The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
(Joseph Conrad.)
In many ways it is like the Slaughter of Innocents or Rape of the Shire. It is no kind of lesson to those experiencing it, not in the heat of the moment. Rather, it is a warning to those who read, and, as Scott McCloud justly points out, tacitly and with secret relish add their knives to the resultant “blood in the gutter.” Murdering the Object: it is still a Thing.
“Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.”
(“Introduction,” Critical Articles. 1895.)
“Batgirl – Oracle” by iamww on the deviantart.
“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.”
(Father Zossima, The Brothers Karamazov. 1880.)
Yvonne Craig (Batgirl) and Adam West (Batman) goofing around on a publicity shoot.
Batgirl appeared only in the final season of the Batman series, 1967-68, but Yvonne Craig stayed attached to the character. The Joker shot Barbara Gordon, paralyzing her from the waist down, then kidnapped and stripped her father, forcing him to view blown-up shots of his suffering daughter (also mainly undressed) in Alan Moore’s 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke — over which people are often divided; I think it’s a masterwork — in order to prove to Jim Gordon and Batman that all it takes is “one bad day” for a man to be driven mad. After reading The Killing Joke for herself, Yvonne Craig complained to DC about what she viewed as the character’s egregiously cruel fate (the wiki).
Bonus Trek connection:
Yvonne played Marta, the Orion asylum inmate with green skin and sexy dance moves, in “Whom Gods Destroy,” Star Trek TOS, Season 3, Episode 15 (1968).
CBR’s Kelly Thompson has named Kate Kane, Batwoman, the #1 Female Comic Character of the Decade.
Art by J. H. Williams with color by Dave Stewart. Kind of a Kahlo-influenced Dia de los Muertos sugar skull vibe, somewhere between a prayer card and an xray, gruesomely awesome and totally apropos genre of art especially given her gal is Renee Montoya. This cover art + me = Total. Love.
The rest of the list is singularly amazing as well. It includes Cassie Cain as Batgirl, honorable mention for Det. Renee Montoya as The Question —Kate Kane’s sweetheart— and a shout-out to Detective Deena Pilgrim from the Powers world (I have always favored the idea of Retro Girl better than the actuality of Deena and her unmasked heroism, personally, ever since I shut myself in the bath one day following a fight with my husband and read Who Killed Retro Girl? until the water got cold, and I continually peruse Powers in the hope of seeing Pilgrim take on that intriguing mantle one day, but so far no go).
Renee Montoya, formerly one of Gotham’s Finest, now The Question.
Additionally, Thompson gives a glowing enough account of a “Micchone” heroine from Walking Dead that I’m actually willing to give a zombie comic a spin, so give the article a read if you’ve got some loose bills left over from Christmas folding money and are looking for new things to read.
“Hurt me.” And I thought I had Daddy Issues? Cropped from a scan by scans daily’s gallery from Batgirl 49-50 when Cass done got fired.
Super fat-bat-thanks to Peteski, aka nevver on the tumblr, who is always hooking me up to badass shit that brightens my day.
“Batgirl” by punchyninja on deviantart, aka Vince Riley.
I am not including the ones my kidlet and I drew and colored yesterday. They were really awful. I didn’t realize how hard it is to draw a knee pit. And braces? Way more difficult to make look cute and not disgusting in a sketch than you’d imagine! You don’t want to know. My faith in my comic skills took quite the pummeling. I commented to Miss D a while later while chatting, “Hey, you know what would be fun? If we all took a figure drawing class together.” Subtext: Because I suck at drawing Batgirl.
“Batgirl thinggggg” by doctajules on deviantart, also to be found on hokuten.net, which has its own story.
Anyway, these are some of the first I’ve found recently of my favorite results from the “draw Batgirl” meme from deviantart, livejournal, and elsewhere. Click through for links to the artists.
“Batgirly whee!” by Whirring Blender, aka the lovely and talented Carly Monardo. She drew this one actually for the second round of the meme, which was started both times by artist and lj raconteur Jamie Dee Galey.
I have dozens of these saved here and there that I'm slowly recovering along with bits and pieces of all my other lost data, so lots more to come eventually!
“Batgirl a la Nouveau” by urdsama on deviantart, aka Olga Ulanova.
Pencil sketch of Batgirl making a cute squinchy face.
Since this is by Kevin Maguire, I assume it is meant to depict the Batgirl from Batman Confidential, a monthly DC Comics series that has developed in the wake of the Nolanverse re-arousing interest in Batman’s early years. As I have not yet given them a whirl, I do not know Batgirl’s public identity in those stories. Depending on how early it is in Batman’s career, continuity would dictate that it be Barbara Gordon, but, if they wanted to roll truly old school, I guess they could bust out dumbass Betty Kane (I refuse to link to anything that has to do with that). In any case, doesn’t she look so cute?! I just want to pinch her little riot grrl cheeks and giggle together — love this! (I think I am simultaneously a girl and a boy up in my brainspace.)
The Thought Experiment 