Batgirl – A guide to Batgirls

Context

There’s been 60+ years of Batgirl stories, and multiple girls have used this identity.

So this page shows all our relevant profiles in an organised, easily-parsed manner.

1961+ – Betty Kane

1 The Silver Age Bat-Girl.

The original was Bat-Girl, with a hyphen. She was Batwoman’s niece. Betty had relatively few appearances, and most were during a peculiar era for Batman comics.

1967+ – Barbara Gordon

Barbara is widely considered the “main” Batgirl. She has the longest history and most visibility. But DC Comics being DC Comics, the character was rebooted and altered numerous times.

So far we only have coverage for three such iterations on Barbara. It’s common for us to have less material about characters who had official Mayfair TTRPG stats.

1 The Silver Age Batgirl.

When Barbara debuts, the book is aping the hugely popular TV show. So there’s a specific era where Batgirl is part of campy, unserious Batman stories.

2 The 2003 modernisation.

This was a rebooted version of Barbara, re-presenting and attempting to modernise her origin sequence.

3 The 2015/16 Batgirl of Burnside.

This softboot was a quite popular, successful modernisation of Batgirl (Barbara Gordon). It occurred when she took a break away from central Gotham to resume PhD work.

1992+ – Stephanie Brown

Stephanie Brown was originally known as Spoiler. Then she took up the mantle of Robin, before becoming the new Batgirl.

Though her history in comics has been rocky, that was worked into her attaching characterisation. To make perseverance against fate and suffering one of her core qualities.

1 Spoiler during the 1990s.

Steph as a beginner.

2 Spoiler during the early 2000s.

Stephanie is still primarily Robin (Tim Drake)’s field and romantic partner, and she continues to develop.

3 Robin (Stephanie Brown).

Stephanie’s brief, cruel and unfair’s stint as Batman’s Robin.

4 Spoiler (2008/2009).

Another chaotic era for Steph as she returns to Gotham to fulfil her duty as Spoiler.

5 Batgirl (Stephanie Brown) (part 1/2).

Steph unexpectedly inherits the Batgirl mantle. Nobody wants her to, yet she doggedly turns this into a genuine success.

6 Batgirl (Stephanie Brown) (part 2/2).

The second half of the profile since there’s so much equipment to cover. And since she’s so quotable.

1999+ – Cassandra Cain

One of the very best martial artists on Earth, Cass has been through many identities. But her seminal story arc had her serve as a nigh-invincible Batgirl.

1 Batgirl (C. Cain) (Puckett era part #1)

This profile about Cass’ early material covers the appearances written by her creator, Kelly Puckett. I’d consider it her “classic” era, and it includes the first time any Batgirl had her own, solo book.

2 Batgirl (C. Cain) (Puckett era part #2)

The second half of the article, since reading it all in one go might be difficult on a phone.