superman/Batman #5

Batgirl (2000) #48-50

Birds of Prey (1999) #61, 63

Batgirl (2000) #51-53

Solo #10 [third story]

Detective Comics (1937) #796 [backup]

Robin (1993) #127-128

Batgirl (2000) #54

War Games

All issues collected in Batman: War Games (2015). I don't recommend reading the entire event.

Detective Comics (1937) #797

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #182

Nightwing (1996) #96

Batgirl (2000) #55

Batman (1940) #631

Batgirl (2000) #56

Nightwing (1996) #98

Batgirl (2000) #57

Batgirl in Bludhaven

Robin (1993) #132 [Fresh Blood start]

Batgirl (2000) #58

Robin (1993) #133

Batgirl (2000) #59 [Fresh Blood end]

Batman Allies: Secret Files and Origins 2005 [third story]

Batgirl (2000) #60-73

With the League of Assassins and Deathstroke

I don't recommend reading anything in this section except Batgirl (2008) #6.

Robin (1993) #148-151, 161-162

Supergirl (2005) #14

World War III #2

Teen Titans (2003) #43-46

Batman and the Outsiders (2007)

Batgirl (2008) [recap of this era. Bruce adopts Cassandra]

As Black Bat

Battle for the Cowl: The Network

Batgirl (2009) #1 [Cassandra gives Batgirl mantle to Stephanie]

Red Robin #17

Batman Incorporated (2011) #6

Red Robin #25

Batman: Gates of Gotham

As Orphan

The New 52 reboot changed Cassandra’s origins, personality, and relationships with other characters. Rebirth was a soft reboot that kept New 52 canon but brought back elements from the previous continuity.

Batman and Robin Eternal #1-9, 11-14, 17-26 [New 52]

Detective Comics (2016) #934-940 [Rebirth]

Batman (2016) #7 [Night of the Monster Men start]

Nightwing (2016) #5

Detective Comics (2016) #941

Batman (2016) #8

Nightwing (2016) #6

Detective Comics (2016) #942 [Night of the Monster Men end], 943-962

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) #15

Detective Comics (2016) #963-964

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #15-17

Detective Comics (2016) #965-981, 983-987

Batman and the Outsiders (2019)

DC: The Doomed and the Damned [seventh story]

Batman: The Joker War Zone [second story]

Batman (2016) #104

Return of Batgirl

The Infinite Frontier reboot considers all past continuities canon.

Infinite Frontier #0

Batman Secret Files: The Signal

Batman: Urban Legends #3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 14

The Joker (2021) #3-4, 7, 11-12, 15

Detective Comics (2016) #1038 [backup], 1049, 1052, 1057

Batman (2016) #112 [main], 115-116 [backups]

Nightwing (2016) #85-86

Batman (2016) #117 [backup]

Batgirls #1-6

Task Force Z #8

DC Pride: Tim Drake Special

Robin (2021) #15

Detective Comics (2016) #1061

Batgirls #7

Catwoman (2018) #45

Batgirls #8-12

Batman One Bad Day: Two-Face

Tim Drake: Robin #4

Batgirls Annual 2022, #13-19

Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate [fourth story]

Spirit World (2023)

Birds of Prey (2023) #1- [ongoing]

Detective Comics (2016) #1084 [backup]

Other Appearances

Ghost/Batgirl [Dark Horse Comics crossover]

Batman: Outlaws #2

Batman: City of Light [not recommended]

Justice League Elite [as Kasumi]

Wonder Woman (2006) #600 [second story]

Batgirl (2016) #50 [third story]

DC Festival of Heroes [first story]

Truth & Justice #6 [#16-18 digital first]

Alternate Universes

Tiny Titans #33, 39, 43, 45

Batgirl: Futures End

Convergence: Batgirl

Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey (2020)

DCeased: Unkillables / Dead Planet #5 / War of the Undead Gods

Shadow of the Batgirl [YA graphic novel]

Dark Knights: Death Metal Robin King [backup]

Future State: The Next Batman #2, 4 [second stories]

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures [webtoon]

DC vs. Vampires

Dark Knights of Steel #9

Last updated: April 23, 2024

[casscainmainly]

The Evolution of Cassandra Cain's Dialogue

Since Batgirl #1 is out and thriving, I thought it'd be fun to dive into the history of Cass' dialogue throughout different writers/runs. This is not comprehensive - I'll miss some writers, but I'll be covering her generally most known runs in mainline continuity (so no DCeased, Shadow of the Batgirl, etc.). Not a linguist by any means, so linguists on here feel free to chime in! (I'll also give opinions on which interpretations I personally prefer at the end).

Without further ado, we'll start at the beginning:

Kelley Puckett - Batgirl (2000)

Pre-issue 4, Cass speaks minimally in one-word sentences and doesn't have internal narration. Post-issue 4 (when a metahuman changes Cass' brain), she develops an internal monologue and begins to speak longer sentences. I'm splitting Puckett's Cass dialogue into 3 stages: early, middle, and late.

Early (#4 - #12): Cass speaks short, fragmented sentences. Each word has an ellipses between them (panel 1 above, from #7).

Middle (#13 - #24): Cass continues to speak incomplete sentences (often missing a subject or pronouns), but without ellipses (panel 2, from #13).

Late (#25 onwards): Cass begins to speak complete, simple sentences, punctuated by a few ellipses (panel 3, from #33). She continues to speak grammatically (though slowly) throughout the final part of Puckett's run.

Dylan Horrocks - Batgirl (2000)

Horrocks writes very similarly to late-Puckett, with Cass speaking in full, simple sentences, punctuated by the occasional ellipses. Horrocks introduces two new elements to her dialogue:

Cass stutters, sometimes repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of a sentence (panel 1 above, from #39). This is mostly used in the earlier parts of Horrocks' run.

She quotes reality TV (panel 2, from #51).

Maybe because of the reality TV, Cass also speaks more colloquially here than in Puckett's run, using phrases like "come 'n' get it" (from #57).

Andersen Gabrych - Batgirl (2000)

Gabrych's run focuses heavily on Cass' dialogue. Panel 1 above, from #58, suggests her narration boxes are another form of dialogue - Cass is speaking into a recorder. Several features of Gabrych's Cass dialogue are:

Ellipses: Even more than his predecessors, Gabrych scatters ellipses throughout Cass' speech (panel 1).

Fillers: Cass extensively uses filler words such as 'uh', 'um', and 'like' (panel 1, panel 2 from #61).

Longer sentences: Cass is more talkative and speaks longer sentences (panel 1, which is basically more words per panel than Puckett and Horrocks combined).

Wordplay: Cass often ponders definitions and word structures (panel 1, 2).

Adam Beechen - Batgirl (2008)

After evil Cass (that dialogue is not worth discussing), Beechen gets another chance with Cass in this miniseries. More than any other writer, Beechen differentiates Cass' internal monologue from her dialogue - her narration boxes are much wordier than her speech.

Her dialogue is a more loquacious version of late-Puckett or Horrocks: full sentences interspersed with ellipses (panel 1, from #1). The ellipses drop off towards the end of the series.

Her narration boxes use a variety of sentence structures and vocabulary. They read more or less as fluent English (panel 2, from #4).

Scott Snyder - Gates of Gotham (2011)

Snyder's Cass somewhat resembles mid-Puckett, using short sentences without ellipses (panel 1, from #2). She speaks a fair amount, but is more taciturn here than in any previous run. This is partially due to her not having narration boxes.

