Post by Dawn on Feb 24, 2010 1:00:33 GMT -5
First Name: Barbara
Last Name: Gordon
Alias or Nick-name: Babs, The Oracle (presently), Batgirl (formerly)
Age: 20s
Height/Weight: 5'11"/130 lbs
Eyes: green
Hair: red
Past Affiliations: Worked with the Suicide Squad for some time early on in her career as Oracle
Current Affiliations: As Oracle (with the Black Canary), half of the crime-fighting team "Birds of Prey"; reserve member of the JLA; an integral part of the Batman's research and support crew.
Persuasion: Good
Powers/Weapons: As Oracle, Barbara has many technological skills, a genius-level intellect, photographic memory, a vast knowledge of computers and electronics, expert skills as a hacker, and graduate training in library sciences. Oracle places her considerable skills and knowledge at the disposal of many of the DC universe's heroes. Barbara is a formidable opponent, capable of hacking and retrieving information from private satellites, military installations, government files, even the properties of Lex Luthor. Batman, himself a genius with a wide knowledge base and access to vast information resources, routinely consults Oracle for assistance.
Despite being paralyzed from the waist down, Oracle trains in the martial arts, and has extensive skills with escrima fighting sticks and batarangs; she customarily keeps a pair of escrima sticks stored in the armrests of her wheelchair as a contingency.
History:
Origin
Barbara Gordon debuted in Detective Comics #359 (cover-dated 1967, although the comic was actually released in late 1966) as the daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon. On her way to a costume ball dressed as a female version of Batman, Barbara intervenes in a kidnapping attempt on Bruce Wayne by the villainous Killer Moth, attracting the Dark Knight's attention and leading to a crime-fighting career.
In her original adventures during the Silver Age, Batgirl is depicted as a librarian by day, and a spirited crime fighter by night. After a handful of guest appearances in Batman stories, she was given her own back-up strip in Detective Comics. This allowed the character to be fleshed out considerably, with the shy, mousy, bookworm version of Barbara Gordon quickly giving way to a more modern, confident character. Devoid of her plain-Jane glasses and hair bun, Barbara starts to date what would become a succession of boyfriends, the most popular being Vietnam-veteran-turned-private-investigator Jason Bard.
Barbara proved to be more popular than her predecessor (Bette Kane, the Bat-Girl), as readers requested for her to appear in other titles. In addition to her appearances in both Detective Comics and Batman, Batgirl made a guest appearance in World's Finest Comics where she met Superman, Supergirl, Bat-Mite, and Mxyzptlk for the first time. She also fights alongside the Justice League of America against the villainous Queen Bee. She encounters Supergirl again in Adventure Comics #381 when both heroines separately investigate a female criminal gang.
Batgirl in the 1970s and 1980s
Her back-up stories appear sporadically in Detective Comics until the mid 1970s. Although she occasionally partners with Robin, she more frequently works with Jason Bard, a Vietnam War veteran with a chronic knee injury who becomes an private detective. Bard is a romantic interest of Barbara's, as well. Barbara reveals her secret identity to her father (who had already discovered it on his own), and serves as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She moves to Washington, D.C., intending to give up her career as Batgirl: in June 1972, Batgirl appeared in Detective Comics #42, in a story entitled "Batgirl's Last Case."
Editor Julius Schwartz brought her back a year later in Superman #268, in which she has a blind date with Clark Kent, establishing their friendship, and fights alongside Superman. Batgirl and Superman team up twice more, in Superman #279 and DC Comics Presents #19. She also teamed up with Supergirl in Superman Family #171, and the two became close friends, with Batgirl delivering Supergirl's eulogy during the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline.
In 1975, DC created the Batman Family comic book, which ran for 20 issues. Batgirl was one of the main features in the book, frequently teaming with Robin. Dick Grayson (Robin's alter ego) served as Barbara's summer intern, building a friendship between the two. Soon they discover each other's alternate identities. Barbara dates Senator Tom Cleary. Dick, who is dating fellow college student Lori Elton, has an unrequited crush on Barbara. The "Dynamite Duo" of Batgirl and Robin fight the criminal organization M.A.Z.E., super villains Huntress, Sportsmaster, the Outsider, and Duela Dent, who later appeared in the Teen Titans as the Harlequin.
Barbara meets Batwoman in Batman Family #10, when the retired super heroine returns to crime-fighting. The two fight Killer Moth and Cavalier, and learn about each other's secret identities. They form a friendship and team up twice more in Batman Family, and again alongside the Freedom Fighters.
