• I really am enjoying the series but I was also really hoping Babara would come back as Batgirl. She was my idol growing up and I would love to see her resurrect the old Batgirl cowl and show Gotham who the one true Batgirl will always be! People come back from the dead all the time in the comics, surely they can cure Babara's paralysis!

• actually I take it back. I'm not sorry.

• Oh god....she died and got better huh? I'm sorry but this character sucks. She always has.

• I'm a Steph fan so I'm pretty stoked for this. They work they've done with her in the Robin books fairly recently give me good vibes for her taking on the Batgirl role. Although I will miss Cassie in the suit.

• Batman worked alone for quite a while after Dick moved on. I have a crate of Detective and Batman comics from that period, and frankly, it was cool. It was more detective noir, less superhero craziness, and it works for him. But then, I've always hated Robin. Sidekicks suck.

• Um, wasn't Spoiler pregnant for a time, or am I thinking of someone else?

• Cassandra and Steph are my OTP in this shitty comic saga.

• @SpoilerFan Thanks for the info. So she spoils her dad's crimes... I guess that works, in one of those weird DC ways. Sounds like she has some daddy issues.

• I forgot to mention Secret Six! That's the best series going in superhero comics right now for my money.

• Most of the question bases have been covered in the comments, but I think it's important to note that they're never gonna take Babs out of the wheelchair because she's one of the only handicapped superheroes in comics right now. The reality that she won't ever be leaping from rooftops again is something she deals with daily as a character and it makes her a lot more interesting from where I sit. I wouldn't say DC's a total mess. The new direction with Dick Grayson (the first Robin for the uninitiated)as Batman is really going well. Red Robin (Tim Drake's new thing, distinct from just plain old Robin who is now Damian Wayne, Bruce and Talia al Ghul's test tube baby)is an interesting series. Blackest Night is crazy good. Superman's even interesting for the first time in a looong time. You just have to do the tiniest bit of research to know what's happening, which is the same with any Marvel book if you haven't been keeping up with them. A story arc being fully explained in each issue would be really redundant and infuriating for people who know what's up.

• Goddammit, I was all ready to subscribe until I found out it wasn't Barry Allen.

• It makes sense that if they have a new Batman and Robin running around for them to have a new Batgirl too. I just hope when Bruce comes back, Cass can come back as Batgirl as well.<p>I do like the fact that at least they didn't make some completely new character (or Misfit) Batgirl. Steph is acceptable. I haven't bought a DC series regularly in a few years, but if this turns out to be good, I may pick it up. The Batgirl persona has always interested me, it just depends on the writing.

• Steph was the Spoiler because her father was the Cluemaster. Thusly, if she solved his crimes, she'd be spoiling his clues. Ta Dah! Also, maybe she was spoiling for a fight? It was never super clear how she got the name. Her death is what made me give up Batman comics though. It was total hack work and not necessary and it kind of ruined another good character (Leslie Thompkins). Her "resurrection" makes sense kind of, but if they were going to just wipe the Batman slate clean for a while, I wish Steph had stayed the hell out of the picture.

• Wait, Stephanie Brown was known as The Spoiler? What the heck did she do as The Spoiler? Ruin endings to movies? Rot eggs? Wear a ridiculously large piece of metal on her shoulders? Seriously, I've never heard of her before, what did she do as The Spoiler?

• Barbara Gordon should have been Batwoman instead of the one they have running around now. Stephanie was probably the best choice instead of some unknown character. If they are gonna keep fucking around with Batgirl, at least let the choice make some sense.

• Barbara Gordon will always be MY Batgirl! She's so dreamy...

• &#64;ZeroCorpse,Geoff I agree with Geoff on Batman not working alone. Batman was never really a loner, despite popular conception. Batman was introduced in Detective Comics #27. Robin was introduced 11 issues later in Detactive comics #38. Batman didn't even go for a full year as a lone superhero. Batman is quite possibly the biggest 'family' hero there is. Which kind of makes sense, considering his origin.

• "Frankly, I think Batman works best alone. I don't want to hear him bantering; I want to see him solve the crime." That's very much the minority opinion, and has been ever since they killed off Jason and everyone realised what a gaping hole was left without Robin in the books. Superman doesn't need a sidekick because he doesn't need to explain what he's doing. Batman, however, needs someone around to deliver exposition to, and Alfred can't go into the field. It works in the movieverse because they don't have Batman do anything complicated, but that's not the case on the comics side of things. Plus, as many (starting with Frank Miller, I think) have observed, Robin as a smaller character in contrast to Batman makes Batman look all the more menacing. As for Steph: solid pick, nothing shocking. WHICH IS A GOOD THING. DC's swerve-happy nature - ever since Johns took Infinite Crisis into left field after all the build indicated a very different type of story was coming - has hurt them badly. A return to straightforward ideas is a start in the rebuilding process.