A unique feature of Snyder's Cass is preferring formal to informal speech. Though she uses contractions (panel 1), she goes large stretches without them (panel 2, from #3). She also omits the subject of a sentence only once in 5 issues, whereas native speakers (like Dick) drop the subject all the time ('have you ever been to Paris?' vs. 'ever been to Paris?'; Snyder's Cass would always say the former instead of the latter).

Sidenote: Batman & Robin: Eternal (2015)

Quick note about B&R:E: Cass is reintroduced into canon after being erased by the New 52, which means she's back to having very limited language ability. The series is scripted by multiple people, so it's hard to analyse. Suffice it to say she speaks in monosyllabic words, at most a short, incomplete sentence, but is mostly silent.

James Tynion IV - Detective Comics (2016)

Because Cass' language ability has been reset, Tynion develops her speech along the lines of Batgirl (2000).

Early Tynion has Cass speaking single word sentences (panel 1, from #938). Very similar to pre-metahuman touch Cass in BG (2000).

During the League of Shadows arc, Cass begins to speak a few words at a time, often separated by an ellipsis (panel 2, from #956).

Afterwards, Cass' friendship with Basil Karlo blossoms, leading to this run's most distinctive language feature - Cass improves her speech via studying and quoting Shakespeare (panel 3, from #958). Her improvement is reflected in the rest of the run through speaking longer and more frequent sentences.

Bryan Hill - Batman & The Outsiders (2019)

Like other writers, Hill's Cass generally uses short, simple sentences. She frequently drops the subject or pronoun in a sentence (panel 1, from #1). Hill doesn't use ellipses to separate the sentences, opting for periods most of the time.

Cass sometimes omits other words from her sentences too, dropping articles like 'a' and 'the' (panel 2, from #4), prepositions like 'to', and verbs like 'is' (panel 3, from #9). This peters out in the second half of the run.

Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad - Batgirls (2022)

Similar to mid-Puckett, Batgirls has Cass speak mostly in short, 1-2 word sentences (panel 1, from #2). Cloonan and Conrad occasionally use ellipses as well, though mostly for emphasis/natural hesitation rather than indicating a unique speech pattern (panel 2, from #7).

Cass also has a habit of repeating/echoing a phrase Stephanie says (panel 3, from #16). This might be more of a friendship thing than a speech thing, though.

Alyssa Wong - Spirit World (2023)

Wong's Cass uses short sentences sometimes interrupted by ellipses, like late-Puckett and Horrocks (panel 1, from #1). Generally, if the sentence is three words or less, there won't be an ellipsis (panel 2, from #5).

Kelly Thompson - Birds of Prey (2023)

Thompson's Cass draws on a lot of previous iterations, but is somewhat unique as a whole. Some elements of BoP Cass include:

She speaks in sentences of varying lengths, but rarely with more than one clause (panel 1, from #1). Thompson is more strict about not using commas with Cass than most other writers.

Cass is a little more talkative (panel 2, from #5). Her sentences are fairly lengthy compared to most other runs, and she doesn't always opt for the shortest way to say things ('where is it?' instead of 'do you know where it is?'). Thompson also doesn't use ellipses, which adds to the sentences feeling longer/more complete.

BoP is ongoing so Thompson may add more to her speech.

Sidenote: Ram V - Detective Comics (2023)

Putting this in a sidenote since there's not much to say, but Ram V takes after mid-Puckett, with Cass using shorter, incomplete sentences. Cass almost always omits the subject of a sentence; her dialogue is as short as possible while retaining clarity.

Thoughts

Because Cass' language disability is a core part of her character, but learning to speak is also a core part of her character, I prefer writers who emphasize her unique speech patterns without reducing her range of expression. My favourites are:

Gabrych - by far the person who put the most effort into his dialogue, Gabrych-Cass has such a vibrant, distinctive style of speaking. The narration boxes, Cass' wordplay, and the use of fillers and ellipses all combine for a speech style that highlights her disability without reducing her to it.

Puckett/Horrocks - combining because they are really very similar. Puckett and Horrocks both use ellipses to great effect, and is a great style to emulate for Cass in an earlier stage of life. Horrocks' use of reality TV is severely underutilised. Puckett, of course, is the gold standard for typical Cass dialogue - if Gabrych's style is a little too much, Puckett and Horrocks are the way to go.

Tynion - mostly because of the Shakespeare thing. It's such a beautiful and clever way of showing her progress, and the amount of symbolism you could do with Cass quoting Shakespeare is unmatched.

I don't super enjoy the more talkative Casses (Beechen, Thompson to an extent), though I kind of like Snyder's take because there's a sense of Cass being very careful with her speech there. If you're writing Cass for a fanfic or something, I would avoid Hill's Outsiders; the run is great, but Cass' ungrammatical speech is unusual and doesn't jibe with the rest of her depictions. Ram V and Wong are relatively good depictions to draw from though.

Of course these are my opinions! I may have gotten some things wrong/overgeneralised stuff, so take all this with a grain of salt. All you need to know is you should read Batgirl (2000) :).

[roseworth]

Rose Wilson (pre-flashpoint) Reading Guide :^)

hiiiiii i need everyone to love her and talk about her all the time

this isnt everything, this i just what i think you need to get a pretty good idea of who she is <3 if you want more this list has most of her pre52 appearances (EDIT: and i have a post-flashpoint reading list now too!!!!)

all the important issues for her story are in bold and my personal favorites are italicized. in all honestly you can skip a lot of the bolded ones but i WILL take it personally if you skip my favorites

Deathstroke v1 #15 (her introduction!!)

Deathstroke v1 #45-46, #48, annual #4, #51

New Titans #126

Titans v1 #27, #33, #37

Teen Titans v3 #0.5

Teen Titans v3 #8, #12

Batgirl v1 #64

Nightwing v2 #112-115

Nightwing v2 #117

Teen Titans v3 #34-35, #40-41, #43-46, #57, #60, #71, #88, #90-91, #98-100

Batgirl v2 #2-4

Titans v2 #13, Teen Titans v3 #70, Vigilante v3 #6

Teen Titans v3 #77-78

Faces of Evil: Deathstroke

Teen Titans v3 #72-76 & #79-82 (second feature)

now unfortunately i love to explain myself so i gave my reasonings for everything i put under the cut:

welcome to the annotated version <3

Deathstroke #15 - this tells the story of slade meeting lillian worth, rose's mom, and then shows rose for the first time <3 honestly this one doesnt do much for rose other than saying that she exists but it still matters

Deathstroke #45-46 - before this, rose is kidnapped and escapes but i didnt include that in the list because shes not doing much until these issues. but she has things to do in these and has great moments of lili trying to protect her. dont bother reading any of the actual deathstroke stuff because i do not care what hes up to

Deathstroke #48 - rose meets slade for the first time!!! it does not go well

Deathstroke annual #4 - shes not in this til the last few pages but i get the content of rose mourning her mother where i can bc it does not get brought up for like 20 years after this. also rose being a badass is always welcome to me

Deathstroke #51 - this one is almost entirely rose's pov!!! granted shes not exactly the center of the story but still! it also starts showing her meta abilities and precognition which is so slay of her

New Titans #126 - this is the first time she gets like. an actual personality. and its great. i lov her dynamics with the other titans and i love kyle and donna kind of trying to parent her. and also shows a little bit more of how she feels about her mom hehe. in the issue before this she puts a gun to someones head which i think is also worth reading that moment of her however. its a one page scene and it never gets brought up again so i didnt bother including it

