10 Smartest Decisions In DC Superhero History
7. Barbara Gordon Becomes Oracle - Suicide Squad
The Killing Joke is in many ways essential reading for Batman fans, but there's also no ignoring the overall tackiness of the story.
For as much as Alan Moore and Brian Bolland were able to provide the definitive "multiple choice" origin story for the Clown Prince of Crime, as well as distil the essence of the character's relationship with Batman, the comic itself is also dripping in misogyny. Barbara Gordon, the first Batgirl, was used as little more than a device to showcase the Joker's wanton cruelty. Moore has even gone on record to say that editor Len Wein - when signing off on Moore's plans to maim Batgirl - told him to "cripple the bitch".
Moore has all but since disavowed The Killing Joke, despite its other successes, but it thankfully didn't spell the end for Babs. The character found new life in John Ostrander and Kim Yale's Suicide Squad comic, with the latter reportedly frustrated by her fate in The Killing Joke.
Rather than have Babs return with the full function of her legs however, the pair decided to take the character's fate in The Killing Joke and give readers a disabled hero in Oracle. Starting with Suicide Squad #23, Babs became the information broker known as Oracle and assisted DC's heroes in fighting crime. She would later found the Birds of Prey, ensuring Yale and Ostrander's decision would remain one of DC's best.