• I can't say DC wouldn't undo Killing Joke...wasn't there something in the scrambling of universes that said it wasn't support to happen? Plus, we all thought they'd honor the two main heroes of the original Crisis that sacrificed themselves (Kara and Barry Allen) and they're both back. Remember the old joke, no one stays dead except Bucky and Uncle Ben? That's not even true anymore...I think Gwen Stacy's the only one who's never come back (clones don't count) and they actually decided not to bring her back when they nullified the Parkers' marriage. On the DC side, I can't think of anyone who's not come back anymore...probably Babs' paralysis is the most lasting major injury/death around now.

• given dc love of having their characters be legacy ones not surprised its step. for one cass has been out of aciton for so long dc figured she outgrew batgirl or have plans for her as a new bat character that and they tainted her as a villian. and there is no way dc will ever let Babs have the killing joke undone and be able to walk for dc loves Babs as oracle to much to have even considered her as batgirl

• Shoot, didn't mean to post the above as anonymous. Alas.

• OK, I admit I'm embarrassed I know this, but the history of that particular costume - back in No Man's Land, the Huntress was actually trying to make people think Batman was still around by wearing that costume and being all shadow spooky. Not spooky enough, however, since she got a face full of spray paint at one point, so she sewed shut the eyes and mouth in order to protect herself. Batman found out that Huntress was playing at Batgirl and got into his usual high and mighty self whenever Huntress was around, thinking she was too violent, not dedicated enough, blah blah and finally gave it to Cassandra Cain, who was raised from birth to be an assassin but swore it all off, at least for a while. So yeah. Way too much information, I know, but now you know why there are stitches around the mouth. Apparently, it somehow manages to fit Huntress, Cassandra, and Stephanie the same. Also, bonus trivia, Stephanie and Cassandra were both very good friends for a while.

• I've always liked characters that don't have super powers but still fight to their best by using their natural ability. That's one of the reasons why I like Stephanie. I don't mind that she's Batgirl but I would have liked it much better if Cass & Steph had shared the identity of Batgirl (Like in the Mystery of the Batwoman movie) or had become a crimefighting duo.

• I think Steph is a profoundly solid choice, its not going to set the world on fire like the return of Babs would have done, but it makes sense in terms of continuity What I think has been the problem has been th way that Cassandra has been written out as just getting bored with not having the original bats in place so she quits. The costume has already been said is being replaced by issue 4/5 and will be a Steph costume. I like the idea of Babs being part of a backup team , hopefully that means we get more Misfit and a continuation of Birds Of Prey within this title

• Utility belt by "I can't be bothered to do the buckle in a different colour...maybe it's an all-fabric construction from River Island, or something".

• Goddamn do I HATE the mess DC Comics has made of their universe. The reign of Didio has seen nothing but shit upon shit upon shit being shit upon. I never thought ANYTHING would get me to quit buying DC Comics(I stuck with it during the 90's for gods sake) but the mess that is Final Infinite Countdown Rage of the 52 Zombie Lanterns is the straw that finally pulled a Bane and broke my Bat-Back. Who is Batgirl? Who the fuck cares? Within 6 months she'll become a lesbian,become dead,come back from the dead,turn evil,and then die again only to be replace by....the new femal version of Ace the Bat-Hound...probably.

• &#64;ZeroCorpse: The female Martian Manhunter variant is Miss Martian. Manhunter is someone else :)

• &#64;ZeroCorpse: DC has variants for characters because their character philosophy is more legacy/heredity-driven. They can't have ONE DC hero who runs solo because that's not their philosophy. I for one am a fan of characters with connections, familial or otherwise, to other teams/organizations, and I like how DC ties them together. And DC has proven in the past that Batman needs a Bat-family.

• Going to throw another one in the ring for 'Why is her mask stitched to her face?'

• The first thing the new Batgirl needs to do is ditch the last Batgirl's costume.

• &#64; ExecutorElassus You're thinking of Batwoman, I believe.

• Barbara Gordon will always be Batgirl to me.

• I'm with Kyle, I jumped onto the Cass-train after I read an issue with her and was really into the silent Batgirl, but ended up losing track. *sulks*

• You forgot about Bat-Mite?!

• And the new Batgirl is...top heavy.