Titans #27, #33, #37 - honestly i think that roses entire time nannying lian is worth reading but she doesnt do a Lot in each issue so i felt bad including the whole thing sdjafhadsf but she has scattered appearances from #25-39 and theyre all FANTASTIC. one of my favorite eras of rose for sure

Teen Titans #0.5  - this is her joining her father :( terrible hate kill but its a very important part of her story. also she has a random family here which ??? i mean sure i guess. love that everyone was playing hot potato with rose for like 10 years though

Teen Titans #8 - calls herself ravager for the first time so its kind of important. honestly though i wasnt even gonna include this at first but decided that it was important enough to throw in. shes only on the last page of this though

Teen Titans #12 - this is where she loses her eye (see: takes her own knife and stabs it out) so its pretty significant. also bart reaching out to her and trying to help her is sweet :) i dont really care about brother blood at all though so i didnt include the rest of this arc but it starts at #9 if youre really interested

Batgirl v1 #64 - this one is extremely biased im gonna be real. i just love batgirl 2000 and this issue was really good for both of them honestly, its the two of them fighting and does a good job showing rose's relationship with her dad during this time and showing her skills 

Nightwing #112-115 - this one was just so much fun. i wouldnt call it 100% in character but theres a lot of good stuff about rose wanting a family and its rly sweet :( its also hilarious to me and its so fun to read it

Nightwing #117  - leaving her father!!! she really only shows up on a couple pages here but you know. its pretty significant. 

GENERAL WARNING FOR TEEN TITANS: a lot of teen titans was written by geoff johns and. i dont know how to put it other than that hes VERY geoff johns about it. there are bits of misogyny and racism in pretty much every issue. even after johns stops writing it still has some extremely iffy parts. so just be warned :(

EDIT: since making this list i have made yet another list of her tt03 appearances and whether or not they should be read so u can check that out if you’re interested <3

Teen Titans #34 - her intro to the team!! talks a little about how she got there and what shes doing etc. also wlw hostility with cassie

Teen Titans #35 - this one originally wasnt even on the list because it comes with HEAVY disclaimers. this issue includes rose trying to rape tim, which i consider to be the worst moment in that entire book, and probably the most out of character thing rose has ever done. thank you geoff johns. HOWEVER this issue also has a lot of really nice moments with rose and eddie that i really enjoyed :( so just. disregard the first few pages if you read this

Teen Titans #40-41 - you will quickly find out that i am a sucker for rose and joey being siblings. in all honesty i know very little about joey but i DO know that he and rose have rly sweet moments in a lot of these

Teen Titans #43-46 - a lot of deathstroke stuff. mostly boring but rose does get to fight her dad here :) and also some more rose & joey moments. though do be warned as a cassandra cain fan these issues did send me flying into a blind rage because she is so out of character

Teen Titans #57 & #60 - precognition!!! rose being a badass!!! my love!!!!!! this is a good issue. it does go back on a lot of what its already gone over by saying "ooo rose is so murderous and dangerous!!" but. whatever. i like it when shes murderous. these are all part of an arc that goes from #56-60 if you want the full story but these two are the ones that rose has the most to do in. then #60 leads into Terror Titans which. um. was not good. very out of character for rose and just not an interesting story at all. but i mean if you want to read it she is in it

Teen Titans #71  - rose-centric issues my beloved hehe :) this issue is pretty good and sets off her story in the second feature starting in #72

Teen Titans #88 - rose rejoining the team!!!!! which i have mixed feelings on because it was clearly a "the writer wanted her there but didnt want to do the work to put her back so they just threw her in" situation which is fine i guess. it ignores a lot of whats already happened though :/ but!!!! lillian worth mention!!! woo!!!!

Teen Titans #90-91 - damian and rose's dynamic is so fucking funny and i love it. they are iconic together its amazing

Teen Titans #98-100 - final teen titans arc!! rose isnt specifically doing a lot but she does have some really good moments here. also she has an interaction with mia for like 2 panels so i need to cut those 2 panels out and frame them <3 but be warned. the writer was clearly going in the rose/conner direction for some reason which. um. hm.

Batgirl v2 #2-4 - ICONIC. i have issues with cass's characterization in this but rose is wonderful. she can be patricidal as a treat <3 shes planning ahead and shes a good fighter and shes murderous. what more do you need.

Teen Titans #70, Titans #13, Vigilante #6 - these are all part of a bigger crossover, Titans #12 and Vigilante #5 come before these but rose doesnt have anything to do there and i did not read them because i dont really care about the story of this one. but oh my god. this has some FANTASTIC rose & joey content. all of their interactions in this killed me esp the last part :(

Teen Titans #77-78 - oughghggogugughggh this one was so sad fr. i love it when rose tries to kill her dad but there were so many parts in this where i was full of pain. but also joey and rose moment hiiii !! but most importantly lili is revealed to be alive here!!! yippee!!!!

Faces of Evil: Deathstroke #1 - hiiiii im actually adding this one to the list nearly a year after i originally made it lol <3 but i love this issue so much and i cant believe i never added it. most of the reason i like it is because i like it when she commits patricide and like half of this comic is dedicated to her kicking his ass then getting her ass kicked. god i love her

Teen Titans #72-76 & #79-82 - FRESH HELL MY BELOVED <3 greatest rose story of all time <333 the writer is clearly weird about rose but who am i to judge. lots of good moments of her struggling with morality and finding out who she is and its a pretty good story and im pretty sure there was one part that made me cry

and there we go !! i know most ppl dont add their opinion to their reading lists however i mostly made this for my followers and i am the god of this list and i do what i want

[xanthezhou]

CASSANDRA CAIN READING GUIDE

We made you a warrior. You made yourself a hero.

Cassandra Cain is the daughter of assassins David Cain and Sandra Wu-San, and was raised by Cain. Her childhood training made her an expert hand-to-hand combatant with the ability to read body language to the point of interpreting complex thoughts, but also left her nonverbal, illiterate, and with limited social skills. Cassandra experienced her first kill when she was eight, and seeing the pain and fear the man felt as he died made her realize what she did was wrong and run away from her father. Years later, Cassandra came to Gotham, and during the events of No Man's Land became Batgirl with Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon's approval.

Basic Reading

Batgirl (2000)

Batman: Gates of Gotham (2011)

Detective Comics (2016) #934-987

Batman and the Outsiders (2019)

Batgirls (2021)

Cassandra's major appearances are listed in chronological order (mostly) under the cut. My favorites are bolded.

No Man's Land

All issues collected in Batman: No Man's Land (2011) vol. 2-4.