In Batman Family #17 Barbara meets Helena Wayne, the Huntress and daughter of the Batman and Catwoman in the parallel universe Earth-Two.
When Batman Family ended at issue #20, stories featuring these characters were merged with Detective Comics, beginning with issue #481 in 1979, and Batgirl continued her adventures there. Even after the "Batman Family" feature left Detective Comics, Batgirl continued to appear in the back-up stories through issue #519. She returns to Gotham City and takes a job as a social worker, fighting villains such as Lady Snake and the Velvet Tiger. Supergirl visits Gotham and shares an adventure with her. Later, Batgirl is shot by Commorant and almost dies of her wounds; while recovering, she has a serious crisis of purpose and briefly retires. After a talk with Batman, however, she faces down and captures Commorant, and returns to crime fighting.
After her back-up series of stories ended, Barbara continued to be Batgirl, but increasingly felt inconsequential in a world filled with super-powered heroes. She expresses her doubts to Supergirl during Crisis on Infinite Earths. Finally, after capturing the Commorant again in Batgirl Special #1, Barbara retires her Batgirl persona (although in later stories she occasionally gets back into costume for special cases).
Batgirl after Crisis on Infinite Earths
In the new continuity, Barbara is born to Roger and Thelma Gordon, and is Jim Gordon's niece.
In Batman: Gotham Knights #6, Batman discovers a letter that Barbara has been keeping in a safe deposit box (that is later stolen). The letter reveals that Barbara knew Jim Gordon had dated her mother Thelma before she married Roger, and that there is a chance that Jim Gordon might be her biological father, although he is not aware of that. Barbara states that she has not confronted Jim about this — not because she is afraid it might be true, but because she is afraid it might not be.
She shows interest at a young age in superheroes, often dressing up as one. Barbara's mother and aunt are killed in a car accident, partly caused by her father's drinking. Roger begins drinking heavily and takes his aggression out on the girl. Barbara takes on a great deal of responsibility to cover for her father, consoling herself by thinking her father is not the same man she had once known. Eventually Roger's drinking and self-abuse cause his death.
James Gordon adopts his orphaned niece. James "Jim" Gordon, his wife (also named Barbara), and their son live in Gotham City, where he is a police Captain. Although James and young Barbara initially do not get along, with time they grow close (Secret Origins #20) — Barbara comes to think of him as her father.
Barbara is a highly gifted child, and graduates from High School at an early age. In college she accepts a position as a research assistant at the Gotham Public Library, although she dreams of one day working in law enforcement. This is a source of conflict between her and Jim, as she doesn't even meet the height requirements, and he feels she should follow a less dangerous career. She attempts to enroll in the FBI as a field agent, but they dismiss her, mostly due to her physical build.
Angry at her father, Barbara crashes the Gotham City Police Department's annual Ball, wearing a version of Batman's costume. However, Killer Moth, a costumed criminal, attempts to rob the revelers at event, and Barbara now finds herself taking on the Batgirl persona in order to thwart him. This proves to be the start of her successful crime-fighting career. Batman and Robin soon take an active role in training Barbara, as process depicted in the nine-issue mini-series Batgirl: Year One.
Although Barbara's time as a Congresswoman is not mentioned often, it was included in her post-Crisis origin story in Secret Origins #20, and again in Hawk and Dove #22-24. However, other than in these comics, this part of her life is rarely, if ever, mentioned.
In the post-Crisis continuity, Supergirl does not arrive on Earth until Barbara has already established herself as Oracle; many adventures she shared with Batgirl are now retroactively described as having been experienced by Power Girl. In addition, Barbara and Dick Grayson have been lovers at some time in the past, and Barbara was once engaged to Jason Bard, (who is no longer a Vietnam veteran but a private investigator and former Gotham City policeman).
Exit Batgirl, Enter Oracle
Barbara as Oracle.
In Batman: The Killing Joke, a graphic novel by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, the Joker shoots Barbara, intending to drive her father James Gordon into madness. The bullet severs her spine, permanently paralyzing her from the waist down and ending her career as Batgirl. The Joker selects Barbara because she is Gordon's daughter; he does not know that Batgirl and Barbara Gordon are the same person.
