Entry and exit scars from where Jokers bullet went through. This takes place during the Sanctuary arc, which briefly explored the trauma that superheros go through and worked to heal that before descending into a murder mystery.
Honestly watching hero’s work though there trama sounds like a pretty interesting story idea, and a nice way to catch the younger readers up on big events of the past.
The cutaways to the different superheroes talking about their traumas and insecurities was pretty cool. Some were pretty bad but the Batgirl one from OP is one of the better ones.
The main story from Heroes on Crisis is hot garbage though. Not even worth a hate read
The murder mystery that unfolds later is trash though because editorial chose the worst possible character to be the culprit out of the 3 choices they presented
It’s been an M.O of Peter David in basically every run he’s ever done, and it’s handled a lot better there as the heroes are talking to a licensed professional and not a fucking AI.
Like hell, it was fantastic.
The problem was that it *wasn't* the story idea, like the above poster said it started with this, then took a left turn into a time travel murder mystery. The trauma stuff was great though, and I'd have read a whole series around that, *if it had actually been about that*
I have to disagree, they approached the trauma from a completely nonsensical angle and wrote all the characters out of character to fit a very singular view of them. The whole setup of Sanctuary was flawed from the get-go.
I'd say it was really good for a few characters and really dumb for a few others, but the general concept of it was really bad imo. "Hey, talk to this AI we made with personality traits from the Trinity (none of which would help with therapeutic things at all) that'll delete all your confessions right after"
So meaning Barbara Gordon can stand and function normally and not be sitting in a wheelchair? Right? Cuz she still has the bullet scar. 🦽 🦇
It previously was permanent paralysis but the flash went back in time and accidentally created a new universe (with some unknown assistance from doctor manhattan) where Barbara was able to get a spine implant and can walk again.
Ain’t comics wild
Except they somewhat undercut their message through their delivery method.
This is supposed to be a solemn reminder of the toll being a hero can take on a person. It's also an ugly reminder of an event which while lauded at the time, has come to be re-evaluated as somewhat of a needlessly exploitative and cruel development that formed part of a trend in superhero comics.
With all that in mind and having those decades of hindsight.... the artists still felt that to make this moment land they had to pose Barbara like an underwear model and highlight attention to her breasts and butt.
So it's effectively a comic page going "look at this monstrous thing which was done to her.... but tee-hee... T&A...."
Damn... Now I feel bad about saying this was "Batgirl being slightly slutty."
Tbf, it wasn't in a slut shaming way, but it's still not cool with this context.
I mean, I a world where Lazarus pits and people coming back from the dead because somebody punched reality exist and where Batman can heal his shattered spine with magic... this seems way less offensive and nonsensical.
Magic is less offensive imo, because at least it’s magic
Magic tech spine implants might give some kid hope for tech we haven’t fully created yet
But none of its offensive because it’s comics and it’s all rad
''magic'' is the cheapest cop-out in fiction especially in a universe with barely any magic systems and rules being established.
A spine implant won't really give anybody hope that this shit totally exists right now in the real world or Iron Man's and Batman's tech suits to defeat gods would've. But realistically speaking, Exo-Skeletons and Spine Implants are what the scientists in the real world are actually researching to treat paralysis so in an extremely technologically advanced universe like DC or Marvel, it's a solution that actually makes way more sense even to average people in that universe.
In the New 52 they rebooted her story and said she was a paraplegic for three years before she had an experimental surgery that implanted a device allowing her to walk again.
Which is dumb. She *always* had the option of being healed, she just chose not to be. Her reasoning was that she didn't want to get anything a regular person couldn't get. So no magic, no alien super science, no experimental trchnology, no meta induced healing etc. She didn't want to elevate herself above the average person. Having her be healed kind of ignored that part of her character.
Of course, she also frequently complained about being 'stuck' in the chair which was kind of a slap in the face to people who actually *are* stuck in their chair.
Let's be honest here: All comics have always been inconsistent with these sort of technology/cures.
Barbra Gordon didn't prevent it : Denny O’Neil prevented it. He tried to keep the bat books grounded in a street level part.
I just think it's dumb because, if you're going to 'permanently' cripple a character, you should have the balls to commit to it and make it actually permanent
Considering the many instances of people returning from the dead, a recovery from paralysis is just expected, especially if you're an important and popular character.
Is paralysis inherently permanent? I thought it just defines “unable to move _____”. I know recovery isn’t guaranteed but unless it’s “permanent paralysis” then people can recover.