Batman (1940) #567 [first appearance]

Detective Comics (1937) #734

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120 [Cassandra takes up Batgirl mantle]

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #56-57

Batman (1940) #569

The Batman Chronicles #18

Batman: No Man's Land #0 [explains Batgirl costume design. Cassandra doesn't appear in this issue]

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #60-61

Robin (1993) #73

As Batgirl

Batman: Gotham Knights #2, 5

Batman: Gotham City Secret Files and Origins [first story]

Batgirl (2000) #1-2

Young Justice (1998) #21

Batgirl (2000) #3-11, 12 [Officer Down start]

Birds of Prey (1999) #27

Catwoman (1993) #90 [Officer Down end]

Batgirl (2000) Annual #1, #13-19

Harley Quinn (2000) #10

Robin (1993) #88 [first meeting with Stephanie Brown]

Batgirl (2000) #20, 21 [Joker: Last Laugh start]

Joker: Last Laugh #3

Supergirl (1996) #63 [transphobia cw, Joker: Last Laugh end]

DC First: Batgirl/Joker

Batgirl (2000) #22-23, 24 [Bruce Wayne: Murderer? / Fugitive start]

Robin (1993) #98

Batgirl (2000) #25-29

Batman (1940) #605 [Bruce Wayne: Murderer? / Fugitive end]

Batgirl: Secret Files and Origins

Batgirl (2000) #30-32

Batman: Gotham Knights #33, 35

Batgirl (2000) #33-38

Batman: Family #7

Detective Comics (1937) #782 [backup], 790

Nightwing (1996) #81

Superboy (1994) #85 [first meeting with Kon-El/Conner Kent]

Batgirl (2000) #39-44

Batman: Gotham Knights #42, 45-46, 48-49

Robin (1993) #119

Batgirl (2000) #45-47

Superman/Batman #5

Batgirl (2000) #48-50

Birds of Prey (1999) #61, 63

Batgirl (2000) #51-53

Solo #10 [third story]

Detective Comics (1937) #796 [backup]

Robin (1993) #127-128

Batgirl (2000) #54

War Games

All issues collected in Batman: War Games (2015).

Detective Comics (1937) #797

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #182

Nightwing (1996) #96

Batgirl (2000) #55

Batman (1940) #631

Batgirl (2000) #56

Nightwing (1996) #98

Batgirl (2000) #57

Batgirl in Bludhaven

Robin (1993) #132 [Fresh Blood start]

Batgirl (2000) #58

Robin (1993) #133

Batgirl (2000) #59 [Fresh Blood end]

Batman Allies: Secret Files and Origins 2005 [third story]

Batgirl (2000) #60-73

With the League of Assassins and Deathstroke

I don't recommend reading anything in this section except Batgirl (2008) #6.

Robin (1993) #148-151, 161-162

Supergirl (2005) #14

World War III #2

Teen Titans (2003) #43-46

Batman and the Outsiders (2007)

Batgirl (2008) [recap of this era. Bruce adopts Cassandra]

As Black Bat

Battle for the Cowl: The Network

Batgirl (2009) #1 [Cassandra gives Batgirl mantle to Stephanie]

Red Robin #17

Batman Incorporated (2011) #6

Red Robin #25

Batman: Gates of Gotham

As Orphan

The New 52 reboot changed Cassandra’s origins, personality, and relationships with other characters. Rebirth was a soft reboot that kept New 52 canon but brought back elements from the previous continuity.

Batman and Robin Eternal #1-9, 11-14, 17-26 [New 52]

Detective Comics (2016) #934-940 [Rebirth]

Batman (2016) #7 [Night of the Monster Men start]

Nightwing (2016) #5

Detective Comics (2016) #941

Batman (2016) #8

Nightwing (2016) #6

Detective Comics (2016) #942 [Night of the Monster Men end], 943-962

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) #15

Detective Comics (2016) #963-964

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #15-17

Detective Comics (2016) #965-981, 983-987

Batman and the Outsiders (2019)

DC: The Doomed and the Damned [seventh story]

Batman: The Joker War Zone [second story]

Batman (2016) #104

Return of Batgirl

The Infinite Frontier reboot considers all past continuities canon.

Infinite Frontier #0

Batman Secret Files: The Signal

Batman: Urban Legends #3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 14

The Joker (2021) #3-4, 7, 11-12, 15

Detective Comics (2016) #1038 [backup], 1049, 1052, 1057

Batman (2016) #112 [main], 115-116 [backups]

Nightwing (2016) #85-86

Batman (2016) #117 [backup]

Batgirls #1-6

Task Force Z #8

DC Pride: Tim Drake Special

Robin (2021) #15

Detective Comics (2016) #1061

Batgirls #7

Catwoman (2018) #45

Batgirls #8- [ongoing]

Batman One Bad Day: Two-Face

Other Appearances

Ghost/Batgirl [Dark Horse Comics crossover]

Batman: Outlaws #2

Batman: City of Light [not recommended]

Justice League Elite [as Kasumi]

Wonder Woman (2006) #600 [second story]

Batgirl (2016) #50 [third story]

DC Festival of Heroes [first story]

Truth & Justice #6 [#16-18 digital first]

Alternate Universes

Tiny Titans #33, 39, 43, 45

Batgirl: Futures End

Convergence: Batgirl

Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey (2020)

DCeased: Unkillables / Dead Planet #5 / War of the Undead Gods

Shadow of the Batgirl [YA graphic novel]

Dark Knights: Death Metal Robin King [backup]

Future State: The Next Batman #2, 4 [second stories]

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures [webtoon]

DC vs. Vampires

Other Media

Batman: No Man’s Land: A Novel

DC Universe Online [video game, npc]

Injustice: Gods Among Us [video game, playable]

DC Legends [video game, playable]

Birds of Prey [movie]

Young Justice season 3-4

Batwheels

[blackbatcass]

hii linden! i kinda needed some help

so, i wanna read some comics based on:

donna troy, cass cain and wally west

but i have literally noo idea where to start 😭 ofc ik the basics but i was hoping you could suggest something?? thank you so much if you do and have a wonderful day!

yeah i gotchu!! those are literally my besties lol i can definitely give you some recs. i'm not sure what you'd consider to be the basics so i'll just include all the big stuff to be thorough

donna troy:

first rec is always new teen titans as you probably would have guessed lol. it is a very long and arduous undertaking though so some more specific recs would be vol. 1 #38, #50, vol. 2 #18-21, #50-55.

i've gone into more detail on her appearances in darkstars, green lantern etc but honestly though they are important to understand the status quo & what was going on with her, i don't think they're very good comics to just read for donna. my next rec would probably be wonder woman (1987) #126-136, which is a VERY important arc for her. it goes into more detail on her origin, reconnects her to the amazons & diana, and i believe is where she officially passes on the wonder girl mantle to cassie. and she appears frequently throughout the rest of that wonder woman run after the arc if you want to continue on!

titans (1999) is another big one, beloved beloved comic. lots of good donna content.

titans/young justice: graduation day #1-3 YIKES! unfortunately pivotal to her story lol

dc special: the return of donna troy look. i know I gush about this comic like it's my full time job. but honest to god i adore it to pieces, it's a love letter to donna and her history and it's one of my favorite comics of all time despite only being 4 issues. begging everyone on the planet to read it rn

cass cain:

cass was famously introduced in batman: no man's land! now that event is very very long so it might seem tempting to skip straight to bg 2000 but i'm here to tell you to not do that. if nothing else it is PIVOTAL that you read her introduction issues (mark of cain pts 1 & 2), batman #567 and detective comics #734. probably the coolest most metal introduction of any comics character in history, it's that good. if you're interested in cass's role in nml but not the whole thing, here's a list of her appearances:

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #56

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #57

Batman Chronicles #18

Batman #569

Detective Comics #738

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #124

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #92

Detective Comics #739

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #93

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #60-61

Detective Comics #741

i think nml is essential reading for cass and it makes me sad that a lot of people skip it.

