New 52

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So...who here has read any of the "New 52" reboot from DC? Do you like it?

I'm not happy w/ Wonder Woman's reboot & I'm ESPECIALLY not happy w/ Barbara Gordon's revamp. Her change from Batigirl I to Oracle was among DC's BEST character overhauls & she became the information broker to DC's most prominent superheroes, not to mention founding Birds of Prey.

What are your thoughts?
 
I haven't read that much of it lately, but I agree on Babs. If you were going to reboot Batgirl, reboot her as Cassandra Cain.
 
I have been reading the New 52 (how long is this going to last till we stop calling it new?) on the one hand some titles have become clusterf**ks thanks to the reboot rewriting their histories (Batman and Green Lantern) but some like Wonder Woman (which is being raved about) Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Aquaman, Demon Knights have really been spot on.
 
I haven't read any of it...but I am old school. Batgirl is Barbara Gordon. Cain was awesome, but let her get her OWN damned name.
 
I did...but it seemed like a shitty consolation prize.

Batman broke HIS back, and went back to being Batman in less than a year. And you are telling me that the tech and money that Wayne has cannot get her out of that chair?! I thought that sucked personally.

Now what could have been a great alternative was to keep her as Oracle and develop her around being able to have that incredible knowledge grid AND also being able to still kick ass by allowing her to walk. I would have gone for that. But ditch the chair in my opinion. I hated it so much.
 
But the thing is that the chair never slowed Babs down one bit. She didn't consider herself handicapped so she would never look for way to walk again. It became just who she was, which was one of the coolest things about her.

The point of the Batverse has always been that they defeat the enemy using their intelligence, not super powers or even fighting ability.
 
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I cannot argue with that in the abstract but you cannot cripple Batgirl and leave her crippled, meanwhile cripple Batman and bring him back better AND bring back a supposedly dead Robin even better and then tell me "well she is so awesome she doe snot need to walk". Trust me, every person in a wheelchair now would prefer walking tomorrow and she should have been able to do it. And she is the one person who could. Saying that she is fine with being unable to walk just...I cannot buy it.

Just my opinion, I get the people who like her. I just cannot get past the unfairness of it enough to embrace it. I tolerated it when I bought BoP with my wife but it always sucked to me.

EDIT: I like her btw. I just don't don't like them trying to sell the chair to me.
 
It's been years but I have to bite.

It's the way they returned her ability to walk which is the issue. While Batman gets to go on an itrospective journey around the World to learn and comes back, stronger, fitter, wiser, smarter, faster, deadlier than ever. Batgirl goes to Africa to receive an experimental operation.

While Barabara Gordon as Oracle was able to carve out an identity not linked to a male counterpart, albeit at the expense of her legs. Post 52, I'd argue that the character has regressed back under the shadow of Bruce Wayne and any opportunity to differentiate her from Batman via recovering from paraplegia was lost.

In my view the character is less now than what she once was.
 
Clara Oswald
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very well said!
I cannot argue with that opinion especially not having actually read the books. But I see much of what you find diminished about her a result of bad writing. The writers missed a chance to involve the reader in her journey back to walking freely and the mental and physical aspect of what that entails. I can think of several ways to make that completely awesome.

I think we need to take over comics and just write the stuff.
 
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totally agree w/ your last sentence! :nod: i think we'd all do a better job w/ many of these characters!
see, even this discussion on Barbara Gordon alone shows just how much of an impact the character has had since her tragedy & transformation into oracle & now her recent change back to batgirl.

another charater that has gotten a serious DOWNGRADE (imo) in the new 52 reboot is catwoman! I personally LOVED catwoman during her solo series in the mid to late 90s. but even beyond that, the character was always intriguing & definitely a stand out in the bat family. but now they've turned her into a slutty sex kitten type its so annoying :rolleyes: other comic "critics" have complained similar.

i guess im also in the small group who ISNT happen w/ Wonder Woman's changes either. Ive tried more than once to get on board w/ her as she is now...i just cant :(
 
In general I'm with a majority of the nu52, the only thing i don't like is the 6 title cuts that get made cause titles I like keep getting cut. OMAC was one of the better titles imo (especially if you like Jack Kirby style) and Sword of Sorcery starring Amethyst which only got 8 (?) issues but the numbers on that were awful (somehow) so I can fault DC for trying

I don't know how you can't be enjoying Wonder Woman right now cause that is defiantly one of the best titles between either company
 
The new Catwoman was riding Batman's peter in the first book or something right? Someone confirm or deny...
 
Black King
Black King
confirm, they did it with the mask on which make it all the creepier
I just wouldn't want to see Barbara Gordon in another retread "how she bounces back and learns to walk again" lifetime movie storyline. I prefer to see her as a strong woman, chair or no, who doesn't wallow in self pity or define herself by her ability to walk or not. She is happy with who she is. It.'s not about a choice between walking and not walking, it's about not making the chair all she is.
 
yeah i felt that way too. her losing the use of her legs was a terrible thing & for many characters it wouldve been the end of their relevance, but not her. not be a long shot. some characters getting "reset" is a good thing. but for some the first overhaul is the best.

if i recall, in a few tpb's of Birds of Prey that i've read (pre reboot)....Batman HAS offered to find a way to help Barbara restore her legs...but she always turned it down b/c it was too risky. i remember reading that she couldve died during the surgery & the chance of success wasn't that high.
 
The offer from Bats makes me feel SLIGHTLY better. But only slightly.

And I celebrate that she stayed relevant and awesome. It just seemed so unfair to see the Bat-dudes survive so much better physically than her.
 
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