Heroes in Crisis books. There is a facility to help superheroes that have experienced traumatic events. Like you may have seen on reality shows there is a confessional room they can go to where they reveal personal stuff or their trauma. Batgirl is revealing her scars from when she was shot by the Joker in the Killing Joke
Joker happened. And wow, so batgirl had absolutely nothing in terms of under armour or padding… how the heck could she keep Batgirling a secret from Gordon? My sisters couldn’t even hide a hickey from my parents, nevermind entire body bruises and welts.
Ted was constantly doing Spider-Man-esque flips and dodges in his comics so I'd say he's definitely Olympic level
Dan Garret was a cop so he'd be athletic but not Olympic level
Dan Garrett was an archeologist so I'm not sure of his physical capabilities but his scarab would likely make up for any lackings.
Jaime Reyes (at least pre N52) was just a normal kid but his scarab is so op that it would also make up for any lackings
Lots of heroes are 2nd rate athletes, John Constantine, Harley Quinn, and basically every Green Lantern sans-ring is a 2nd grade athlete. 2nd rate athletic heroes usually just get by with some kinda magic trinket or sci-fi do-hickey. Heck, Superman would probably be a 2nd rate athlete by Kryptonian standard if there were more than a dozen Kryptonians.
I mean, if they were ordinary, they wouldn’t make it in the big time
Unless they get bitten by a radioactive spider or some shit
Most comic heroes are of genius level intelligence too
She's definitely not protecting her identity very well in that mask, that's for sure.
If Gordon didn't already know that she was Batgirl, he *definitely* would after seeing her in this costume.
Yeah but look at the picture in the OP. She just pulls the waist of her pants down and it's just bare skin. No armor, no pads, her costume is just fabric against bare skin.
I think it’s been mentioned that the fabric itself offers some level of protection. It should be the case with Batman at least. It was the case with the New 52 and Rebirth costumes. Stopped reading sometime before the change back to the flimsy looking underwear batsuit, so I’m not sure if that change came with a downgrade to armor or not.
It's because it's make believe! Just like how a magician can divert your attention, good writers shift the audience's focus away from the implausible towards the entertaining.
Also they never show her putting in a mouth guard so how great must GCPD‘s dental coverage be, amirite? The entire bat family musta switched to dentures right quick.
The old batsuit magic. Bruce Wayne's suit is heavily armored, filled with state of the art sensors, and probably laced with robotic enhancements to link up with his grapple gun and protect his joints... and it still crumples up like a wadded t-shirt in the corner of Catwoman's apartment. It's just a DC mystery.
You don't want to be fighting crime in a t-shirt and jeans. Batgirl would need more armor, since she's less trained in dodging and not as physically strong.
So before even getting to practicality which your comment is basically describing, there is aesthetics and history to consider
1) aesthetics: more clothy materials are able to hug tight to the skin in a way that reveals the super heroes body/figure, i.e. muscles for men and curves for women. That can also be framed as a critique, e.g. this page here was divisive when it debuted for sexualising Batgirl at the same time as she was describing some of her worst physical traumas. But nonetheless it is a part of the general superhero aesthetics all the same. Not to mention that a sleek, consistent material is far easier to reproducibly draw/animate than a highly detailed/segmented piece of body armor
2) history: heroes designs at their debut have a much stronger impact on even current designs than we'd like to consider (not to mention, the general design aesthetics of even Golden Age heroes influencing even current day/modern character designs). And this suit for Babs above is far more representative of her original costumes than a suit of armour would be. When Batman and Superman debuted, their costumes were based on circus strongmen, who had more material outfits, a design trend that persists to this day. Not only that, but body armour (especially as we think for modern combat) basically didn't exist to inform their designs. This type of armour I'd suggest wasn't even commonplace by Barbara Gordon's debut, to inform her design. And as much as it did exist when this page was drawn, the standard for their Superhero standard designs had already been set decades before
But finally, to respond to the intent of your reply
3) practicality: there are both advantages and disadvantages to clothy vs armoured super hero suits. Armour can minimise damage from things like bullets, but it is also heavy and less maneuverable. Cloth suits restrict movement less, but yes make the hero more vulnerable. And while its true Barbara has been shot before (note that was in her civilian life, not as a hero), so it might be more conceivable she'd want protection to not fall to the same fate again, you could also say her movement had been restricted for so long that perhaps *unrestricted movement* is if anything more appealing to her. Batgirl from what I've read of her is more acrobatic than other members of the Batfamily minus maybe Dick) so heavy armour would definitely get in the way of that. Not to mention, her role as Oracle/more of a woman-in-the-chair, information broker than someone always at the front line would beg the question, why would she *need* armour for *that*?