next is, of course, batgirl (2000). it's her character bible it's god's (kelley puckett's) gift to mankind it's maybe the best comic ever written. what more can i say

she's also a fixture in gotham knights! cass was a part of most batfamily events in the early 2000s, ex. officer down, joker's last laugh, war games, bruce wayne: murderer? and bruce wayne: fugitive. it's pretty easy to find them since they mostly cross over with her batgirl run.

detective comics #790 is only one issue but it's. ough.

aaaaand then we get into the evil cass arc stuff which just sucks and isn't worth it. she's pretty much written out of the story for a while, other than red robin #17 & #25.

she does show up as black bat in gates of gotham! i really enjoy that story, and it's only 5 issues.

that gets us to new52. i would completely disregard her rebirth and batgirls appearances honestly. she is a part of the current birds of prey ongoing! and while i am not kelly thompson's biggest fan i do think she gets a lot of cool moments and for the most part she's done right.

she is also featured sporadically throughout ram v's gotham nocturne storyline (it started way back in detective comics #1062 if you want to read the whole arc, it's VERY good). i have to give a special shoutout to #1084, which has a backup story that's focused on cass and it legitamately blew my mind. like i couldn't believe my eyes when i was reading it, maybe it's because cass has been done so dirty over the years that anything makes me happy but to get a cass-centric story featuring shiva that cares about her as a character in 2024 was crazy 2 me i will rave about it forever. thank you alex paknadel.

wally west:

the good news is my wally reclist is WAY less complicated. as is predictable for me, pretty much the only wally rec I have is flash volume 2 (1987). it is for all intents and purposes The Story of Wally West tm. it's his character bible it follows him throughout nearly a decade of his life. because it's so long my specific rec would be to read waid's run on it, from #62-142. if you want more context to his life at the time you can start earlier in the comic, i think #31 is a good jumping on point if you want to experience some messner-loebs but not too much messner-loebs lmfao.

he's featured in titans (1999) until about issue #20, iirc. wally is just fated to quit titans teams lol. there is some good stuff with him up until that point though!

that is honestly about all i got until you get to more modern flash comics. after rebirth he's reintroduced in flash vol. 5, and #768-800 is the jeremy adams run.

he's also the main focus in si spurrier's flash vol. 6! aka the current flash ongoing. which... as i have often said, i am a big fan of.

AND THAT’S MY LIST!!! i hope it helped you out at least a little lol!

[ectonurites]

steph got pregnant?

Yep! It was a whole big plotline in Robin in the late 90's

Tim & Steph officially get together in Robin #56, and then at the end of the next issue a week after their date night... Steph finds out she's pregnant from her previous boyfriend.

(Robin (1993) #57)

Because of things like 'it was written in 1998-99' and 'Chuck Dixon is a conservative' the comic takes a very pro-life stance on the whole thing and Steph decides to have the baby.

Tim takes her to lamaze classes and stuff undercover, and imo handles the situation pretty maturely for a 14 year old kid way out of his depth (while she's also, ya know, a 15 year old kid out of her depth)

(Robin (1993) #60)

Tim's family moves out of Gotham due to The Quake while Steph's still pregnant, which complicates things. Ultimately he gets Wally (because they'd moved to Keystone City!) to bring him back to Gotham so he could be there with Steph when she gave birth

(Robin (1993) #64)

This gets him in a world of trouble with his parents because he really did take off and run several states away with no warning, but making sure Steph was okay was worth it.

It's all a tough situation, especially just with how young she is, going through all that. There was a bit of time she was having second thoughts about giving the baby up for adoption but ultimately she decided that was the right thing for her to do.

(Robin (1993) #65)

The baby then gets brought up a few times later. A few instances I recall off the top of my head being when she casually mentions it to Cass

(Batgirl (2000) #38)

When the father of the baby drops by and Steph gives him a piece of her mind

(Robin (1993) #80)

and when Steph is dying during War Games, she tells Bruce.

(Batman (1940) #633)

How does Steph now suddenly know the baby was a girl when she'd told Tim not to tell her the gender? Don't ask me. Comics. Maybe at some point the fact that Tim knew (because he'd tried to tell her and she stopped him, so clearly he knew) while she didn't drove her to ask later down the line.

[northoftheroad]

Dick and Tim – brothers in arms

So I got this ask. And it’s a good thing I got it the first night of my summer vacation, and the weather hasn't been great ;-)

Once I started digging for comics with both Tim and Dick, I found several that I've never read. I got the impression Anonymous would like a complete list, so I just kept going. But this means I don't know if they even interact in some of the books, or if they make "blink and you miss it" guest appearances.

I'm sorry if they, by any chance, was asking for reading recommendations for good Dick and Tim moments and not The Complete List... Looking at the number of comics here that I haven't read/can't remember, I'm not really qualified to answer that. But if I had to try, I would mention:  

A Lonely Place of Dying

The New Titans #65

All issues of Nightwing vol 2 with Robin as a guest star, including Nightwing Annual #1 but excluding Annual # 2.

Showcase '93 #11-12

Knightfall Prodigal

Robin vol 2 #10, (DickRobin and TimRobin!) 175

Young Justice vol 1 #22

Teen Titans vol 3 #6

Bruce Wayne – Murderer and Fugitive

Birds of Prey #19

Batman: Gotham Knights # 8-11, 45

Red Robin #11-14

Batman: Gates of Gotham

That being said. Here is, as far as I can find, every comic where both Dick Grayson and Tim Drake have made an appearance (pre-Flashpoint):

Batman vol 1 #436. By Marv Wolfman, art Pat Broderick and John Beatty.

Batman # 436. (Tim's first appearance, in the circus audience the day Dick's parents were killed.) (1989)

A Lonely Place of Dying. Batman #440-442, New Titans #60-61. (When Tim tries to talk Dick into becoming Robin again but ends up wearing the Robin suit himself to help Batman and Robin.) (1990)

The New Titans #64 (1990)

The New Titans #65. By Marv Wolfman, art Tom Grummet and Al Vey.

The New Titans #65. (Tim turns up at Dick's place to learn what it is to be Batman's partner.) (1990)

Batman vol 1 #455 (1990)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1-2 (1992)

Superman: The Man of Steel #20 (1993)

Superman vol 2 #76 (1993)

Batman vol 1 #500 (1993)

New Titans #100 (1993)

Showcase '93 #11-12 (1993)

Justice League of America #70 (1993)

Bloodbath #1-2 (1994)

Batman vol 1 #510 (1994)

Robin vol 2 #0, 8 (1994)

Robin vol 2 #10. By Chuck Dixon, art Tom Grummett and Ray Kryssing.

Robin vol 2 #10 (DickRobin meets TimRobin during Zero Hour. DickRobin is also seen in a panel in Batman vol 1 #511 and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #4 .) (1994)

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #1-3 (1994)

Detective Comics #676-677 (1994)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #29-30 (1994)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #62 (1994)

Knightfall Prodigal (Dick's first longer stint as Batman. And he takes care of Tim and the Manor on his own!) In Batman #512-514, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #32-34, Robin # 11-13, Detective Comics #679-681. (1994-1995)

Batman vol 1 #515 (1995)

Detective Comics #686 (1995)

Robin vol 2 #23 (1995)

Green Arrow vol 2 #101 (1995)

Contagion (Detective Comics #696, Batman vol 1 #529, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #49, Batman vol 1 #533, Azrael vol 1 #16, Robin vol 2 #28, Catwoman vol 2 #31) (1996)

The Final Night #2-3 (1996)

Robin vol 2 #29, 32-33 (1996)

Catwoman vol 2 #36 (1996)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #53-54 (1996)

Detective Comics #698-701 (1996)

Marvel versus DC / DC versus Marvel #2 (1996)

Nightwing vol 2 # 6. (Tim and Dick talk and fight crooks.) (1997)

Batman: Bane (1997)

Ningtwing Annual #1. By Devin Grayson, art Greg Land and Bob McLeod.

