With the death of Batman the entire Bat-family has been rearranged. In order to compensate: Nightwing becomes Batman, Robin becomes Red Robin, Damian becomes Robin, and if the solicits are to be believed there will be a new Batgirl.
We won’t know for sure until the series debuts in August, but so far all signs point to fan-favorite (that fan being moi) Barbara Gordon. Besides the revealing red lip smile, a key clue is the tell tale Batgirl logo that appeared at the end of Oracle: The Cure #3 (picture left).
But isn’t Babs still in wheelchair?
Not for long. Oracle didn’t dissolve the Birds of Prey so she could just sit around (so to speak). And it seems too much of a coincidence that Wendy comes out of her coma and discovers she can’t feel her legs.
Unfortunately, some PC fanatics out there are promising to boycott the book if Barbara walks again, which is absurd. When Booster Gold tried to prevent Barbara’s shooting I criticized how wrong retconing all of Oracle’s achievement out of existence would be, but this is completely different. Babs recovering from her injury, is no different from all the times Superman has lost and subsequently regained his powers. It doesn’t diminish others. It simply returns the character to their… (gasp) “normal” state. And if you going to argue she should stay disabled merely to give disabled people a role model, I don’t buy that either. Should we then cripple more superheroes just to give disabled people equal representation as well? Besides none of us have Superman’s abilities, but that doesn’t make him any less a role model.
On the off-chance it’s not Barbara, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and suggest either Selina Kyle aka Catwoman or Talia al Ghul. Not only would both create a lot of tension in the Bat-family, they’re both reasonably plausible. Selina has been desperate to maintain some connection with Batman, going so far as to take orders from Oracle. Talia on the other hand might don the cowl to keep a close eye on her son Damian aka Robin.
UPDATE:
I’ve added Ravager to list of candidates. Initially I considered Ravager because of her history with Nightwing, Robin, & Batgirl but thought her position on the Teen Titans would exclude her. However after reading Teen Titans #71, I’m having second thoughts. Not only does Ravager leave the team to find herself, she says her lack of direction, purpose, & home are driving her “batty.”
Well those are my preferences, what’s yours?
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