#my batgirls

[fantastic-nonsense]

This is my first Halloween in a wheelchair so obviously my only costume options are Oracle or Professor X, and as I was looking up Oracle costume references I discovered that Cass and Steph are Batgirl again? In their original costumes??? and Babs is Oracle again??? Am I hallucinating? Is this worth driving to the comic store to read? I haven't touched DC since n52 lol

Well they're certainly not your only options but they are absolutely SUPERIOR options for someone who has the opportunity to take it! And...yes, okay, let me explain the convoluted mess that's behind the current state of events that is "we have three Batgirls operating simultaneously."

In August of 2020, DC had that massive upper management firing event that took out Dan Didio, Bob Harras, and most of the company's upper level editorial, marketing, and publishing staff; further job cuts happened later that year as well. This massively changed the creative direction of the company, leading to a situation where Future State (which itself was a restructuring of Didio's infamous '5G initiative') ended up as a two month "alternate future" event that led to the Infinite Frontier era (starting in March 2021) instead of a dramatic re-shifting of the DCU in the aftermath of the Dark Knights: Death Metal event.

At the time, the Infinite Frontier era was explicitly billed as "everything is canon" due to Death Metal's restructuring of the multiverse as an unlimited "omniverse." As part of this initiative, several things shifted slightly to the left re: the Batfamily. In particular, Cass and Steph were once again allowed to wear bat symbols and have their histories as Batgirl at least semi-acknowledged again (something that had been denied to them for 5 years via editorial mandate).

Thus, as of March 2021 Cass and Steph are both Batgirl again and operating as such. They gave Cass her pre-reboot!Batgirl suit again and Steph a restructured look that looks like a mashup of her Rebirth-era Spoiler suit and her 2009 Batgirl look. Effectively, Babs, Cass, and Steph are all operating as Batgirl simultaneously right now (the same is also happening with the Robin and Wonder Girl mantles: Tim and Damian are sharing Robin and Cassie and Yara are sharing Wonder Girl). DC also announced a Batgirls team-up book (which debuted last December) that supposedly starred Steph and Cass, with Babs acting as their mentor. Unfortunately, it's largely been....not good. The bar was six feet underground and failed to be cleared, unfortunately. Cass's and Steph's best appearances over the past year have been as cameos or supporting roles in other books.

Meanwhile, Babs, having ripped the chip allowing her to walk again out of her spine during the Joker War event earlier that year, got a replacement but was told by Luke Fox that doing anything super strenuous might cause it to degrade and break down (permanently, this time):

"No joke, there is no next time with the implant. Your nerves won't take to it. And we both know what it means if that happens." "I know. And I don't need it to work forever--just for now. I'm fine without the implant." "I know you are." -Batgirl (2016) #48

Theoretically, this was supposed to lead to an era of Barbara technically having the capacity to walk but largely retiring the Batgirl suit to be Oracle again. At least, that's what readers were told at the start of the IF era:

"How do you feel about being back behind the computer?"

"Honestly Huntress, it feels good. There's a big part of me that felt like I could never be in all the places I wanted to be in the costume. Now I can be everywhere again. I haven't hung the costume up for good, but I'll be a little more judicious about when I use it. Go a little easier on my spinal implant. And until then...it's not like this city is going to go wanting for a Batgirl with Steph and Cass on the job." -Infinite Frontier #0 (2021)

Early Nightwing issues seemed to bear that out. Tom Taylor's ableist writing non-withstanding, Babs largely operated as Oracle in both Nightwing and Tynion's Batman run. Then Fear State came around later that year and we started getting dialogue like this:

"That's it. I can't do any more from here. I can't find who's doing this or where they're doing it from. And I can't shut them down, not remotely. I think they're plugged directly into my system. I need to find exactly where they gained entry out there. -Nightwing (2016) #84

DC initially played it off as a one-time thing, a "Batgirl!Babs going out with a bang" story…and then 5 issues later, she was suited up again. And it's been happening more and more often the further away we get from the immediate aftermath of Joker War:

She's semi-regularly using mobility aids in Batgirls, but it's the ONLY book showing that and they're STILL having her suit up regularly. She's effectively a half-time Batgirl, half-time Oracle, and the only writers who have actually utilized her well as Oracle have been Tynion (to an extent) and Mariko Tamaki.

It's an extremely frustrating state of events tbh. On the upside, Cass and Steph are Batgirl again and everyone's pre-reboot history is at least mostly back; on the other, Babs is still the victim of some pretty heinously ableist writing and the restoration of everyone's pre-reboot history has been done so sloppily that in many respects it's difficult to figure out what's canon anymore and what's not.

In terms of going to the comic store/starting to read newer comics again, I think that depends on your perspective. There's absolutely some great stories starring the Batgirls that have been written over the past few years; if you want to pick up Mariko Tamaki's Shadows of the Bat: The Tower event from earlier this year (which as a bonus, is also a big Helena Bertinelli story and finally re-canonized No Man's Land) or her Batman: One Bad Day: Two-Face issue, those are two stories from the past year that are good. If you haven't been keeping up with comics since the New 52 period, I might point you to my Cass and Steph entries on my comics recs list, which feature a few solid recs that have been written since their re-introductions (I have yet to update the Babs entry, largely because I've been so dissatisfied with most of Barbara's comics written in the post-Flashpoint era).

....imo, before you drive to the comics shop, I'd pick out a few comic arcs that look interesting to you and read them on RCO first. There's definitely some gems to read, but we're still in a massive YMMV era for the Batgirls, unfortunately.