Nightwing vol 2 Annual #1. (When Dick fake-marries a girl to investigate if she has murdered her previous husbands.) (1997)

Genesis #1 (1997)

Robin vol 2 #47-48 (1997)

Detective Comics #721, 724 (1998)

Nightwing vol 2 # 20. (Part of Cataclysm.) (1998)

Robin vol 2 #53 (1998)

Nightwing vol 2 # 25. (Tim and Dick talk and ride on train roofs. Dick has decided to become a cop.) (1998)

Batman 80-page Giant #1 (1998)

Brotherhood of the fist (Detective Comics #723, Robin vol 2 #55, Nightwing vol 2 # 28, Green Arrow 3 #135) (1998)

Batman: Bane of the Demon #4 (1998)

Batman vol 1 #554, 556, 560 (1998)

Detective Comics #727-729 (1998-1999)

JLA/Titans: Technis Imperative (1998-1999)

DC Universe Holiday Bash #3 (1999)

Batman 80-page Giant #2 (1999)

Young Justice: Secret Files and Origins #1 (1999)

Batman: Day of Judgment (Zombies...) (1999)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120 (1999)

Robin vol 2 #71 (1999)

Young Justice vol 1 #7 (1999)

Batman and Superman: World's Finest #10 (2000)

No Man's Land. (Robin vol 2 #67, Batman vol 1 #562, Detective Comics #741, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #95, Batman: Legend of the Dark Knight #120, 126, Azrael: Agent of the Bat #56) (1999-2000)

Detective Comics #741 (2000)

Robin vol 2 #74, 76, 82 (2000)

Superman Y2K #1 (2000)

Batman: Gotham Knights #10. By Devin Grayson, art Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Rober Robinson.

Batman: Gotham Knights #10-11 (2000)

Batman: Outlaws 1-3 (2000)

Young Justice vol 1 #22 (2000)

Birds of Prey vol 1 #19 (2000)

JLA: Secret Files #3 (2000)

The Hunt for Oracle. (Birds of Prey vol 1 #20-22. Nightwing vol 2 #46.) (2000)

Superboy vol 3 #74 (2000)

Young Justice: Sins of Youth #1 (2000)

Young Justice: Sinds of Youth Secret Files # 1 (2000)

Titans #12 (2000)

Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1 (2000)

Batman: Gotham Knights #1 (2000)

Harley Quinn #6 (2001)

Birds of Prey # 27 (2001)

Catwoman vol 2 #90 (2001)

Young Justice: Our World's at War #1 (2001)

World's Finest: Our World's at War #1 (2001)

Joker: Last Laugh. (The Joker "jokerize" a number of metahuman villains. In the later part, Joker taunts Nightwing with that he has killed Tim, just as he did Jason. Dick loses it and punches Joker to death, but Batman turns up and resuscitates Joker). (2001)

Harley Quinn #11-12 (2001)

Robin vol 2 #86, 95 (2001)

Gods of Gotham. (Wonder Woman #166-167.) (2001)

Wonder Woman vol 2 #175 (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 #63. (The aftermath of Joker: Last Laugh, where Dick is too depressed to work as Nightwing. Robin and Blue Beetle take his place in Blüdhaven this issue, so they don't actually meet.) (2002)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #94 (2002)

Young Justice vol 1 #40 (2002)

Birds of Prey vol 1 #37. (2002)

Batman/Nightwing: Bloodborne (2002)

Batman: Gotham Knights #26. By Devin Grayson, art Roger Robinson and John Floyd. 

Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive (Batgirl vol 1 #27, Nightwing #68-69, Batman: Gotham Knight #26, 28, 30, Birds of Prey vol 1 #40, 43, Batman #600, 605.) (Bruce is accused of murder and refuses to defend himself, and eventually escapes and intends to drop the identity of Bruce Wayne. Dick refuses to believe that Bruce can be a murderer and it causes a bit of friction with Tim.)

Batman: Gotham Knights #32-36 (2002-2003)

Batman: Gotham Knights #38, 42, 46 (2003)

Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day # 1-3 (2003)

Detective Comics #782 (2003)

JLA/JSA: Virtue & Vice (2003)

Batman vol 1 #615 (Part of Hush) (2003)

Robin vol 2 #108-110, 118 (2003)

Batman: Family # 6-8 (2003)

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files (2003)

JLA: Welcome to the Working Week (2003)

Identity Crisis # 1 (2004)

Robin vol 2 #120 (But not really – the issue is about how Tim has been stalking his friends, imagining them as traitors, including Dick.) (2004)

Robin vol 2 #125 (2004)

Teen Titans vol 3 #6. By Geoff Johns, art Mike McKone and Marlo Alquiza.

Teen Titans vol 3 #6 (2004)

Batgirl vol 1 # 46, 50 (2004)

Superman/Batman #5, 13 (2004)

War Games. (Nightwing vol 2 #97-98, Batman vol 1 #631-634, Detective Comics #799, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #183-184, Gotham Knights #57) (2004)

Detective Comics # 800 (2005)

Teen Titans vol 3 # 21-25 (2005)

Outsiders vol 3 #25 (2005)

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files (2005)

Nightwing vol 2 # 110. By Devin Grayson, art Phil Hester and Ande Parks.

Nightwing vol 2 #110. (During a period when Dick left the Nightwing identity.) (2005)

Infinite Crisis.  (2005-2006)

Action Comics # 841-843 (2006)

Adventures of Superman #648 (2006)

Nightwing vol 2 Annual # 2. (I honestly don't recommend this, but in the spirit of making a complete list... Tim is visible in two panels, overlapping with Infinite Crisis where Dick almost dies. Otherwise, it's a retelling of the revamped history of Dick and Barbara, including some things that no-one who likes Dick Grayson would agree is in-character.) (2007)

Teen Titans vol 3 #43 (2007)

Gotham: Underground # 1 (2007)

Wonder Woman Annual vol #1 (2007)

Countdown #43 (2007)

52 #30 (2007)

JLA: Classified #34 (2007)

Robin vol 2 #156 (2007)

Shadowpact #10 (2007)

Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime #1 (2007)

Nightwing vol 2 #142. By Peter J Tomasi, penciller Rags Morales.