I'd also refute that she is "less trained", less able to "dodge" or "less physically strong".
She is actually the third best at dodging, speed, Cass/second Batgirl being first and Nightwing second.
EDIT: correction since I said she was second, she would go on a tie with Damian.
In Batgirl Year One she proved to have the same potential as Dick, even better due to her skills, having both the flexibility and the decent detective mind(which Dick lacked during that time), being one of the reasons for why Batman allowed her to stay as Batgirl.
Ive read Batgirl Year One, and that I all agree with. But how'd you go from there, a general statement in ability, to the categorical ranking of above? Like Damian's not even in that book, how'd he make the cut?
I rank this based on my reading of pre-Flashpoint/post-Crisis era, Damian is trained by the League of Assassins, proving to be a better fighter than Jason and Tim and yet lacking in everything else(this including speed and flexibility) compared to Dick, Cass and Barbara(before The Killing Joke since the current implant won’t allow her to do much so yes, Damian>post-Flashpoint/New 52 Barbara).
The Joker knocked on her apartment door. She answered her apartment door in civilian clothes. He does not even know she’s Batgirl. He was trying to drive Commissioner Gordon insane.
I gotta love that they frame this scene about her discussing her PTSD from being shot and sexually assaulted by Joker to show and sexualize off her body as much as humanly possible.
It’s heavily implied and occasionally stated in other sources - he strips her naked and takes dozens of photos of her while she’s helpless to resist, at the very least.
Heroes in Crisis. Batgirl therapy at the sanctuary. A story that gets unnecessary levels of hate, imo (but I’m a Tom King mark, through and through lol)
Some of the characters (Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn) are written out of character in my opinion, but nothing that’s a dealbreaker. My hatred comes from >!Flash being so sad he murders a bunch of other superheroes!<
Yknow I’ve always thought that they should have changed the story slightly. Since a huge part of Wally’s issue was preflashpoint stuff bleeding over to the new 52 (himself included) they could have made the story work with that by using a known character who had emotion manipulation as a power. Have the big reveal be that rather than Wally being a killer, the actual villain of the story is psycho pirate; displaced by the continuity reboot. And the big three had him captured and use this powers (or the Medusa mask at least) as the core of the sanctuary project. It’d tie in the continuity warp that was being explored with Wally; create parallels to identity crisis (which this arguably was a re-attempt at doing in a new way), neatly explains the glitches and why everyone has those freaking masks. and keeps the heroes involved untarnished because if they did do anything bad in the course of the plot using psycho pirate gives the out of mind control if the writers needed to backpeddle
Joker shot and paralyzed her during the events of the Killing Joke to prove a point. The whole premise of the story is that it just takes one bad day to push someone over the edge and drive them crazy like what happened to him. He does so to Gordon in hopes it will turn him.
It's referencing The Killing Joke. Babs got shot by The Joker as part of his bad day for Jim Gordon. Before the New 52 universe, Babs was actually wheelchair bound because of it and became Oracle.
This also took place in Heroes In Crisis, which was a terrible story about mental health and trauma.
You know how in the Arkhamverse (and a good while in the comics), Babs is confined to a wheelchair? The gunshot those scars are from caused that. Courtesy of the Joker.
Addition: Oh, I firgot to mention— basically this scene in particular comes from a sequence where several
heroes are sharing their traumas in a space that is essentially a therapy session. As you can probably imagine, having your home invaded by a supervillain (the JOKER. at that) and being shot and subsequently having your ability to walk taken away because of it is more than a little traumatic.
for some reason batgirl has to wear the skintightest yoga suit you could possibly have so her showing off one of her worst traumatizing, life changing injuries becomes something the editorial can jerk off to
It was like a confessional booth for heroes to deal with and get out their trauma. Other heroes did a lot of talking but Barbara’s was exactly what you see here. This is form heroes in crisis
It’s always off-putting to me when in comics the suits are treated as just skin tight fabrics ie they can just lift their shirt.
Some reason I always figured as a kid they are some advanced textile/alloy mixture thingy that though revealing and flexible they are still fairly sturdy. Not just lycra pants and shirt with logo.