Initially, Barbara's paralysis plunges her into a state of reactive depression. However, she soon realizes that her aptitude for and training in information sciences have provided her with tremendous skills that could be deployed to fight crime. In a world increasingly centered on technology and information, she possesses a genius-level intellect; photographic memory; deep knowledge of computers and electronics; expert skills as a hacker; and graduate training in library sciences.
After a dream in which Batgirl sees an all-knowing woman (similar to Oracle at Delphi of Greek mythology) with Barbara's own face, Barbara adopts Oracle as her codename. She serves as an information broker, gathering and disseminating intelligence to law enforcement organizations and members of the superhero community.
Barbara also has trained, under the tutelage of Richard Dragon, one of DC's premier martial artists, to engage in combat (using eskrima) from her wheelchair. She develops her upper-body strength and targeting skills with both firearms and batarangs, becoming an even more skilled and effective fighter than she was as Batgirl.
In her first mission as Oracle, Barbara assists her father on an extremely difficult murder investigation; upon the mission's completion she takes her services to the Suicide Squad. For a time she relocates to Belle Reve prison in Louisiana to work with the team under the alias of "Amy Beddoes". After leaving the Suicide Squad, she returns to Gotham City and aids Batman and his protegés, as well as many other heroes.
In her second appearance as a hacker in the DC Comics universe, Barbara was featured in the 12-issue mini-series The Hacker Files.
She joins the Justice League of America, serving as the team's primary information and communications resource; she currently holds inactive status with the team. Since an alternate-reality Batgirl/Barbara Gordon was granted posthumous honorary membership in the League after sacrificing herself to save Damage and defeat Parallax, two different Barbara Gordons have been members of the Justice League: one as Oracle, the other as Batgirl.
Birds of Prey
Barbara founds the Birds of Prey, a team of female heroes, whom she employs as agents. Her first agent is Power Girl. However, when an early case goes awry and several deaths result from it, Power Girl blames Barbara and stops working with Oracle on a regular basis. (Although she helps Oracle occasionally, when Oracle invites Power Girl to rejoin the team after the events of Infinite Crisis, she replies that she'll do so "when Hell freezes over.")
Barbara joins forces with superhero Black Canary. The two – similar in both having lost their original abilities while fighting crime, yet managing to overcome their handicaps – would later meet in person and become best friends (Birds of Prey #29). The two form the nucleus of the Birds of Prey.
The Huntress joins the team as a full-time agent, as do Lady Blackhawk and Vixen. Although the personnel on Barbara's team grows and changes, Huntress and Lady Blackhawk remain core agents.
During the "No Man's Land" storyline, Barbara employs various teenagers to be her eyes and ears on the street. One of these young agents is Cassandra Cain; she later saves Jim Gordon's life. Barbara realizes that Cassandra is actually one of the world's top martial artists; it is revealed that her father, David Cain, had trained her to be a weapon from infancy. Barbara accedes to Cassandra taking up the Batgirl mantle, and becomes Cassandra's mentor.
Metropolis
During the "War Games" storyline, Batman, who is battling the Black Mask, usurps Oracle's computers and satellites. This results in the destruction of Barbara's home and headquarters in the clock tower. Subsequently, Barbara decides to move on, and leaves Gotham City altogether. She cuts her ties with Batman, and after a temporary world trip with her team, relocates to Metropolis.
After becoming herself infected with an advanced virus delivered by Brainiac, Barbara develops cyberpathic powers that allow her to psychically interact with computer information systems. Although she loses these abilities after the virus is rendered dormant, following an operation by Doctor Mid-Nite she discovers she can move her toes (Birds of Prey #85). However, this proves to be a short-lived effect, and Barbara remains paralyzed.
Although Barbara and Dick Grayson (the superhero now code-named Nightwing) re-ignite their romance, Barbara ends the relationship when she feels Dick is being over-protective of her. In truth, the villain Blockbuster is attacking all areas of Dick's life. Barbara and Dick still love each other and remain in each other's lives; after the destruction of Blüdhaven by The Society, Dick proposes and Barbara accepts.
However, their romance is cut short by the Infinite Crisis storyline. Alexander Luthor's master plan to recreate the multiverse relies upon diverting the attention of the world's heroes. Dick is severely injured in the battle for Metropolis, and Barbara stays by his side as he recovers. When Batman asks Dick to join him on his quest to recreate Batman, Dick is torn because of his engagement to Barbara. Barbara returns the engagement ring because she feels that Dick needs a soul-searching quest as much as his mentor, and understands that she and Dick aren't ready for marriage. Dick goes with Batman, but leaves Barbara a note, the ring, and a photograph of them as Robin and Batgirl, promising to come back to her.