Freefall (Nightwing vol 2 # 140–146). (One of the very best story arcs of any Nightwing comic. It has gruff Bruce, brotherly bonding, Nightwing and Robin infiltrating an island...) (2008)

Batman: Underground # 6-7 (2008)  

Green Latern vol 4 #25 (2008)

Titans vol 2 #1 (2008)

Robin vol 2 #178 (2008)

Batgirl vol 2 #1 (2008)

The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul. (Robin vol 2 #169, Nightwing vol 2 #138-139, Detective Comics #839). (2007-2008)

DC Special: Cyborg #2-5 (2008)

Robin vol 2 # 175. (Some fun panels with flashbacks with Dick and Tim.) (2008)

Batman vol 1 #675, 678, 681 (2008)

DC Universe: Lats Will and Testament #1 (2008)

Final Crisis #3 (2008)

Detective Comics #847 (2008)

Batgirl vol 2 # 5-6 (2009)

Superman/Batman #55 (2009)

Detective Comics #850 (2009)

Nightwing vol 2 # 151. (The issue ends with some family time with Dick, Tim and Alfred.) (2009)

Nightwing vol 2 # 153. (Last issue, Dick moves from New York to Gotham and Wayne Manor.) (2009)

Superman #682 (2009)

Teen Titans vol 3 #75 (2009)

Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #5 (2009)

Robin vol 2 #181, 183 (2009)

Batman vol 1 #686 (2009)

Battle for the Cowl # 1-3. (Jason intends to become the Batman "Gotham needs". When Tim can't convince Dick to take up the cowl, he dresses up as Batman himself to fight Jason. In the end, Dick defeats Jason – and becomes Batman.) (2009)

Batman: Blackest Night #1-3 (2009)

Red Robin 1 # 1, 4 (2009)

Batman vol 1 #697, 702, 703 (2010)

Batman: Gates of Gotham #13 (2010)

Red Robin # 11-15 (2010)

Superman/Batman #76 (2010)

Teen Titans vol 3 #88-89 (2010)

Batman: Orphans #1-2 (2011)

Birds of Prey vol 2 #10 (2011)

Gotham City Sirens # 22 (2011)

Secret Six vol 3 #36 (2011)

Batman: Gates of Gotham #1-5 (2011)

Batman vol 1 #708-709 (2011)

Detective Comics #872, 874, 877, 880, 881 (2011)

Red Robin # 22, 23, 26 (2011)

I'm going to skip post-Flashpoint because, well, there's hardly anything there. The worst thing with Flashpoint/New 52, in my opinion, was that it destroyed relationships between characters who used to be family, but ended up hardly knowing or even liking each other. :-( 

Detective Comics #975. By James Tynion IV, art Álvaro Martínez and Raúl Fernández. 

The only panel worth mentioning with Dick and Tim is from DC #975. Yes, it's sad – one of the best brotherly relationships in DC turned into dust. Here's to hoping future writers will pick up on their wonderful dynamic at some time.

(The pictures in the header are from: Red Robin #12, Young Justice vol 1 #22, Showcase ‘93 #12, Batman #441, Nightwing vol 2 #6, 25.) 

[katekaned]

Barbara Gordon made her DC comics debut in 1967 in Detective Comics #359, “The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl.” Initially introduced to the comics as a way to test fan reception to the idea of a new “Batgirl” appearing in the 1960s ABC Batman show, Barbara would outlast her television counterpart and go on to become a vital part of the DC universe and a fan favorite character. 

Under the cut is a summary of Barbara Gordon’s comic history pre-New 52 and an extensive list of comics in which she appears as the information jockey and wheelchair-using superhero, Oracle.

Basic Reading

Batman Chronicles #5 (1996)

Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey (1996)

Birds of Prey (1999)

Batgirl (2000)

Batgirl (2009)

Birds of Prey (2010)

Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barbara was the daughter of Gotham Police Commissioner James Gordon and the head librarian at the Gotham City Public Library. Barbara takes on a second job as Batgirl after fighting Killer Moth while dressed up in a Batman-inspired costume for a masquerade ball. Although Batman is resistant to the idea of a girl helping him fight crime, he is unable to prevent Babs from assisting him and Robin in protecting Gotham. She also develops a close friendship and working relationship with Supergirl. During the 1970s, Barbara Gordon became a Congresswoman and continued to operate as Batgirl in Washington, D.C. After failing to be reelected, Babs returned to Gotham, where she worked as Batgirl up until the Crisis.

Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barbara’s continuity underwent extensive reconstruction. No longer Jim Gordon’s daughter, she was his niece until her parents died while she was a teenager and her uncle brought her to Gotham and adopted her. A talented athlete and genius with a photographic memory, Babs longed to join the GCPD, but Jim did not like the idea of her having such a dangerous career. Eventually, Babs found her own way to help in joining Batman and Robin in fighting crime as Batgirl. In Batgirl Special (1988), Barbara retired from being Batgirl and resumed her civilian life. Later that year, the infamous graphic novel, The Killing Joke, was published. In Alan Moore’s story, Barbara Gordon was shot and assaulted by the Joker, in an attempt to drive her father insane. As a result of her gunshot wound, Babs was paralyzed from the waist-down and began using a wheelchair to get around. Although she served as little more than a plot device, the repercussions of what happened to her in The Killing Joke would reshape much of the DC Universe. 

Here’s where Oracle enters. Although DC editorial, by and large, had no further plans for Barbara Gordon’s character post-Killing Joke, writers Kim Yale and John Ostrander sought to create a place in comics for a superhero in a wheelchair who had no special powers of her own. Thus, Oracle was created as Barbara Gordon’s hacker and information specialist superhero persona. Oracle would first appear in Ostrander’s run on Suicide Squad before slowly reappearing as a Batman supporting character in the 1990s. In 1996, Chuck Dixon wrote the one-shot Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey, which eventually spun off into its own popular and much beloved series in 1999. Oracle remained an integral part of DC canon, training two new Batgirls, working with Batman, the Birds of Prey and even the Justice League, until the New 52 reboot in 2011, when DC decided to return Babs to her status as Batgirl. The editorial decision to have Barbara undergo surgery to rid her of her paralysis has undergone major scrutiny and been heavily maligned by disability advocates, however, Babs is no closer to returning to her role as Oracle or her wheelchair.

Below is a (mostly) chronological list of Oracle’s most prominent appearances in DC comics! (My personal favorites will be bolded.)

[As a note - many of Oracle’s early appearances have her hiding behind a computer/in a cameo role, as her identity was not yet revealed to comic readers. I am including these early appearances in my list to show people how the mystery unfolded, but if you want to skip they will be marked with an asterisk!]

Oracle Appears

Batman Chronicles #5: Oracle -- Year One: Born of Hope (1996) [Not Oracle’s first appearance historically, but the story of how she came to be and essential to her character.]

Suicide Squad #23 [1st appearance!] - #24, #26 (1989)*

Manhunter #13 (1989)*

Suicide Squad #32, #38 (1989-1990)*

Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #98 (1990)*

Batman #451 (1990)

Suicide Squad #48-#49 (1990-1991)

Suicide Squad #51 (1991)

Hawk and Dove #22-24 (1991)

Suicide Squad #54-#57, #59, #61, #63-#65 (1991-1992)

Hacker Files #5-#6 (1992-1993)

Oracle Joins the Bat-Family / Meets Black Canary

Showcase '94 #12: "A Little Knowledge" (1994)

Batman #520 (1995)

Nightwing #2 (1995) [A cameo appearance but the beginning of Dick and Babs’ complicated and lengthy post-crisis history]

Underworld Unleashed: Patterns of Fear #1 (1995)

Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey #1 (1996)

Showcase '96 #3: "Birds of a Feather" (1996)

Detective Comics #695 - #696 (1996)

Robin #30, #33 (1996)

Birds of Prey: Manhunt #1- #4 (1996)

Green Arrow #115 - #117 (1996 - 1997)

Birds of Prey: Revolution #1 (1997)

Nightwing #7 (1996)

Nightwing Annual #1 (1997)

Birds of Prey: Wolves #1 (1997)

Detective Comics #706 - #707 (1997)

Nightwing #½ (1997)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #32, #35 - #37 (1997)

Batman #547 (1997)

DC Universe Holiday Bash #2: "The Old Lane" (1997)