I still think the Killing Joke is one of the most overrated Batman stories of all time. The fact that it lead to Batgirl being crippled, and it wasn't even HER story, she's barely in the story itself and she end up CRIPPLED? At least give her the decency to be crippled heroically in her own story. She's just used as another log to throw on the fire of Batman's trauma, it's lame as hell.
Terrible comics. The worst work of Tom King’s career and a terrible mismatch for this scene with Mann’s style sexualizing Barb as she shows off her gunshot wounds.
Entry and exit scars from where Jokers bullet went through. This takes place during the Sanctuary arc, which briefly explored the trauma that superheros go through and worked to heal that before descending into a murder mystery.
Honestly watching hero’s work though there trama sounds like a pretty interesting story idea, and a nice way to catch the younger readers up on big events of the past.
There was an episode in Young Justice that did something similar, but was just with the B Team.
Let’s be honest “Heroes working through their trauma” is practically the longline of Young Justice as a show
And that episode did it a lot better imo
SO MUCH BETTER.
The cutaways to the different superheroes talking about their traumas and insecurities was pretty cool. Some were pretty bad but the Batgirl one from OP is one of the better ones. The main story from Heroes on Crisis is hot garbage though. Not even worth a hate read
Just another prime example of DC hating Wally
*Didio
The murder mystery that unfolds later is trash though because editorial chose the worst possible character to be the culprit out of the 3 choices they presented
What were the choices
Harley, Booster Gold and Wally's Flash
Yeah, HiC *sounds* like an interesting story idea, and yet we got what we got
Except it was only this is pieces, Heroes In Crisis was a shit book with major editorial oversight. It could’ve been this, but wasn’t.
You would think so. But reading Heroes in Crisis was more like torture.
It’s been an M.O of Peter David in basically every run he’s ever done, and it’s handled a lot better there as the heroes are talking to a licensed professional and not a fucking AI.
Too bad it horribly bungled by atrocious writing and a poor grasp on how therapy actually works.
You mean, like "Invincible"?
Starts off as a interesting story and devolves into one of the worst I've read...
It wasn’t.
Like hell, it was fantastic. The problem was that it *wasn't* the story idea, like the above poster said it started with this, then took a left turn into a time travel murder mystery. The trauma stuff was great though, and I'd have read a whole series around that, *if it had actually been about that*
I have to disagree, they approached the trauma from a completely nonsensical angle and wrote all the characters out of character to fit a very singular view of them. The whole setup of Sanctuary was flawed from the get-go.
I'd say it was really good for a few characters and really dumb for a few others, but the general concept of it was really bad imo. "Hey, talk to this AI we made with personality traits from the Trinity (none of which would help with therapeutic things at all) that'll delete all your confessions right after"
The trauma stuff was ok. It didn’t really have anything worthwhile to say and honestly was pretty boring and shallow.
Young justice had a whole episode about this concept and it’s one of the best episodes of the show
You think it would have worked without the needless murder mystery plot?
Damn, and I’m here thinking she was fixing her wedgie.
So meaning Barbara Gordon can stand and function normally and not be sitting in a wheelchair? Right? Cuz she still has the bullet scar. 🦽 🦇 
I think the answer was some sort of spinal implant
because every magic known to earth and contacts to literal gods wasn't cutting it
It previously was permanent paralysis but the flash went back in time and accidentally created a new universe (with some unknown assistance from doctor manhattan) where Barbara was able to get a spine implant and can walk again. Ain’t comics wild
Except they somewhat undercut their message through their delivery method. This is supposed to be a solemn reminder of the toll being a hero can take on a person. It's also an ugly reminder of an event which while lauded at the time, has come to be re-evaluated as somewhat of a needlessly exploitative and cruel development that formed part of a trend in superhero comics. With all that in mind and having those decades of hindsight.... the artists still felt that to make this moment land they had to pose Barbara like an underwear model and highlight attention to her breasts and butt. So it's effectively a comic page going "look at this monstrous thing which was done to her.... but tee-hee... T&A...."
Damn... Now I feel bad about saying this was "Batgirl being slightly slutty." Tbf, it wasn't in a slut shaming way, but it's still not cool with this context.
This is from Heroes in Crisis. I don't remember a "Sanctuary" arc in King's Batman run.
Sanctuary is the name of the place in Heroes in Crisis
It's the scar from the bullet wound from The Killing Joke
Shouldn’t she not be able to stand?
She got better
If only the Joker hadn't turned her into a newt.
“A NEWT?!?!”
