Detective Comics 359 (1967)
by Gardner Fox & Carmine Infantino
You have to love how the cover wonders if Batgirl will be a heroine or a villainess.
As if a 1967 comic would dare to make her a villain.
You might also notice that she’s advertised as the NEW Batgirl.
That’s definitely a reference to “Bat-Girl” (with a hyphen) that was the sidekick of the first Batwoman, although at this point she had been phased out of Batman comics so it’s kind of weird they bothered.
We’re immediately introduced to Barbara Gordon, librarian and the never-before-mentioned daughter of Commissioner Gordon.
And she becomes Batgirl exclusively in order to attend a masquerada ball.
Masquerade balls are SUCH a cliché that I’m amazed they don’t show up all that often in my reviews, althought they are slightly more of a Golden Age trope.
Then again, Gardner Fox WAS a Golden Age writer.
A masquerade ball is the highlight of your life? Even if you don’t know you’re going to become a superhero, that’s kind of sad.
On the way to the ball, Barbara runs into Bruce Wayne who is being assaulted by goons of Killer Moth.
I don’t have a problem with Batman deciding to intervene himself since… well he’s Batman… but he doesn’t tend to be this suspicious when new male heroes show up.
Turns out that he’s right though: Batgirl deals with the henchmen just fune, but she’s very easily defeated by Killer Moth.
Who is described as “some creature of nightmare”… yeah, a fashion nightmare with that costume.
Barbara… forget the masquerade ball, if being stuck in a giant mass of goo makes you this excited, you might have a fetish. No judging.
Well, I might judge you A LITTLE.
Barbara is supposed to be a genius (although not anywhere near as her post-Crisis self), but shockingly her plan to learn Batman’s secret identity is thwarted.
The reason why Killer Moth attacked Bruce Wayne has nothing to do with Batman: he wants to blackmail millionaires.
I’m kind of shocked this kind of plot doesn’t happen at least twice a year on Batman books.
As Bruce Wayne declines to pay, we get a look at the Moth Mansion and a rare glimpse at his henchmen, Larva and Pupa.
With a lair like that Killer Moth COULD be creepy if only he had a less ridiculous costume.
Meanwhile Barbara keeps herself busy daydreaming about becoming Batgirl again…
…and she keeps in shape with intensive exercise and her “special protein diet”.
Hey if this whole superhero thing doesn’t work out, Barbara, in a few decades you’ll get rich advertising weird supplements!
She then gets to the “crass everyday activity” to recover a very expensive book for Bruce Wayne.
The book is so expensive that Barbara decides to deliver it personally, only to find Killer Moth now has made his name a little more literal by killing Bruce Wayne.
We then get a somewhat bizarre sequence showcasing that Barbara’s civilian clothes can actualy be transformed into her Batgirl costume.
I’m shocked that she can fit most of her Princess Leia hairdo under that cowl.
It’s a neat idea for a one-off, but wouldn’t people be suspicious to always see her wear the same yellow boots, blue skirt and blue beret?
Once again, Batgirl has absolutely no problem with the henchmen.
All while Batman and Robin observe, because *gasp* Bruce Wayne isn’t really dead.
Also: Robin, you OF ALL PEOPLE are absolutely NOT allowed to criticize anyone else’s puns.
This was a setup, so the Dynamic Duo has to prevent Batgirl from actually defeating Killer Moth.
I don’t know what makes Killer Moth dumber: the fact that he just assumes Batgirl knocked herself out (while she was in full view and kicking ass? HOW!?) or that he was duped by basically a mannequin.
If Batman made this gesture, it would’ve been somewhat patronizing but expected from 1967.
The fact that it’s Robin makes this infinitely creepier.
And if you think I’m seeing sexism where there is none… it’s kind of impressive you managed to read this review while blind.
A tracking device was absolutely vital in order to track Killer Moth’s car.
Barbara is enough of a genius to have equipped her bike with technology apparently on par with the Batmobile. On a librarian’s salary too!!!
Gardner Fox was famous for finding countless superhero and supervillain sobriquets, mostly with alliteration.
But when he drops “lepidopteral lair”, he might have started to overdo it.
By this point in his career, Batman was decidedly more grounded than his mid-50s adventures.
But his villains could still randomly have anti-gravity at their disposal.
Thankfully as we all know, gravity has only one weakness: magnets.
“Dominoed Dare-Doll”? Was Batgirl intended to wear a domino mask?
See Robin, this is EXACTLY why you can’t ever criticize someone else’s puns. EVER.
I think Killer Moth is going way overboard with his lair.
Batgirl redeems her previous blunders by being the one to find Killer Moth.
And she did this because she wears perfume.
How many gallons does she wear if Killer Moth still smells like her after presumably hours just because they briefly came into contact!?
Especially since we previously saw that Killer Moth likes to sit on top of a giant candle throne!
And so we end with Batman, Robin and the Commissioner appreciating the help of Batgirl, with the latter being kind of a bad father.
Considering he never mentioned her before this, not a huge surprise there.
