The character of Barbara Gordon would become the first in-continuity Batgirl, whose comic creation came at the behest of producers from the Batman TV show in the 60s who were hoping to introduce a new Bat-character into the series. Yvonne Craig would portray the character for the third season of Batman while Batgirl made her comic book debut.
We've seen quite a few different versions of Batgirl over the years, with Barbara Gordon stepping back to mentor new heroes in the role, which means we have seen a number of different costumes as well. So today we are going to take a look at a few Batgirl costumes from the comics that we loved, and a few we hope to never see again.
10 LOVE: YEAR ONE
Comics featuring Batman in the 60s were greatly influenced by the TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, and adventures starring the Dynamic Duo looked like spin-off versions of the TV heroes in most cases. However, Barbara Gordon's debut as Batgirl featured a much different costume than the one Yvonne Craig would wear on Batman.
This costume was further redefined with Batgirl: Year One and was the same costume featured in Batman: The Animated Series. Her outfit matched the colors and tones of the Dynamic Duo, though Babs still carved out her own unique style that would influence every Batgirl costume of the future.
9 HATE: GOLDEN AGE
Of course, Barbara Gordon wasn't the first female caped crusader to join the Bat-family, as DC attempted to battle assumptions of homosexual relations between Batman and Robin that had been alleged by Fredric Wertham's problematic Seduction of the Innocent that inspired the creation of the Comics Code Authority.
The first Bat-Girl was Betty Kane, niece of Kathy Kane/Batwoman, and they joined Batman and Robin for a few adventures before fading away into obscurity. Bat-Girl had little connection to the Bat-Family with her costume, and the character would later be re-imagined as Bette Kane/Flamebird, while her cousin Kate Kane became the first Batwoman in Post-Crisis continuity.
8 LOVE: CASSANDRA CAIN
The identity of Batgirl remained abandoned for years after Barbara was paralyzed by the joker during the events of The Killing Joke, and she became the information broker known as Oracle. A new Batgirl appeared for the first time during the No Man's Land event (more on her soon), which also saw the first appearance of a new member of the Bat-family named Cassandra Cain.
Cain was a highly trained martial artist who had been raised by her assassin father without any language other than fighting, leaving her mute but incredibly deadly. Cain was given the role of Batgirl by Batman, and the modified costume perfectly suited the character.
7 HATE: HUNTRESS
Cassandra's costume may have fit her perfectly but it wasn't created for her. It was first worn by Helena Bertinelli/Huntress, who had attempted to use Batman's symbol to try and restore order to Gotham while Bruce Wayne was away. The costume she would eventually abandon in anger to Cain was the evolved version oh her Batgirl costume, which was a huge improvement on the original.
When Huntress first realized the effect Batman's costume had on the criminal element of Gotham City, she was wearing an almost exact replica of Batman's post-Knightfall costume, which was solid black with the iconic yellow bat emblem, and big belt pouches. It's not the worst Batgirl costume we've ever seen, but it's a little too basic and was greatly improved by going darker.
6 LOVE: STEPHANIE BROWN
The Batgirl title was passed again a few years later from Cain to one of her best friends and fellow crimefighter Stephanie Brown, who had previously been known as Spoiler and had even briefly worked alongside Batman as Robin, before her "death" during the "War Games" event.
When Stephanie returned and revealed her death was faked, she became the new Batgirl and adopted a new costume that was a fantastic mix of her previous superhero identities while still staying true to the legacy of Batgirl. Steph would work alongside Barbara and the Bat-family for a short time as Batgirl before eventually returning to her Spoiler identity.
5 HATE: MISFIT
Barbara's time as Oracle was spent working alongside DC's metahuman community, which included the Bat-family, the Justice League, and even the Suicide Squad. However, she also worked alongside her best friend Dinah Lance/Black Canary, and they founded the Birds of Prey together which saw a number of different members over the years, including Huntress.
Charlotte "Charlie" Gage-Radcliffe/Misfit was one of the youngest members of the Birds of Prey, and she first came to the attention of Barbara because she was wearing a very bad Batgirl costume on her first few adventures. Barbara would soon take the teleporting Misfit under her wing, who slightly modified her costume, though it still wasn't great.
4 LOVE: BURNSIDE BATGIRL
Following Barbara's return to the suit thanks to the New 52 reboot, the character would get one of the biggest costume overhauls of her superhero career when she moved to the Burnside area of Gotham City. Batgirl's new costume came with a new direction, new supporting cast, and began to chart a new course for Barbara that hoped to let the character grow on her own.
The costume was a clear homage to the costume Yvonne Craig wore in the classic Batman TV series, though with a very modern take that seemed functional as well as fashionable. The costume was unfortunately destroyed during a battle, but it was replaced with something even better (more on that soon).
3 HATE: BATGIRL BEYOND
While she was only recently introduced in the pages of Batman Beyond Unlimited and exists on another world in the Multiverse that may be a possible future of the DC Universe, Batgirl Beyond did not show up in the coolest costume.
That's not to say there's anything specifically wrong with her outfit besides the resemblance to the awful Batgirl costume seen in the Injustice video game, but we've come to expect a bit more from the costumes from the high-tech world of Batman Beyond, and this futuristic version of the costume just isn't all that futuristic.
2 LOVE: REBIRTH
Barbara's newest Batgirl costume was created by Sean Murphy, who put his own take on Barbara's classic costume with this updated but retro version that replaced her damaged Burnside costume. Her new suit was explained in the story as an old prototype costume Barbara had made years prior, which explains the similarity to her debut/"Year One" costume.
The costume's biggest departure from the usual Batgirl suit is the lack of a cowl, which has been a part of most of the costumes over the years. However the return to her classic look mixed with the design from Murphy has given Barbara one of the better Batgirl costumes we've ever seen, and we're excited to see how her Rebirth look evolves over the next few years.
1 HATE: NEW 52
When the DC Universe was rebooted during the New 52, the entire lineup of characters were given new updated looks which were by and large not improvements upon original costumes. Barbara's return to the role of Batgirl came with a new costume and a closer connection to the Bat-family.
Unfortunately, her new costume was overdone with tactical details and armor like the majority of the New 52 redesigns. And to make matters worse, the small details of her original costume that added a few needed splashes of color were soon abandoned for a bland costume that would have worked better in a Joel Schumacher film.