WARNING: The following contains spoilers for "The Symbol," a story from Batman: The Joker War Zone #1 by Joshua Williamson, David Lafuente, Hi-Fi and Gabriela Downie, on sale now.
After Barbara Gordon stepped down as Batgirl, Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown each took on the iconic role in her stead. However, all of that was erased when DC continuity was rebooted in 2011 with The New 52. Barbara was repositioned as the sole Batgirl, and Cassandra and Stephanie then made their respective New 52 debuts as Orphan and Spoiler.
However, Batman: The Joker War Zone #1 gives the young crime-fighters a huge step toward taking up their Batgirl identities once again. They join the battle to save Gotham City from the Clown Prince of Crime, and go through a cheer-worthy costume change in which they don Bat-Symbols once more.
Stephanie and Cassandra joined Batman's call for help in Batman #99. Gotham City is a literal war zone overrun by the Joker's goons, and the Dark Knight needs the aid of all his family if he has any hope of ending this nightmare. Now, in Batman: The Joker War Zone #1, Cassandra and Stephanie join forces to take on the Hench Master, who's responsible for supplying Gotham's biggest criminals with henchmen.
Spoiler and Orphan head to the Hench Master's base of operations, a park of storage units. Their goal is to find one of Cluemaster's old storage units, because Stephanie knows her father once had a Bat-Signal stashed away. The Gotham City Police Department's Bat-Signal was broken when the Joker War began, and, now, the two vigilantes want to light up a new one so they can give the citizens hope and reassure them the Bat-Family is still fighting for them.
Unfortunately, after getting through Hench Master and his own henchmen, Cassandra and Stephanie enter Cluemaster's storage unit only to discover this other Bat-Signal is broken beyond repair.
But Cassandra has an idea: They may not have the signal to shine in the sky, but they can bring it back in some other fashion. "Gotham needs to see... our symbol," Cassandra says. They subsequently make changes to their costumes by adding the Bat-Symbol to the designs.
Cassandra goes one step further by ditching the Orphan costume she wore with the Outsiders to truly suit up as Batgirl, with an updated take on her classic, all-black costume -- complete with the mouth-covering mask. Meanwhile, Stephanie keeps her black-and-purple Spoiler costume, but she ditches her full mask. Now, with the lower half of her face covered, her purple hood and Bat-Symbol, her outfit is a clear nod to the one she wore when she was Batgirl.
With Barbara Gordon's future as Batgirl in doubt, Cassandra and Stephanie seem to be making a strong case for their status as Gotham's new Batgirls, and they're not asking for anyone's permission. And even if they're not the official Batgirls, these heroes are certainly dressing for the part.