• I'm not surprised Stephanie's the new batgirl, and it just gives me a reason to save money on comics. She's not particularly one of my favs. . . Her stint as a robin was bad enough. . .

• Wait, what happened to those character sketches that showed Batgirl as being a pretty tough-looking skater/goth badass? This just looks cartoony. You had it posted here a few months back; I liked her a lot more. I don't know jack about comics, so maybe there's a different series with the other Batgirl?

• Why do they need a Batgirl? Isn't Batman cool enough? Can't they have just ONE DC hero that doesn't have a "girl", "lass", "boy", "lad", or other variant? Marvel does it too, with a few characters, but I'm hard-pressed to find a JLA member that doesn't have a younger or opposite-gender variant. Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, Bizarro Batman, Batwoman, Batgirl, Bat-Mite Flash, Kid Flash, Speed, etc. Green Lantern of Earth-- pick one: Hal, Guy, Kyle, Jon Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Hawkwoman Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl Aquaman, Aqualad, Aqualass Martian Manhunter, the girl version (Manhunter?) Green Arrow, Speedy/Red Arrow Really... Just leave Batman alone. It's bad enough Dick HAD to have a Robin (not to mention a Red Robin), but do we really need a whole Batman family? Can't we just have Batman and not cheapen his image? Frankly, I think Batman works best alone. I don't want to hear him bantering; I want to see him solve the crime. He works alone in the new game (Arkham Asylum, which is awesome) and that's why I pre-ordered it. That, and the fact that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are the definitive Batman and Joker, in my book.

• Uh...is her mask sewn to her face?

• Matt thanks a lot. Knew the ongoing was cancelled but that was about the time I got out of comics. Really liked her series though, one of the few DC books I read.

• I don't know, but doesn't this set her up to for a Bat-hat trick. She's Robin ... She's Batgirl ... She's Spoiler. She can pick up a Nightwing or maybe even a Batman with some effort (and surgery).

• I was rooting for Kara Zor-El being the new Batgirl. The idea of her being both Supergirl AND Batgirl at the same time would be all kinds of awesome, and guarantee total Kryptonian mental breakdown in the future. Ah well. Maybe next time.

• Kyle, Cassie isn't Batgirl anymore because Editor in Chief Dan DiDio didn't want her to be. A couple of years ago, after Infinite Crisis, all DC books skipped ahead 1 year. With this jump came a bunch of changes, such as Batgirl's ongoing being cancelled, and her showing up in Robin's comic as his main villain. Yes, they turned her into a bad guy for apparently no reason. After fan outcry Geoff Johns tried to "fix" Cassie's situation by saying that she was being mind controlled by Deathstroke. Does it make sense? No. Then again, what does in DC now anyway?

• Ok used to follow comics much more than now. And have to say I really liked Cassie Cain as Batgirl. Just wondering what happened there? Why isn't she Batgirl anymore?

• I called this as soon as I heard there was gonna be a new Batgirl. Steph isn't a bad character, she just hasn't been used for much other than a foil so far. Hopefully they do something different with her, because right now her status quo looks the same as Tim's as Robin or Babs' as Batgirl when they were both hiding their secret identities from their parents. Bo-ring.

• I was hoping someone would say that the new Batgirl is actually Robin dressed in drag!

• I don't even know who she is... But if that's what's passing for "Professional coloring" these days then I'm Van Fucking Gogh. That's seriously the laziest brushwork I've seen in comics...

• Sean, The stitches are from Cassie Cain's Batgirl costume which had a part stitched over the mouth. Now that Steph is Batgirl (for now) she's not covering her mouth. I'm still dizzy from Steph's death and return. Nonsense.

• If I remember correctly, back during No Man's Land, Batgirl had a black piece stitched over the mouth, covering her whole head. Eventually it was removed, but the leftover stitches remain I guess. It's fashion now.

• She's probabaly uses a modified version of Cassandra Cain's old costume that was a full face mask w/ a stiched up mouth

• As a former comic book collector I have a question for current comic book fans/collectors. Why does it look like Batgirl's cowl is stitched to her face? It looks painful, unnecessary, and kinda naughty. I admit that with half her face missing I might be misinterpreting the picture...but that was my first thought and I really want to know why it would be drawn that way.

• Tim Drake is my single favorite character in comics, so I'm familiar enough with Stephanie to know that I don't understand the following that she has. She is the only logical choice, but unless DC can find a way to make her interesting I'm really not sure if I'll be buying the book.

• Either it's a slow nerd news day, or I'm out of the comics loop enough that I can't remember if people care about Batgirl or not.

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