One Year Later
Main article: One Year Later
A year after the events of Infinite Crisis, Oracle and her team continue to work in Metropolis. Barbara works with Batman, although not on a regular basis as before — she prefers to work primarily with her own agents. Oracle is not immediately aware of Cassandra's retirement as Batgirl, nor her subsequent take-over of the League of Assassins. (Cassandra becomes a sore point with Oracle: she slaps Misfit, a metahuman girl pretending to be Batgirl, for merely mentioning Cassandra's name.)
Barbara continues to lead the Birds of Prey, and expanded the ranks of the operation. In Birds of Prey #99, Black Canary leaves the team, having decided to devote herself to raising her adopted daughter, Sin. Huntress remains as the team's de facto field leader, and Big Barda has been brought in as the group's heavy-hitter alongside a larger, rotating roster.
In "Whitewater," Gail Simone's final story arc on Birds of Prey, (issues #105-#108), Oracle and her team struggle for power with Spy Smasher, a government agent who has taken over the Birds of Prey organization. After the completion of a mission in Russia in which the team rescues the resurrected Ice, Barbara challenges Spy Smasher to a hand-to-hand fight: the winner takes the Birds of Prey. Although Barbara wins the fight, Spy Smasher reneges on the deal. Every agent Oracle has ever employed, male and female, appears to provide support. Black Canary leads the group and, deploying reason and threats, convinces Spy Smasher that the Birds of Prey cannot exist without Oracle in charge. Spy Smasher is forced to admit her defeat. At the end of the issue, Barbara finds Misfit, discovers she's an orphan, and adopts her into the Birds of Prey.
In Countdown, Barbara dispatches the Question and Batwoman to capture Trickster and Piper following their role in the murder of the Flash. She struggles to keep the identities of the world's heroes from being stolen and coordinates the response to a global crisis engineered by the Calculator, a villainous hacker and information broker. At the same time, the Legion of Super-Heroes members Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl storm her headquarters, demanding her assistance.
Comic character is from: Batman, Birds of Prey, and various other titles
Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Gordon and www.canarynoir.com/main.php?page=oracle
Last Name: Gordon
Alias or Nick-name: Babs, The Oracle (presently), Batgirl (formerly)
Age: 20s
Height/Weight: 5'11"/130 lbs
Eyes: green
Hair: red
Past Affiliations: Worked with the Suicide Squad for some time early on in her career as Oracle
Current Affiliations: As Oracle (with the Black Canary), half of the crime-fighting team "Birds of Prey"; reserve member of the JLA; an integral part of the Batman's research and support crew.
Persuasion: Good
Powers/Weapons: As Oracle, Barbara has many technological skills, a genius-level intellect, photographic memory, a vast knowledge of computers and electronics, expert skills as a hacker, and graduate training in library sciences. Oracle places her considerable skills and knowledge at the disposal of many of the DC universe's heroes. Barbara is a formidable opponent, capable of hacking and retrieving information from private satellites, military installations, government files, even the properties of Lex Luthor. Batman, himself a genius with a wide knowledge base and access to vast information resources, routinely consults Oracle for assistance.
Despite being paralyzed from the waist down, Oracle trains in the martial arts, and has extensive skills with escrima fighting sticks and batarangs; she customarily keeps a pair of escrima sticks stored in the armrests of her wheelchair as a contingency.
History:
Origin
Barbara Gordon debuted in Detective Comics #359 (cover-dated 1967, although the comic was actually released in late 1966) as the daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon. On her way to a costume ball dressed as a female version of Batman, Barbara intervenes in a kidnapping attempt on Bruce Wayne by the villainous Killer Moth, attracting the Dark Knight's attention and leading to a crime-fighting career.
In her original adventures during the Silver Age, Batgirl is depicted as a librarian by day, and a spirited crime fighter by night. After a handful of guest appearances in Batman stories, she was given her own back-up strip in Detective Comics. This allowed the character to be fleshed out considerably, with the shy, mousy, bookworm version of Barbara Gordon quickly giving way to a more modern, confident character. Devoid of her plain-Jane glasses and hair bun, Barbara starts to date what would become a succession of boyfriends, the most popular being Vietnam-veteran-turned-private-investigator Jason Bard.
