OK so this isnt Monday. I know this is late but I dont care. WELCOME TO MONDAY MADNESS! So, part of Monday Madness is that I talk about whatever the heck I want. Someone has told me that these are like the ramblings of a madman and, you know what? They are. I am delightfully mad and I like to share this little insanity with the rest of the world. So, heres where Monday Madness gets interesting. Lets get started. I had some stuff I wanted to talk about this week but, as I browsed through a certain tag of Tumblr today (Yes, I am on Tumblr. Yes, I do enjoy it and yes, it is a very dark place when you get into the middle of it. I have no shame) I came across something that has bothered me for a long time. The portrayal of Barbara Gordon in the New 52. Some people like it. Some people despise it. Some people love Batgirl. Others want Oracle back. Most of these opinions, I ignore. After all, opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and is entitled to their opinion. But there are some points where youre opinion can stop being that and become something else entirely. I wont like the URL but I read something along the lines of Arkham Origins has done more character development in five minutes than New 52 has done in 2 years. In and of itself? Harmless opinion. Delving into the tags? Not so much. The tags continue to state that New 52 Barbara is unintelligent and the Batgirl title is abysmal. Like I said, this is where the opinion becomes something else. I think this is where the opinion turns into bashing and bashing, as we all know, turns into something darker, especially when the bashing is...well...Kevin Spacey put it best in Superman Returns. WRONG!!! Now, Batgirl is one of the very few titles that I now have permanently edged on my Pull List. It will take a drastic turn of fortunes to change that and there is a reason for it. Several in fact. The first is that Babs is MY BATGIRL! People love Stephanie Brown. Others like Cassandra Cain. I love Babs. Barbara is my Batgirl because she was the ONLY Batgirl when I first got into Batman through the 90s Animated Show. Since then, she has been my Batgirl and as much as I love Stephanie Brown, Babs is the gold standard and unquestioned queen of the Batfamily. The second reason is simple. Gail Simone GETS Batgirl. In my opinion, Gail Simone is one of the most consistent writers on DCs books right now, second only to Scott Snyders Batman run. Shes managed to use what should have been a hindrance in DCs instance that Babs return to the cap and cowl to make her one of the most well written characters at the present moment in time. She continues to make the reader feel so sympathetic towards Barbara that we want to see her pull through on the other side of it all and makes us urn for the days where the Commissioners daughter was (somewhat) out of harms way as Oracle. Isnt that something were meant to have with our characters? An emotional attachment? To see the hero triumph and the villain get what they deserve? I know better than anyone this is a Batbook and that happy endings are virtually non-existent in that world but it is that hope that Babs has gone through the world that makes us keep reading. (Somewhere, someone is shouting GAAAAAAAAAAY at me) Gail has done that better than anyone right now, from the use of PTSD to having the Joker and James Gordon Jr brought into the mix, to having Babs own father hunting her down in the most recent story (Read Batgirl Wanted now, Im dead serious here.), you just want Babs to get out of things OK. The fact that this is so well written by Gail proves that this book is anything but abysmal so why do some hate this books so much? Honestly, I think its down to DCs decision to erase Oracle. Did I love Babs as Oracle, absolutely I did. But I didnt love her because she was a hero in a wheelchair, who overcame the traumatic experience in her life and still managed to play her part (and kick ass at major points) I loved Oracle cause I loved Babs. As long as a comic is well written, as long as the main character isnt selling their soul in exchange for something that is going to be gone in a few years or should have been gone already (QUASADA!!!! DAMN YOU TO HELL!) I am willing to let that slide. Its the idea that people refuse to read this book cause Babs isnt Oracle that annoys me. The idea that Babs isnt the same character (Which she is with a few changes here and there to fit the new continuity but making her unintelligent isnt one of those changes made) is ridiculous to me. What Im trying to say is...give your comics and characters a chance. If you dont like it, thats cool but dont use that as an excuse to attack the writers of the book you dont like. Also...unless you can handle it, stay off Tumblr. Its a dark and evil place when you get right down to it. Im just a glutton for punishment. (Ciaran)
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 04:04:05 +0000
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