Historical significance: 10/10
Batgirl has become an incredibly important part of Batman’s mythos and a central figure in DC Comics.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Killer Moth has an antigravity chamber! KILLER MOTH!!!
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
Jokes aside, for a Silver Age comic the sexism could’ve been a lot worse (and it WILL become worse). It’s held back by the constant need to make Batgirl sound redundant: every time she does something, it’s either for nothing or even if it’s useful Batman HAS to specify that he would’ve been fine without her.
It’s perfectly okay to have her mess up in her first mission, in fact it’s a very good idea to ground the character, but come one give her a little more credit.
How close is this to the modern character? 3/10
Batgirl’s origins have their roots outside of comics: specifically, in the 1966 Batman TV show.
Batman editor Julius Schwartz had been asked to create a new female character for the third season of the show, and reportedly the idea of her being Commissioner Gordon’s daughter was suggested by executive producer William Dozier.
Carmine Infantino had just made concept art for Batgirl when she was opted by the studio; probably because comics are way faster to produce than TV shows, she made her debut in comics first.
Bob Kane had had a Bat-Girl for about three stories in the ’50s but she had nothing to do with a bat. She was like a pesky girl version of Robin. I knew we could do a lot better, so Julie [Schwartz] and I came up with the real Batgirl, who was so popular she almost got her own TV show.
CARMINE INFANTINO
So yeah, next time you complain about comics introducing characters and concepts from TV, remember that it’s the reason why we have Batgirl.
The exact moment Batgirl learns Batman’s secret identity is a bit of a mess.
Batman reveals his identity in Detective Comics #363, but it’s done in a way to gaslight her into thinking it’s a trick. She later shows to know he’s Bruce Wayne, but I’m not so certain about exactly when she learns or deduces this.
Exactly when Batman deduces HER identity is even less clear to me… although how hard could it possibly have been? How many women her age were going to attend the police costume ball?
She was popular enough for Batgirl to get her backup serial in 1969 on Detective Comics, alternating with Robin for a while, from issue #384 (where she ditches her original hair style).
In 1972 on Detective Comics #422, Barbara decides she’s going to run for Congress instead of her father, who by this point had deduced her identity.
Again: not that hard, especially considering she was living in his house for most of this.
So yeah, next time you complain when comics get political… Batgirl ran for Congress in 1972.
Also: SHE WON.
Barbara served as Congresswoman from whatever state Gotham City is from 1972 to 1980, losing her re-election in Detective Comics #488 because she’s too busy as a superhero to properly campaign.
It’s kind of amazing that Batgirl’s political career is mostly forgotten at this point; lasting EIGHT YEARS, that should’ve made more of an impact.
During her Congress years she had a bunch of team-ups with Robin; they learn each other’s identity in Batman Family #3 in 1976.
Unlike other versions of the characters there is no hint of romance: Barbara is explicitly 25 when she was sworn in as Congresswoman (the lowest possible age for that) and Dick is explicitly 7 years younger than her.
Batgirl was re-introduced in the post-Crisis continuity largely unchanged… until 1988, when the Joker shoots her in The Killing Joke.
Despite the Killing Joke being almost universally praised, Alan Moore has expressed regrets for using Barbara as a victim… although I find Moore’s comments on his comics to be largely unreliable, so who knows.
But someone else had a problem with the treatment of the character: editor Kim Yale.
She also happened to be the wife of writer John Ostrander, so they discussed ways to use Barbara again.
There were no plans for her in the continuity at that time. We decided that if that happened, we weren’t just going to make her better magically — we wanted to explore what happened when someone like her was crippled and how she would respond.
JOHN OSTRANDER
On Suicide Squad #23, Barbara was reinvented as Oracle… the super-hacker backup of almost all superheroes and antiheroes.
A role that she would continue to play for the Batman family, the Birds of Prey and even the Justice League.
In fact, she was the core of the whole Birds of Prey concept. This is the series that truly delved into her character and I can’t recommend it enough.
There were other Batgirls in this period, followed by multiple reboots I haven’t followed.
During the “New 52” era starting from 2011, Killing Joke was still in continuity but it only paralyzed Barbara for 3 years before she was eventually cured.
Curiously, that was the first time Barbara starred in a Batgirl series… and it was Volume 4 already.
Volumes 1 to 3 starred different Batgirls, and Barbara had never had her own series (unless you consider Birds of Prey, where she was a co-protagonist).
As of 2026, there’s a Volume 6… and it’s not Barbara again: she only starred in Volume 4 and 5.
Despite Barbara being the most famous Batgirl (mostly thanks for the longevity and the adaptations I assume), Cassandra Cain is actually the Batgirl with the most series.
Barbara doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, from my understanding there are currently multiple Batgirls.
While I haven’t come across a version of Batgirl that I don’t like, and I admit that I haven’t kept up with her… I feel like turning her back into Batgirl was a mistake, because Barbara was such a different kind of badass as Oracle.
We’ve certainly come a long way from Detective Comics #371.
Told you the Silver Age sexism could get a lot worse.
If you say so, Barbara.
