For some reason, DC comics has decided that a character being reconizable is more important than the fans who are already invested in the character; more important than character evolution; more important than hope. DC Comics thinks it is okay to take a wheelchair bound redhead and force her to stand on two legs under the entire premise that she needs to be more reconizable.
Because in all honest, that is what Barbara represents. I hope that we as an audience might have some diversity in our comics.
For the entire time I've been alive, Barbara has been in a wheelchair. I assumed that was how it was. As someone who didn't read comics and wasn't part of the comics scene until three months prior to Civil War #1, I knew there was an Oracle, I just wasn't interested in reading the comics yet. And lucky me, because the 90's were a terrible time for comics. So I kept passing up oppertunities, especially at the end of the nineties when the Birds formed. And really, until this entire issue came up I never read any Oracle books. Now I eat them up quickly, and then slow down knowing now there is a limited number of stories left. But that happens sometimes, I frequently revisit shows knowing that there wasn't a complete story or knowing that there were only 82 episodes. As geeks, we learned the hardway if you don't watch something it will be cancelled. If you don't read a book, it won't stick around.
Now more than ever I'm on the train of read what might get canceled in singles, buy the trades of the hot stories like Batman and Spider-Man because they will be around without me. But books like Secret Six and Gail Simone's run on Birds of Prey don't get that luxary. Gail has had to write her last issue of Birds of Prey twice now, and I certainly suspect a third run will be around one day. But I also know that if I don't read it, it won't get to live on. And unfortunately that's part of what's driving the return to Batgirl. Oracle didn't sell well enough. Stephanie Brown didn't sell enough. And in general it seems DC wasn't selling enough. So they are redoing the whole line in better, easy to market stories. Long time fans get to keep Grant Morrison's Batman, JH Williams Batwoman, and Geoff Johns' Green Lanterns. But effectively everything else is getting some kind of change be it a minor shift, a complete reboot, or just a new existence. And Gail is the one who will be writing Batgirl #1.
But I don't think I want to pick up Batgirl #1.
I love Gail Simone's work. I think she should be allowed to write every book she wants to. But I can't stand by and let Barbara get abused like this. I get it, she lives in a world where everyone but her gets better. But sometimes there isn't an answer. And life goes on. It is an ongoing problem that comic creators can wave the magic wand and poof healed, poof no more dead, poof problem solved. The best stories are the ones where an easy solution has consequences, where heroes lose and grow, where we see ourselves in these fictional characters. We treat them with some respect. They are part of the ongoing narrative. I saw Harry Potter 7 part two, and my first thought was that no one went through any change. They were all in basically the same state(albeit some dead) by the end of the movie as they were at the begining. And I thought it was terrible. Characters need change. That is what defines them. For me, Oracle represented a hope. A hope that even if you are disabled, you can still acomplish the most heroic feats. So Implore you to write to DC and tell them that this isn't what we need.
Also do me a favor and join this group, Barbara's Not Broken:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Barbaras-Not-Broken/216306118404228
UPDATE:
Check out this response to this issue which echos what I've said today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYv1dXv2oeo
No comments:
Post a Comment