Barbara proved to be more popular than her predecessor (Bette Kane, the Bat-Girl), as readers requested for her to appear in other titles. In addition to her appearances in both Detective Comics and Batman, Batgirl made a guest appearance in World's Finest Comics where she met Superman, Supergirl, Bat-Mite, and Mxyzptlk for the first time. She also fights alongside the Justice League of America against the villainous Queen Bee. She encounters Supergirl again in Adventure Comics #381 when both heroines separately investigate a female criminal gang.
Batgirl in the 1970s and 1980s
Her back-up stories appear sporadically in Detective Comics until the mid 1970s. Although she occasionally partners with Robin, she more frequently works with Jason Bard, a Vietnam War veteran with a chronic knee injury who becomes an private detective. Bard is a romantic interest of Barbara's, as well. Barbara reveals her secret identity to her father (who had already discovered it on his own), and serves as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She moves to Washington, D.C., intending to give up her career as Batgirl: in June 1972, Batgirl appeared in Detective Comics #42, in a story entitled "Batgirl's Last Case."
Editor Julius Schwartz brought her back a year later in Superman #268, in which she has a blind date with Clark Kent, establishing their friendship, and fights alongside Superman. Batgirl and Superman team up twice more, in Superman #279 and DC Comics Presents #19. She also teamed up with Supergirl in Superman Family #171, and the two became close friends, with Batgirl delivering Supergirl's eulogy during the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline.
In 1975, DC created the Batman Family comic book, which ran for 20 issues. Batgirl was one of the main features in the book, frequently teaming with Robin. Dick Grayson (Robin's alter ego) served as Barbara's summer intern, building a friendship between the two. Soon they discover each other's alternate identities. Barbara dates Senator Tom Cleary. Dick, who is dating fellow college student Lori Elton, has an unrequited crush on Barbara. The "Dynamite Duo" of Batgirl and Robin fight the criminal organization M.A.Z.E., super villains Huntress, Sportsmaster, the Outsider, and Duela Dent, who later appeared in the Teen Titans as the Harlequin.
Barbara meets Batwoman in Batman Family #10, when the retired super heroine returns to crime-fighting. The two fight Killer Moth and Cavalier, and learn about each other's secret identities. They form a friendship and team up twice more in Batman Family, and again alongside the Freedom Fighters.
In Batman Family #17 Barbara meets Helena Wayne, the Huntress and daughter of the Batman and Catwoman in the parallel universe Earth-Two.
When Batman Family ended at issue #20, stories featuring these characters were merged with Detective Comics, beginning with issue #481 in 1979, and Batgirl continued her adventures there. Even after the "Batman Family" feature left Detective Comics, Batgirl continued to appear in the back-up stories through issue #519. She returns to Gotham City and takes a job as a social worker, fighting villains such as Lady Snake and the Velvet Tiger. Supergirl visits Gotham and shares an adventure with her. Later, Batgirl is shot by Commorant and almost dies of her wounds; while recovering, she has a serious crisis of purpose and briefly retires. After a talk with Batman, however, she faces down and captures Commorant, and returns to crime fighting.
After her back-up series of stories ended, Barbara continued to be Batgirl, but increasingly felt inconsequential in a world filled with super-powered heroes. She expresses her doubts to Supergirl during Crisis on Infinite Earths. Finally, after capturing the Commorant again in Batgirl Special #1, Barbara retires her Batgirl persona (although in later stories she occasionally gets back into costume for special cases).
Batgirl after Crisis on Infinite Earths
In the new continuity, Barbara is born to Roger and Thelma Gordon, and is Jim Gordon's niece.
In Batman: Gotham Knights #6, Batman discovers a letter that Barbara has been keeping in a safe deposit box (that is later stolen). The letter reveals that Barbara knew Jim Gordon had dated her mother Thelma before she married Roger, and that there is a chance that Jim Gordon might be her biological father, although he is not aware of that. Barbara states that she has not confronted Jim about this — not because she is afraid it might be true, but because she is afraid it might not be.
She shows interest at a young age in superheroes, often dressing up as one. Barbara's mother and aunt are killed in a car accident, partly caused by her father's drinking. Roger begins drinking heavily and takes his aggression out on the girl. Barbara takes on a great deal of responsibility to cover for her father, consoling herself by thinking her father is not the same man she had once known. Eventually Roger's drinking and self-abuse cause his death.
