Although the character appeared in various DC Comics publications, she was prominently featured in Batman Family which debuted in 1975, partnered with the original Robin, Dick Grayson, whom she has a history of working closely and being romantically involved with.

Aside from Craig, the character has been portrayed by Dina Meyer, Alicia Silverstone (as Barbara Wilson), and Jeté Laurence, and has been voiced by Melissa Gilbert, Tara Strong, Danielle Judovits, Alyson Stoner, Mae Whitman, Kimberly Brooks and Briana Cuoco among others.

[5] When Dozier and producer Howie Horowitz saw rough concept artwork of the new Batgirl by artist Carmine Infantino during a visit to DC offices, they optioned the character in a bid to help sell a third season to the ABC television network.

Within the storyline, Gordon recounts the series of events that led to her career as Batgirl, including her first encounter with Batman as a child, studying martial arts under the tutelage of a sensei, memorizing maps and blueprints of the city, excelling in academics to skip grades, and pushing herself to become a star athlete.

[34] In a world increasingly centered on technology and information, she possesses a genius-level intellect; photographic memory; deep knowledge of computers and electronics; expert skills as a hacker; and graduate training in library sciences.

[61] With most of the criminal underworld now believing that she is dead, Oracle cuts off ties with all but a select few Gotham heroes, and is shown refusing to help Blue Beetle, Manhunter, and Booster Gold when they attempt to call her for assistance during battle.

It's a bit of a shock, to be sure, but we're doing everything we can to be respectful to this character's amazing legacy, while presenting something thrilling that a generation of comics readers will be experiencing for the first time ... Barbara Gordon leaping, fighting, and swinging over Gotham.

"[72] In the new, revised continuity, the events of The Killing Joke took place three years before the current storyline, and while it is established she was paraplegic during that time, Barbara Gordon is written as having regained her mobility after undergoing experimental surgery at a South African clinic.

Her formula: murderous villains, blood splattering violence and high flying superheroics mixed with single-white-female bonding ... plus a cliffhanger ending to the first issue that offers a nifty [segue] into the new world of Barbara Gordon and Batgirl.

"[76] The New York Times critic George Gene Gustines wrote: "Unlike some of the other DC comics I read this week, Batgirl achieves a deft hat trick: a well-shaped reintroduction to a character, an elegant acknowledgement of fundamental history and the establishment of a new status quo.

"[77] Earning a B+ rating in a review from Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker writes that Simone "[takes] her Birds of Prey storytelling powers and focuses them on the newly revived Barbara Gordon as Batgirl.

While seemingly light and engaging compared to Gail Simone's darker preceding run, the new arc ultimately dealt with Babs' inability to fully escape her earlier trauma and the villain was revealed as her own brain scans, an algorithm similar to the pre-New 52 Oracle.

[89] While the reboot was highly praised for its innovative use of social media, its fun and energy, and particularly for Tarr's art,[90] several critics condemned the villain Dagger Type in issue #37 as a transphobic caricature.

[102] Barbara later resumes her role as Oracle, providing comms and tactical support to the Birds of Prey and the Batman Family once again, as part of the 2020 Infinite Frontier relaunch, which restores much of the DC Universe status quo from before The New 52.

Writers, artists, editorial staff, and critics have spoken at great length about the nature of the subject, citing responses from the readership, issues of sexism, diversity, and representation, as well as other considerations that have impacted decisions regarding the character's portrayal.

"[120] In an article for Bitch magazine entitled "The Cold Shoulder: Saving Superheroines from Comic-book Violence", Shannon Cochran noted a long history of inequality regarding the treatment of female heroes.

Ross explained in an interview that he and Dini had planned to restore her mobility by placing her in a Lazarus Pit, a naturally occurring chemical pool in the DC Universe that has rejuvenating effects when a person is submerged within it.

[129] However, by the end of the Bronze Age of Comic Books in the mid-1980s (and with the dark, gritty influence of Frank Miller's work on the Batman-related titles), Batgirl became less valuable to the franchise "where there was not as much room for a librarian fighting crime in high heels".

"[132] She demonstrates a similar moral ambiguity in Gail Simone's Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds when she argues with Black Canary over using illegally obtained information, which denies criminals the right of due process.

[144] At the conclusion of the Joker War story arc (which spanned several Batfamily titles), Barbara Gordon appears to take a break as Batgirl and, for now, shift more to working tech support again as Oracle.

[147][148][149] According to the character's fictional biography, Barbara Gordon trained in Boxing, Capoeira, Judo,[150][151] Kung Fu, Eskrima,[34] Karate,[152] Kickboxing, Jujutsu,[38] Muay Thai, and Taekwondo earning black belts prior to her tenure as Batgirl and is described as being a "star athlete.

: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed (2009) notes that following her 1967 debut, "Batgirl was soon popular enough to appear regularly over the next two decades and Yvonne Craig certainly made an impression on many viewers with her one season portraying young Ms.

[3][158] In The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines (2009), author Mike Madrid states that what set Barbara Gordon as Batgirl apart from other female characters was her motivation for crime-fighting.

"[8] Historian Peter Sanderson observed that while "Barbara Gordon initially conformed to hackneyed stereotypes as a dowdy librarian ... her transformation into Batgirl could be seen in retrospect as a symbol of the emerging female empowerment movement of the 1960s.

"[130] In Superheroes and Superegos: Analyzing the Minds Behind the Masks (2010), author Sharon Packer wrote that "[a]nyone who feels that feminist critics overreacted to [Gordon's] accident is advised to consult the source material", calling the work "sadistic to the core.

Brown, author of Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture (2011) noted The Killing Joke as an example of the "inherent misogyny of the male-dominated comic book industry" in light of the "relatively unequal violence [female characters] are subjected to.

"[130] Despite views that present the character's Batgirl persona as a symbol of female empowerment, a long-held criticism is that she was originally conceived as an uninspired variation of Batman "rather than standing alone as a leader, such as Wonder Woman" who had no pre-existing male counterpart.

In Unleashing the Superhero in Us All (2008), author T. James Musler notes that "[f]or quite some time, any handicap was considered insurmountable" citing Franklin D. Roosevelt as an example, who was never photographed in a wheelchair to avoid a perception of weakness.

Other variations of the character that have been adapted into other media include an elderly Barbara Gordon, voiced by Stockard Channing and Angie Harmon in 1999's Batman Beyond, who after retiring as Batgirl, became commissioner of the Gotham City police department.

The unfortunate incident with the Joker took away the use of her legs ... but rather than give up and throw in the towel, as she could've done so easily, she went and studied escrima (a martial art), got stronger in her mental state and, while helping out her father on a case one day, realized she had a knack for solving mysteries.