Though Bruce is still Sad Bats over his parent’s death even in his new #1, Babs couldn’t be happier about getting her walk on.
With the rumors coming out of this DCU reboot, I knew I was going to start seeing images like this. And it bothers the hell out of me.
As we learn more over the next week, I’m sure there will be people absolutely thrilled if Babs is back in the tights. And there will be those who are equally as upset.
But please remember for many people that chair on the left is something they will never leave.
My mother used a chair for the last years of her life. (I think that’s part of my strong feelings for Oracle, I won’t lie.) For the real-life Oracles, there isn’t any walking away smiling because of magic “get out of the wheel chair” cards.
Please I don’t want anyone to go after this artist. They are talented. I just want people to be aware that there are some sensitive areas around this, if indeed, DC goes in this direction.*
* and if they do then there will be a post the likes of which you can only imagine.
MY RANT ON THIS:
Wow. Way to make it personal much? It’s fine to relate to characters, but Oracle isn’t your mother. She wasn’t dipped in the Lazarus Pit. It’s a separate universe reboot series. SHE’S FUCKING BATGIRL AGAIN OMG FANGIRL SQUEEEEEEEEEE. If you want to look at it from an emotional standpoint, Oracle is a phenomenal character. But before she was Oracle, she was kicking ass as Batgirl. It was as big a part of who she is as the wheelchair and the story that put her there. Don’t knock it just because it’s a chance to see her in that light again. She’s not turning her back on Oracle. She’s still Oracle. This is completely separate from the regular books - it just happens to be COMPLETELY FUCKING AWESOME ZOMGWTFBBQ.
People are allowed to have feelings about fictional characters, people are allowed to relate to them, to connect to them, to see parallels between those characters and themselves or other people in their lives. That’s part of what gets people so passionate and excited about their favourite stories and characters, part of why any of us care about comics in the first place.
Guess what? DCWKA is a very smart, skilled, and perceptive person, who knows a hell of a lot about comics, and about Barbara Gordon. She can tell the difference between reality and fiction, and she knows damn well what this DC reboot entails.
We know that some people are going to happy and excited about having Barbara be Batgirl in the reboot, and there’s nothing wrong with being excited about it. But there are also people who, while they have nothing against a good Batgirl story, are pretty devastated that we will no longer see new stories about Oracle, who we’ve watched develop and evolve over the years and have loved and enjoyed, and one of the few—and one of the best—visibly disabled superheroes in comics.
So you’re happy about the reboot, and the new Batgirl series in September? That’s great! But don’t derail from discussions about the wider implications of what eliminating Oracle means in terms of disability, visibility, and ableism. Don’t dismiss the feelings people may have about this or insult them. And don’t fucking talk about other people’s mothers.
TheGirlsOfGotham, your response to DCWKA was incredibly rude and insensitive. I don’t know whether your post was just a thoughtless reaction that maybe you might be regretting now, or if you’re actually just rude and uncaring, which is why this post from me is longer than just two simple words.
I’m not rude or uncaring - nor do I regret the post. I understand people are going to have mixed feelings about it. The point I’m stressing is that she’s NOT giving up being Oracle. It’s just a reboot series which probably won’t last too long anyway. They said there’s going to be a Birds of Prey as well - is she going to be in that? And if so, as Oracle or Batgirl?? Initially I think the reboot is silly. But it’ll be interesting at the very least. But a lot of people are freaking out way too hard about Babs leaving Oracle behind. It’s not even like she’s making the conscious decision to leave Oracle behind. They’re not writing it as “She was Oracle, and then miraculously she was cured and now she’s Batgirl again”. It’s just a new story where she was still Batgirl. That’s all.
Look, I get what they’re doing, and I don’t need you to explain it to me. I am unconvinced that Babs will appear as Oracle in the reboot. And I think truncating the current comics and cutting off those characters stories, only to replace them with a new universe, without a decent ending or conclusion, makes it worse, especially in Oracle’s case.
But look, forget about the reboot, and look at your words, look at what I wrote.
Take out the Barbara Gordon stuff, and if you can’t see how rude and insensitive your comment was, I don’t know what to tell you, and I’m done bothering.