James Gordon adopts his orphaned niece. James "Jim" Gordon, his wife (also named Barbara), and their son live in Gotham City, where he is a police Captain. Although James and young Barbara initially do not get along, with time they grow close (Secret Origins #20) — Barbara comes to think of him as her father.
Barbara is a highly gifted child, and graduates from High School at an early age. In college she accepts a position as a research assistant at the Gotham Public Library, although she dreams of one day working in law enforcement. This is a source of conflict between her and Jim, as she doesn't even meet the height requirements, and he feels she should follow a less dangerous career. She attempts to enroll in the FBI as a field agent, but they dismiss her, mostly due to her physical build.
Angry at her father, Barbara crashes the Gotham City Police Department's annual Ball, wearing a version of Batman's costume. However, Killer Moth, a costumed criminal, attempts to rob the revelers at event, and Barbara now finds herself taking on the Batgirl persona in order to thwart him. This proves to be the start of her successful crime-fighting career. Batman and Robin soon take an active role in training Barbara, as process depicted in the nine-issue mini-series Batgirl: Year One.
Although Barbara's time as a Congresswoman is not mentioned often, it was included in her post-Crisis origin story in Secret Origins #20, and again in Hawk and Dove #22-24. However, other than in these comics, this part of her life is rarely, if ever, mentioned.
In the post-Crisis continuity, Supergirl does not arrive on Earth until Barbara has already established herself as Oracle; many adventures she shared with Batgirl are now retroactively described as having been experienced by Power Girl. In addition, Barbara and Dick Grayson have been lovers at some time in the past, and Barbara was once engaged to Jason Bard, (who is no longer a Vietnam veteran but a private investigator and former Gotham City policeman).
Exit Batgirl, Enter Oracle
Barbara as Oracle.
In Batman: The Killing Joke, a graphic novel by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, the Joker shoots Barbara, intending to drive her father James Gordon into madness. The bullet severs her spine, permanently paralyzing her from the waist down and ending her career as Batgirl. The Joker selects Barbara because she is Gordon's daughter; he does not know that Batgirl and Barbara Gordon are the same person.
Initially, Barbara's paralysis plunges her into a state of reactive depression. However, she soon realizes that her aptitude for and training in information sciences have provided her with tremendous skills that could be deployed to fight crime. In a world increasingly centered on technology and information, she possesses a genius-level intellect; photographic memory; deep knowledge of computers and electronics; expert skills as a hacker; and graduate training in library sciences.
After a dream in which Batgirl sees an all-knowing woman (similar to Oracle at Delphi of Greek mythology) with Barbara's own face, Barbara adopts Oracle as her codename. She serves as an information broker, gathering and disseminating intelligence to law enforcement organizations and members of the superhero community.
Barbara also has trained, under the tutelage of Richard Dragon, one of DC's premier martial artists, to engage in combat (using eskrima) from her wheelchair. She develops her upper-body strength and targeting skills with both firearms and batarangs, becoming an even more skilled and effective fighter than she was as Batgirl.
In her first mission as Oracle, Barbara assists her father on an extremely difficult murder investigation; upon the mission's completion she takes her services to the Suicide Squad. For a time she relocates to Belle Reve prison in Louisiana to work with the team under the alias of "Amy Beddoes". After leaving the Suicide Squad, she returns to Gotham City and aids Batman and his protegés, as well as many other heroes.
In her second appearance as a hacker in the DC Comics universe, Barbara was featured in the 12-issue mini-series The Hacker Files.
She joins the Justice League of America, serving as the team's primary information and communications resource; she currently holds inactive status with the team. Since an alternate-reality Batgirl/Barbara Gordon was granted posthumous honorary membership in the League after sacrificing herself to save Damage and defeat Parallax, two different Barbara Gordons have been members of the Justice League: one as Oracle, the other as Batgirl.
Birds of Prey
Barbara founds the Birds of Prey, a team of female heroes, whom she employs as agents. Her first agent is Power Girl. However, when an early case goes awry and several deaths result from it, Power Girl blames Barbara and stops working with Oracle on a regular basis. (Although she helps Oracle occasionally, when Oracle invites Power Girl to rejoin the team after the events of Infinite Crisis, she replies that she'll do so "when Hell freezes over.")
Barbara joins forces with superhero Black Canary. The two – similar in both having lost their original abilities while fighting crime, yet managing to overcome their handicaps – would later meet in person and become best friends (Birds of Prey #29). The two form the nucleus of the Birds of Prey.