[video320]

I drew the bat family

[thefriendlyneighborhoodace]

sometimes i think about how funny it would be if bruce had a slight english accent as a result of alfred being the only adult in his life for most of his formative years. that or he just says british slang instead of english.

this either drives his children insane, or they think it’s the most hilarious thing ever.

__________________________

Bruce: Can you pass the chips?

Dick: Sure, B. *passes over the potato chips*

Bruce: No, the chips.

Dick: ???? … yeah? here?

Bruce: NO! THE CHIPS! *gesturing wildly for the french fries*

Damian: Father, are you having a stroke?

———

Batman: Alright, this mission is very important. It is imperative that everything goes to schedule. (shh-edule)

*red robin and red hood snicker*

Batman: *glare* As I was saying, it all must go to shh-edule…

RR & RH : *uproariously laughter *

Batman: *harsher glare* Is something funny?

RR: Oh nothing, B, don’t worry.

RH: Absolutely nothing wrong, “left-tenant”

RR & RH: *dying of laughter *

———

Bruce: *reaching the end of a long rant about responsibility and making sure you are keeping yourself and others safe* And what do you have to say for yourself??

Duke: … You sound like Alfred…

Bruce: *horrified look over coming him* … what

Cass: *furious nodding*

*Some time later, after B has been fished out of Gotham Harbor, which he jumped into after declaring that he “couldn’t turn into his father”*

Alfred: *reaching the end of a long rant about responsibility and making sure you are keeping yourself and others safe* And what do you have to say for yourself??

Bruce: *white as a sheet* … Sorry Alfie…

*Steph is heard furiously cackling in the background*

_______________________

anyways i just thought this was fun

[dianna-knst]

ROBIN3／ROBIN4

[starspilli]

batkids game night. they’re playing fortnite

(click for full quality <3 also available as a print!)

[mythoughtfulwindow]

Hiking adventure with Steph and Cass

And a bonus Tim!

[roppiepop]

Who’s coming to the cookout?

[bloomeng]

remember when i mentioned their magical artifacts change their uniforms as they grow as people….. anyway magical girl batgirl and discowing

[binglepringle]

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na

💥Batgirl💥

[ditzybat]

tim drake is the type of guy to drop random lore then walk away.

tim: ugh i hate baseball, it’s like, when you have to play it in order to save a whole planet once, every game after seem boring

dick: that’s not…

tim: only downside to that was how we almost totaled barts brand new spaceship

dick: what spaceship??

—

tim: oh, hi mom

shiva: hello timothy, how are you? still keeping up with your training i take it?

bruce: mother? she’s not your —

shiva: let’s spar then timothy, let’s leave it strictly non lasting injuries, i don’t rather feel like dying by your hand again today

tim: of course!! ^-^

bruce: again?

—

tim: man i forgot to take my meds again

duke: your meds for what?

tim: i have no spleen, so i have to take probiotics, it really is manageable but i dont know where those pills went

duke: i’m almost scared to ask, tim, how did you lose your spleen?

tim: weird spider dude, it was a whole thing

—

tim: you talk a lot of shit for someone who got replaced as heir to your immortal grandfathers empire by me

damian: you what!?

tim: i regularly beat his ass at online chess every week too, and i don’t think you’ve seen him since he stole your corpse

—

tim: here

jason: what’s this?

tim: a box of all the photos i took when i obsessively stalked you for your entire tenure as robin

jason: thanks?

tim: you’re welcome, bye!

jason: … creepy ass kid…

—

steph: so how did you to get together?

bernard: well —

tim: i saved him from a getting cut open by chaos monster cult members

bernard: yep, i was rescued from being a vessel for a greek god, and we just really clicked afterwards

steph: well, it’s better than the brick

[video320]

I've appreciated all the love for this drawing. But here is its final form. I'm Tabling at a convention for the 1st time (wish me luck)in October. When Ordering prints I noticed the option for a double-sided print. So I figured I might make use of that option. This is what I came up with. Same portrait, sans cowls. I like drawing superheroes but drawing them with masks means I miss out with faces and drawing them w/o a mask runs the danger of making them unrecognizable. So best of both worlds, I guess. Also, If you are going to UWUcon in AZ this October come find me.

[mysteriousbeetle]

based off the comic by @/silkentine.

[dieubius]

uhhh. bruce wayne modelling gig. have a good day 🥰

[oifaaa]

sometimes you have a silly wee idea and you make a silly wee comic

[rxbin-iii]

the Wayne siblings

Batkids (1/2)

Do not re-upload/re-post my work.

[dc-comics-enjoyer]

The Batkids doing something considered rebellious and Bruce is unimpressed because "been there, done that" headcanon :

Damian runs away and sleeps under a bridge at some point -> Bruce did it at nine years old.

Tim gets piercings (bonus : Kon pierced him) -> Bruce had his nipples pierced by Minkhoa back in the days.

Jason gets home smelling of weed -> Bruce didn't only taste foreign food around the world when he was training...

Steph gets a mohawk -> Bruce had a bright pink mohawk at some point to piss Alfred off.

Dick anonymously starts an OF -> Bruce may or may not have leaked his own sextapes (yes, multiple) for "legitimate Batman-related" reasons.

Cass accidentally joins a cult -> Bruce and Minkhoa competitively founded a cult to see who would get to be the ultimate guru.

Duke finds himself in custody for whatever silly reason really -> Bruce went to prison (more than once) (in different countries) (for terrible motives) (he's still blacklisted in some of those countries)