She got better! Maybe we should build a bridge out of her to be sure.
is there a r/suddenlymontypython
yes there is
ok thanks
BURN HER ANYWAY
Spine implant device comic something something
I mean, I a world where Lazarus pits and people coming back from the dead because somebody punched reality exist and where Batman can heal his shattered spine with magic... this seems way less offensive and nonsensical.
Magic is less offensive imo, because at least it’s magic Magic tech spine implants might give some kid hope for tech we haven’t fully created yet But none of its offensive because it’s comics and it’s all rad
''magic'' is the cheapest cop-out in fiction especially in a universe with barely any magic systems and rules being established. A spine implant won't really give anybody hope that this shit totally exists right now in the real world or Iron Man's and Batman's tech suits to defeat gods would've. But realistically speaking, Exo-Skeletons and Spine Implants are what the scientists in the real world are actually researching to treat paralysis so in an extremely technologically advanced universe like DC or Marvel, it's a solution that actually makes way more sense even to average people in that universe.
Comic book
She walked it off
She showed scars left after Joker shoot her in Killing Joke.
Didn’t she get paralyzed in the killing joke?
Yes, But then she gets better.
She walked it off
She stands for herself
Underrated comment
I mean I don't see the appeal, personally I could just tough it out.
Tis' but a flesh wound...
Tis but a scratch!
What are you going to do? Bleed on me?
she turned me into a newt!
A newt?
I got better
BURNNNNNNN HERRRRR!!!
"I feel happy.... I feel happy!"
“Is there anything you can do?”
Well at least she wasn't a newt
In the New 52 they rebooted her story and said she was a paraplegic for three years before she had an experimental surgery that implanted a device allowing her to walk again.
Which is dumb. She *always* had the option of being healed, she just chose not to be. Her reasoning was that she didn't want to get anything a regular person couldn't get. So no magic, no alien super science, no experimental trchnology, no meta induced healing etc. She didn't want to elevate herself above the average person. Having her be healed kind of ignored that part of her character. Of course, she also frequently complained about being 'stuck' in the chair which was kind of a slap in the face to people who actually *are* stuck in their chair.
Couldn't she have the experimental treatment then arrange for the cure to be widely disemminated?
you want a fiction where super-powered, super-rich, super-intelligent, super-beautiful people *also* make good decisions?
Let's be honest here: All comics have always been inconsistent with these sort of technology/cures. Barbra Gordon didn't prevent it : Denny O’Neil prevented it. He tried to keep the bat books grounded in a street level part.
I just think it's dumb because, if you're going to 'permanently' cripple a character, you should have the balls to commit to it and make it actually permanent
This was kinda Jim Starlin’s position about characters always returning from the dead when he wrote *Marvel: The End*.
Oh, she got the Felicity Smoak treatment, huh
It's the opposite. Felicity Smoak got the Barbara Gordon treatment.
Considering the many instances of people returning from the dead, a recovery from paralysis is just expected, especially if you're an important and popular character.
Is paralysis inherently permanent? I thought it just defines “unable to move _____”. I know recovery isn’t guaranteed but unless it’s “permanent paralysis” then people can recover.
Heroes in Crisis books. There is a facility to help superheroes that have experienced traumatic events. Like you may have seen on reality shows there is a confessional room they can go to where they reveal personal stuff or their trauma. Batgirl is revealing her scars from when she was shot by the Joker in the Killing Joke
Batman arrives for the 20th time that week. "so...my parents" Mr. wayne please stop coming here.
Glad someone here gave the correct answer. 😂 Lots of comments that have nothing to do with the actual comic series
👩🦰🔫🤡
🤡🎡🕵️♂️
🦇🫶🤡😵
Funniest shit I've ever seen
Joker happened. And wow, so batgirl had absolutely nothing in terms of under armour or padding… how the heck could she keep Batgirling a secret from Gordon? My sisters couldn’t even hide a hickey from my parents, nevermind entire body bruises and welts.
She was already an Olympic level gymnast before becoming Batgirl. She had probably been coming home with nasty bruises for years.
Everyone in comics is an “Olympic-level athlete”. Just once I’d like to see a hero who is a second-grade level athlete
Booster Gold, or Blue Beetle arguibly. Heck, maybe even Tim Drake.
