This cover controversy isn't the first time DC have landed themselves in hot water with Batgirl. The same creative team had previously come under fire for a trans character who was considered offensively stereotypical by some readers, and they handled it surprisingly well. This new scandal also opened old wounds with regards to the character's handling in The Killing Joke. Alan Moore, who wrote that story, has since expressed regret at the way he treated Barbara Gordon, suggesting that it was one of the places DC should have reigned him in a little (according to Moore, when he floated the idea to then-editor Len Wein he was told Yeah, okay, cripple the b*tch). She was only brought back as Oracle because Kim Yale and husband John Ostrander were appalled at the treatment of the character. There appears to be a curse placed over whoever takes the Batgirl name, that eventually the publisher will totally muck the character up. That curse is, sadly, probably just that they're female characters and they always get raw deals. That's probably what lead to the untimely death of Stephanie Brown, and the bizarre left-turn that fan favourite Cassandra Cain took when she went from an avowed altruist who couldn't talk to a chatty full-fledged supervillain who didn't flinch when killing her enemies.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
