The Many Faces of Batgirl The Ultimate Superhero
Batgirl is a member of the Batman family of characters. She battles crime with a combination of her wits and fighting ability, and she uses a variety of high-tech gadgets. Interestingly, Batgirl is actually a series of characters: the Batgirl costume has been worn by several different women within the world of DC Comics.
Some argue that the first incarnation of Batgirl was Betty Kane (1961-1964.) Her character was called Bat-Girl, and she was more of a Robin counterpart than a Batman one. She was not terribly popular.
The Batgirl costume and persona were reinvented with the introduction of Barbara Gordon, who is the daughter of Gotham City's police commissioner. Barbara proved much more popular than her predecessor, and her red-haired Batgirl is one of the more favoured women's superhero costumes. This look consists of a greenish black body suit with a bat on the chest, a flowing black cape and the distinctive black face mask. The most recognized Batgirl, she worked as a librarian by day and fought crime by night. The 1960's television series Batman also featured the Barbara Gordon character, though her Batgirl costume consisted of a sparkly purple body suit and a gold cape and belt. Some time after being shot and paralysed by the Joker, the comic book Barbara became Oracle, an extraordinary computer hacker and the information guru of the DC universe. Oracle currently leads her own crime fighting organization, the Birds of Prey. Barbara was Batgirl from 1966 to 1988.
Helena Bertinelli, also known as The Huntress, wore the Batgirl mantle briefly in 1999. Her costume looked much like Batman's. That same year also saw the introduction of a truly fascinating Batgirl: Cassandra Cain, trained assassin and daughter of villains David Cain and Lady Shiva. Cassandra's getup is uncommon for women's superhero costumes because it was rather unsettling, almost frightening. Her Batgirl costume was all jet black leather, and the mask had a stitched-up mouth opening and black lenses over the eyes. There was also no flowing hair under the mask, and the black gloves had spiky pieces on the arms. Cassandra was raised to be an assassin, and her childhood left her mute and socially crippled. She was an expert martial artist, able to intuitively read her opponent's body language and anticipate his every move. Trying to atone for her past, she was mentored by both Batman and Oracle. Cassandra Cain starred in the Batgirl comic series until 2006. After her stint as Batgirl, she resurfaced as Black Bat.
Stephanie Brown, the fifth Batgirl, previously fought crime as a character called Spoiler. After Cassandra gave Stephanie her costume, Barbara Gordon remade the outfit to be more of a cross between its earlier versions and what Stephanie wore as Spoiler. This Batgirl wears a more loose-fitting cat suit with a cloak, hood and face mask.
It is interesting to note that all versions of the Batgirl getup are, as women's superhero costumes go, quite modest. They are also in keeping with the look and tone of the Dark Knight.