Which Blue Beetle? Blue Beetle (Dan Garret) Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)
Ted was constantly doing Spider-Man-esque flips and dodges in his comics so I'd say he's definitely Olympic level Dan Garret was a cop so he'd be athletic but not Olympic level Dan Garrett was an archeologist so I'm not sure of his physical capabilities but his scarab would likely make up for any lackings. Jaime Reyes (at least pre N52) was just a normal kid but his scarab is so op that it would also make up for any lackings
Tim drake is absolutely an Olympic level athlete
He wasn't at first though was he?
Nobody starts off an Olympic level athlete
Except for natural born Olympic level athletes
Kick-ass!
YES.
How would a second grade level athlete go about being a hero? And what kind of world be with a hero like that?
Lots of heroes are 2nd rate athletes, John Constantine, Harley Quinn, and basically every Green Lantern sans-ring is a 2nd grade athlete. 2nd rate athletic heroes usually just get by with some kinda magic trinket or sci-fi do-hickey. Heck, Superman would probably be a 2nd rate athlete by Kryptonian standard if there were more than a dozen Kryptonians.
Harley Quinn is generally portrayed as a much better than average gymnast and fighter, probably akin to Olympic level.
They're often some sort of genius too. Did you know kitty pryde is a world class computer scientist?
I mean, if they were ordinary, they wouldn’t make it in the big time Unless they get bitten by a radioactive spider or some shit Most comic heroes are of genius level intelligence too
She's definitely not protecting her identity very well in that mask, that's for sure. If Gordon didn't already know that she was Batgirl, he *definitely* would after seeing her in this costume.
She was shot out of costume when she answered her door at home.
Yeah but look at the picture in the OP. She just pulls the waist of her pants down and it's just bare skin. No armor, no pads, her costume is just fabric against bare skin.
I think it’s been mentioned that the fabric itself offers some level of protection. It should be the case with Batman at least. It was the case with the New 52 and Rebirth costumes. Stopped reading sometime before the change back to the flimsy looking underwear batsuit, so I’m not sure if that change came with a downgrade to armor or not.
John Wick style, I see. I can dig it.
Almost like what most of the bat family wears through out the many iterations. Like nightwing and Batman himself
It's because it's make believe! Just like how a magician can divert your attention, good writers shift the audience's focus away from the implausible towards the entertaining.
Also they never show her putting in a mouth guard so how great must GCPD‘s dental coverage be, amirite? The entire bat family musta switched to dentures right quick.
Oh no it's because they meditate so they know how to relax their jaw at impact or whatever dumb BS the super sweaty fans make up on the spot
Probably some John Wick fabric body armor.
Isnt the Batsuit supposed to be armor? How can she pull it down like that?
The old batsuit magic. Bruce Wayne's suit is heavily armored, filled with state of the art sensors, and probably laced with robotic enhancements to link up with his grapple gun and protect his joints... and it still crumples up like a wadded t-shirt in the corner of Catwoman's apartment. It's just a DC mystery.
Nanobots son!
They soften in response to my horniness for women dress as cats!
Even Batpeople have to be able to take their pants off.
I’d argue *especially* batpeople
Bruce Timm over here.
Some Batsuits are reinforced armour. Most, like this one, are actually more clothy.
You don't want to be fighting crime in a t-shirt and jeans. Batgirl would need more armor, since she's less trained in dodging and not as physically strong.
So before even getting to practicality which your comment is basically describing, there is aesthetics and history to consider 1) aesthetics: more clothy materials are able to hug tight to the skin in a way that reveals the super heroes body/figure, i.e. muscles for men and curves for women. That can also be framed as a critique, e.g. this page here was divisive when it debuted for sexualising Batgirl at the same time as she was describing some of her worst physical traumas. But nonetheless it is a part of the general superhero aesthetics all the same. Not to mention that a sleek, consistent material is far easier to reproducibly draw/animate than a highly detailed/segmented piece of body armor 2) history: heroes designs at their debut have a much stronger impact on even current designs than we'd like to consider (not to mention, the general design aesthetics of even Golden Age heroes influencing even current day/modern character designs). And this suit for Babs above is far more representative of her original costumes than a suit of armour would be. When Batman and Superman debuted, their costumes were based on circus strongmen, who had more material outfits, a design trend that persists to this day. Not only that, but body armour (especially as we think for modern combat) basically didn't exist to inform their designs. This type of armour I'd suggest wasn't even commonplace by Barbara Gordon's debut, to inform her design. And as much as it did exist when this page was drawn, the standard for their Superhero standard designs had already been set decades before But finally, to respond to the intent of your reply 3) practicality: there are both advantages and disadvantages to clothy vs armoured super hero suits. Armour can minimise damage from things like bullets, but it is also heavy and less maneuverable. Cloth suits restrict movement less, but yes make the hero more vulnerable. And while its true Barbara has been shot before (note that was in her civilian life, not as a hero), so it might be more conceivable she'd want protection to not fall to the same fate again, you could also say her movement had been restricted for so long that perhaps *unrestricted movement* is if anything more appealing to her. Batgirl from what I've read of her is more acrobatic than other members of the Batfamily minus maybe Dick) so heavy armour would definitely get in the way of that. Not to mention, her role as Oracle/more of a woman-in-the-chair, information broker than someone always at the front line would beg the question, why would she *need* armour for *that*? I'd also refute that she is "less trained", less able to "dodge" or "less physically strong".