Nightwing/Huntress #3 (1998)

Nightwing #16, #18

Birds of Prey: Batgirl #1 (1998)

Cataclysm

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #73 (1998)

Batman #553 (1998)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #74 (1998)

Nightwing #20 (1998)

Detective Comics #721 (1998)

Robin #53 (1998)

Nightwing #24 (1998)

Oracle Joins the Justice League 

JLA #17 - #19 (1998)

JLA: Secret Files & Origins #2 (1998)

DC One Million #1 - #2 (1998)

JLA #1,000,000 (1998)

DC One Million #3 - #4 (1998)

JLA/Titans #1 - #3 (1998)

JLA #36 - #41 (1999 - 2000)

JLA: Secret Files & Origins #3 (2000)

Road to No Man’s Land

Robin #55 (1998)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #47 (1998)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #49 (1999)

Detective Comics #727 (1998)

Batman #562 (1999)

Robin #58 (1998)

Batman Chronicles #15: "Between Stars Above and Below" (1999)

Birds of Prey #1- #14 (1999 - 2000)

No Man’s Land

Batman: No Man's Land #1 (1999)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #83 (1999)

Batman #563 (1999)

Detective Comics #730 (1999)

Batman #565 (1999)

Detective Comics #732 (1999)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #54 - #55 (1999)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #119 (1999)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #87 (1999)

Batman #567 (1999) [Introduces Cassandra Cain, the second Batgirl and Oracle’s first protege.]

Detective Comics #734 (1999)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120 (1999)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #88 (1999)

Detective Comics #735 (1999)

Batman #569 (1999)

Batman: Day of Judgment (1999)

Nightwing #35, #37 - #39 (1999)

Robin #71 (1999)

Batman #573 (2000)

Detective Comics #740 (2000)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #60 - #61 (2000)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #126 (2000)

Detective Comics #741 (2000)

Birds of Prey #15 - #19 (2000)

Batgirl #1 - #5 (2000)

Batman: Gotham City Secret Files & Origins (2000)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #64 - #65 (2000)

Batman: Gotham Knights #6 (2000)

Nightwing #44 (2000)

The Hunt for Oracle

Nightwing #45 (2000)

Birds of Prey #20 (2000)

Nightwing #46 (2000)

Birds of Prey #21 (2000)

Nightwing 80-Page Giant #1 (2000)

Birds of Prey #22 - #26 (2000 - 2001)

Batgirl #7, #9 - #10 (2000 - 2001)

Batman: Gotham Knights #12 (2001)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #72 - #74 (2001)

Officer Down

Robin #86 (2001)

Birds of Prey #27 (2001)

Catwoman #90 (2001)

Nightwing #53 (2001)

Detective Comics #754 (2001)

Birds of Prey #28 - #35 (2001)

Batgirl #14 (2001)

Batman #590 (2001)

Harley Quinn #6 - #7 (2001)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #80 - #82 (2001)

Batgirl #17 (2001)

Nightwing #55 - #58 (2001)

Harley Quinn #11 (2001)

Nightwing: Our Worlds at War #1 (2001)

Joker: Last Laugh

Joker: Last Laugh Secret Files #1 (2001)

Birds of Prey #36 (2001)

Batgirl #21 (2001)

Joker: Last Laugh #3 (2001)

Joker: Last Laugh #5 (2001)

Robin #95 (2001)

Joker: Last Laugh #6 (2002)

Nightwing #63 (2002)

Birds of Prey #37 - #38 (2002)

Robin #96 - #97 (2002)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #84 (2002)

Batgirl #22 - #23 (2002)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #88 - #90 (2002)

Batgirl: Secret Files & Origins (2002)

Bruce Wayne: Murderer? / Fugitive

Batgirl #24 (2002)

Nightwing #65 (2002)

Batman: Gotham Knights #25 (2002)

Birds of Prey #39 (2002)

Nightwing #66 (2002)

Batman: Gotham Knights #26 (2002)

Robin #99 (2002)

Birds of Prey #40 (2002)

Batman #600 (2002)

Batgirl #27 (2002)

Birds of Prey #43 (2002)

Batgirl #29 (2002)

Batman: Gotham Knights #30 (2002)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #91 (2002)

Batman #605 (2002)

Batgirl #25 - #26 (2002)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #93 - #95 (2002)

Batgirl #30 (2002)

Birds of Prey #44 - #48 (2002)

Nightwing #71 - #73 (2002)

Batgirl #33 (2002)

Nightwing #75 (2003)

Batman: Family #3, #6, #8 (2003)

Birds of Prey #49 - #53 (2003)

Batgirl #35 - #37 (2003)

Nightwing #77 - #79 (2003)

Birds of Prey: Catwoman/Oracle (2003)

Batgirl #39 - #42 (2003)

Birds of Prey #54 - #55 (2003)

Nightwing #81 (2003)

Detective Comics #790 (2004)

Nightwing #83 - #89 (2003 - 2004)

Batgirl #45 - #54 (2003 - 2004)

Birds of Prey #56 - #74 (2002-2004) [Gail Simone’s iconic run on Birds of Prey begins with issue 56 and goes until 108. This is an absolute must-read for any Oracle/Barbara Gordon fan]

Birds of Prey: Secret Files & Origins (2003)

War Games

Detective Comics #797 (2004)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #182 (2004)

Nightwing #96 (2004)

Batgirl #55 (2004)

Batman #631 (2004)

Detective Comics #798 (2004)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #183 (2004)

Nightwing #97 (2004)

Batman: Gotham Knights #57 (2004)

Catwoman #35 (2004)

Batman #632 (2004)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #184 (2004)

Nightwing #98 (2004)

Robin #131 (2004)

Batman: Gotham Knights #58 (2004)

Batgirl #57 (2004)

Catwoman #36 (2004)

Batman #633 (2004)

Birds of Prey #75 - #90 (2004 - 2006)

Batgirl #67 (2005)

Nightwing #117 (2006)

Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special #1 (2006)

Robin #148 (2006)

Birds of Prey #92 - #95 (2006)

52 #34 (2007)

Nightwing Annual #2 (2007) [Although this issue is all about Dick and Barbara’s relationship, I would not recommend reading it as it treats both Barbara and Dick’s ex Starfire/Koriand’r incredibly poorly.]

Hawkgirl #64 (2007)

Birds of Prey #96 - #108 (2007)

Black Canary Wedding Planner (2007)

Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special (2007)

Birds of Prey #109 - #123 (2007 - 2008)

Batgirl #2 - #3, #5 - #6 (2008)

Nightwing #150, #153 (2009)

Green Arrow and Black Canary #16 (2009)

Birds of Prey #124 - #127 (2009)

Oracle: The Cure #1 - #3 (2009)

Adventure Comics #516 - #518 (2010) [Appears in the backup feature “The Atom”]

Batgirl #1 - #12 (2009 - 2010)

Detective Comics #862 (2010) [Oracle appears in backup feature “The Question”]

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Batgirl (2010)

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Oracle (2010)

Birds of Prey #1 - #7 (2010 - 2011)

Batgirl #15 - #16 (2011)

Birds of Prey #8 - #10 (2011)

Batgirl #19 - #21 (2011)

Birds of Prey #11 - #13 (2011)

Batman Incorporated #8 (2011)

Detective Comics #872 - #873 (2011)

Detective Comics #879 - #881 (2011)

Batgirl #24 (2011)

Birds of Prey #14 - #15 (2011)