The Huntress joins the team as a full-time agent, as do Lady Blackhawk and Vixen. Although the personnel on Barbara's team grows and changes, Huntress and Lady Blackhawk remain core agents.
During the "No Man's Land" storyline, Barbara employs various teenagers to be her eyes and ears on the street. One of these young agents is Cassandra Cain; she later saves Jim Gordon's life. Barbara realizes that Cassandra is actually one of the world's top martial artists; it is revealed that her father, David Cain, had trained her to be a weapon from infancy. Barbara accedes to Cassandra taking up the Batgirl mantle, and becomes Cassandra's mentor.
Metropolis
During the "War Games" storyline, Batman, who is battling the Black Mask, usurps Oracle's computers and satellites. This results in the destruction of Barbara's home and headquarters in the clock tower. Subsequently, Barbara decides to move on, and leaves Gotham City altogether. She cuts her ties with Batman, and after a temporary world trip with her team, relocates to Metropolis.
After becoming herself infected with an advanced virus delivered by Brainiac, Barbara develops cyberpathic powers that allow her to psychically interact with computer information systems. Although she loses these abilities after the virus is rendered dormant, following an operation by Doctor Mid-Nite she discovers she can move her toes (Birds of Prey #85). However, this proves to be a short-lived effect, and Barbara remains paralyzed.
Although Barbara and Dick Grayson (the superhero now code-named Nightwing) re-ignite their romance, Barbara ends the relationship when she feels Dick is being over-protective of her. In truth, the villain Blockbuster is attacking all areas of Dick's life. Barbara and Dick still love each other and remain in each other's lives; after the destruction of Blüdhaven by The Society, Dick proposes and Barbara accepts.
However, their romance is cut short by the Infinite Crisis storyline. Alexander Luthor's master plan to recreate the multiverse relies upon diverting the attention of the world's heroes. Dick is severely injured in the battle for Metropolis, and Barbara stays by his side as he recovers. When Batman asks Dick to join him on his quest to recreate Batman, Dick is torn because of his engagement to Barbara. Barbara returns the engagement ring because she feels that Dick needs a soul-searching quest as much as his mentor, and understands that she and Dick aren't ready for marriage. Dick goes with Batman, but leaves Barbara a note, the ring, and a photograph of them as Robin and Batgirl, promising to come back to her.
One Year Later
Main article: One Year Later
A year after the events of Infinite Crisis, Oracle and her team continue to work in Metropolis. Barbara works with Batman, although not on a regular basis as before — she prefers to work primarily with her own agents. Oracle is not immediately aware of Cassandra's retirement as Batgirl, nor her subsequent take-over of the League of Assassins. (Cassandra becomes a sore point with Oracle: she slaps Misfit, a metahuman girl pretending to be Batgirl, for merely mentioning Cassandra's name.)
Barbara continues to lead the Birds of Prey, and expanded the ranks of the operation. In Birds of Prey #99, Black Canary leaves the team, having decided to devote herself to raising her adopted daughter, Sin. Huntress remains as the team's de facto field leader, and Big Barda has been brought in as the group's heavy-hitter alongside a larger, rotating roster.
In "Whitewater," Gail Simone's final story arc on Birds of Prey, (issues #105-#108), Oracle and her team struggle for power with Spy Smasher, a government agent who has taken over the Birds of Prey organization. After the completion of a mission in Russia in which the team rescues the resurrected Ice, Barbara challenges Spy Smasher to a hand-to-hand fight: the winner takes the Birds of Prey. Although Barbara wins the fight, Spy Smasher reneges on the deal. Every agent Oracle has ever employed, male and female, appears to provide support. Black Canary leads the group and, deploying reason and threats, convinces Spy Smasher that the Birds of Prey cannot exist without Oracle in charge. Spy Smasher is forced to admit her defeat. At the end of the issue, Barbara finds Misfit, discovers she's an orphan, and adopts her into the Birds of Prey.
In Countdown, Barbara dispatches the Question and Batwoman to capture Trickster and Piper following their role in the murder of the Flash. She struggles to keep the identities of the world's heroes from being stolen and coordinates the response to a global crisis engineered by the Calculator, a villainous hacker and information broker. At the same time, the Legion of Super-Heroes members Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl storm her headquarters, demanding her assistance.
Comic character is from: Batman, Birds of Prey, and various other titles
Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Gordon and www.canarynoir.com/main.php?page=oracle