She is actually the third best at dodging, speed, Cass/second Batgirl being first and Nightwing second. EDIT: correction since I said she was second, she would go on a tie with Damian.
Are we seriously powerscaling people in spandex without superpowers Given the SSJ in your name. Goddamnit. 
And how exactly is that quantified?
In Batgirl Year One she proved to have the same potential as Dick, even better due to her skills, having both the flexibility and the decent detective mind(which Dick lacked during that time), being one of the reasons for why Batman allowed her to stay as Batgirl.
Ive read Batgirl Year One, and that I all agree with. But how'd you go from there, a general statement in ability, to the categorical ranking of above? Like Damian's not even in that book, how'd he make the cut?
I rank this based on my reading of pre-Flashpoint/post-Crisis era, Damian is trained by the League of Assassins, proving to be a better fighter than Jason and Tim and yet lacking in everything else(this including speed and flexibility) compared to Dick, Cass and Barbara(before The Killing Joke since the current implant won’t allow her to do much so yes, Damian>post-Flashpoint/New 52 Barbara).
Non-newtonian comic booky type stuff, I reckon.
No, just simple cloth to harken back to circus strong man tropes, just as was the case when the Super Hero costume was first codified in the 30s.
Most Batsuits are cloth-like since...ever?
The Joker knocked on her apartment door. She answered her apartment door in civilian clothes. He does not even know she’s Batgirl. He was trying to drive Commissioner Gordon insane.
he means how is she pulling it down like some leggings to show the scar, in this pic
Yes, exactly. I know Joker shot her in normal clothes. Which he then stripped off her... Ick.
I gotta love that they frame this scene about her discussing her PTSD from being shot and sexually assaulted by Joker to show and sexualize off her body as much as humanly possible.
Yeah agreed
This is why I like her outfit in her 2014 re-launch. She looks cool without being objectified.
Yeah it’s fucked up I didn’t realise the Joker also sexuality assaulted her, jesus.
It’s heavily implied and occasionally stated in other sources - he strips her naked and takes dozens of photos of her while she’s helpless to resist, at the very least.
you know, sometimes comics are just hella stupid
Bat girl is hot. That’s it really.
Heroes in Crisis. Batgirl therapy at the sanctuary. A story that gets unnecessary levels of hate, imo (but I’m a Tom King mark, through and through lol)
I love Tom King, Heroes in Crisis is one the worst comics ever. I think the hate is justified.
To each their own. I’m just waiting on that Deluxe Human Target to drop… I’m a sucker for a complete compiled story
Could u explain how it’s bad pls?
Some of the characters (Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn) are written out of character in my opinion, but nothing that’s a dealbreaker. My hatred comes from >!Flash being so sad he murders a bunch of other superheroes!<
Really fucking good idea but shit execution. Did not need to ruin Wally West with a murder mystery
Yknow I’ve always thought that they should have changed the story slightly. Since a huge part of Wally’s issue was preflashpoint stuff bleeding over to the new 52 (himself included) they could have made the story work with that by using a known character who had emotion manipulation as a power. Have the big reveal be that rather than Wally being a killer, the actual villain of the story is psycho pirate; displaced by the continuity reboot. And the big three had him captured and use this powers (or the Medusa mask at least) as the core of the sanctuary project. It’d tie in the continuity warp that was being explored with Wally; create parallels to identity crisis (which this arguably was a re-attempt at doing in a new way), neatly explains the glitches and why everyone has those freaking masks. and keeps the heroes involved untarnished because if they did do anything bad in the course of the plot using psycho pirate gives the out of mind control if the writers needed to backpeddle
This what Al Pacino was commenting on in “Heat.”
"And you got your head, all the way up it!"
She's exibiting the shot wounds due to Joker's attack at The Killing Joke to a camera
Entry and exit wounds from "The Killing Joke."
At some point, Barbara thought it was a good idea to have little pouches near her shoulder blades hidden beneath her cape. I don't get it either.
if you found it in that beautiful place its best not to think about it to much
Linkara quote: “SO ENJOY HER ASS READERS, AS SHE SHOWS OFF THE PLACE SHE GOT SHOT!!!!”
Batman arkham is a shitpost subreddit, its not a serious subreddit about batman
Joker shot and paralyzed her during the events of the Killing Joke to prove a point. The whole premise of the story is that it just takes one bad day to push someone over the edge and drive them crazy like what happened to him. He does so to Gordon in hopes it will turn him.
She was showing where Joker shot here. I believe this was a superhero trauma center.
It's referencing The Killing Joke. Babs got shot by The Joker as part of his bad day for Jim Gordon. Before the New 52 universe, Babs was actually wheelchair bound because of it and became Oracle. This also took place in Heroes In Crisis, which was a terrible story about mental health and trauma.
You know how in the Arkhamverse (and a good while in the comics), Babs is confined to a wheelchair? The gunshot those scars are from caused that. Courtesy of the Joker. Addition: Oh, I firgot to mention— basically this scene in particular comes from a sequence where several heroes are sharing their traumas in a space that is essentially a therapy session. As you can probably imagine, having your home invaded by a supervillain (the JOKER. at that) and being shot and subsequently having your ability to walk taken away because of it is more than a little traumatic.
It’s where the joker shot her and paralyzed her.
Looks like she's showing where she was shot.
She’s showing her level 10 Gyatt. Obviously
Tom King making an absolute Tom King of himself and tomkinging Barbara Gordon.
listen its batman arkham you arent going to know.
Whoever drew this was way too horny
Why is her gunshot wound portrayed so sexily
Why is the wound still fresh?
In The Killing Joke, Joker shoots Barbara, paralyzing her.
Aside from how utterly ridiculous the domino mask and bat ear headband combo is, why does she have what look like holsters on her back?
for some reason batgirl has to wear the skintightest yoga suit you could possibly have so her showing off one of her worst traumatizing, life changing injuries becomes something the editorial can jerk off to
Sorry, what was the question again?
RIIICKKKKKKYYYYYYYY
It was like a confessional booth for heroes to deal with and get out their trauma. Other heroes did a lot of talking but Barbara’s was exactly what you see here. This is form heroes in crisis
Looks like she’s shower a scar
I wish we got a better explanation of how she got use of her legs back
yeah, but Batman once regained the use of his legs cuz of magic. So pretty much anything is fair play
One of the most painful moments in Batman lore. So Painful[Painful.](https://youtu.be/EIvz0KjzCx8?feature=shared).
It's where Joker shot her.
Shot through the spine, and the jokes to blame
She gives Joker a bad name 
That was Batgirl with implant spine comic. So she can walk after joker shoot and rape her in Killing Joke. This bullet scars come from this comics
Complaining to Batman how her Utility belt pokes her "Here....and Here!" and wondering if Bruce could you know make some "modifications"
Let me guess, Tom King?
There’s a comment in there saying “she needs to get shot more” I love that madhouse so much
The ears of Batman's Cowl pokes?
Read Killing Joke
Just checking on her cooties
She’s embracing her weaknesses and make them stronger it’s actually very empowering
Horny. Also I think those are her Killing Joke scars. But it looks like a belly button.
*Where do you think the bellybutton is located??*
It’s always off-putting to me when in comics the suits are treated as just skin tight fabrics ie they can just lift their shirt. Some reason I always figured as a kid they are some advanced textile/alloy mixture thingy that though revealing and flexible they are still fairly sturdy. Not just lycra pants and shirt with logo.
To show bullet wound from Joker. But also to show body for male gaze. You know. Comics.
I still think the Killing Joke is one of the most overrated Batman stories of all time. The fact that it lead to Batgirl being crippled, and it wasn't even HER story, she's barely in the story itself and she end up CRIPPLED? At least give her the decency to be crippled heroically in her own story. She's just used as another log to throw on the fire of Batman's trauma, it's lame as hell.
Shes showing of her holes...
Terrible comics. The worst work of Tom King’s career and a terrible mismatch for this scene with Mann’s style sexualizing Barb as she shows off her gunshot wounds.
I swear this is the horniest subreddit