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Mackenzie Everitt Ms. Bell English 4, period 6 3 September 2013 Batgirl Rules the World Whether young or old, people have been idolizing Batgirl for 52 years. She serves as a symbol of strength and power. Different characters have portrayed her but the admiration has never changed. Whether she is fighting crime or saving the world, she is always there to save the day. She often gets left out and forgotten, although once you read about her you are forever inspired by her actions. Batgirl may not always defeat the villains or save the whole town by herself; what she does do is teach you that there is more to crime fighting than what meets the eye. She doesnt have a major motion picture or products sold in stores everywhere but she does have the best qualities a superhero can have; strength and courage. With these two qualities you can achieve whatever goals or dreams you can dream. You must have the strength to get through obstacles that may get in your way and knock you down and you have to have the courage to get right back up and keep fighting until you reach success. Comic books may not have the best wrap around but have been around a lot longer than most of us here and continue to influence lives every day. History of the Comic Book

The comic book dates back all the way to 1827, when Rudolphe Tpffer created a comic strip. When the comic book was first getting started it contained mostly pictures and few words;

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but as it has evolved over time, authors began adding more words. In 1842, "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck" became the first comic book published in the United States. It was a 40-page book containing pictures on the top of the pages with the words on the bottom. Richard Outcault was the first to use the balloon, which he put the characters dialogue in. From that day in 1895, authors have been writing comic books with the balloon. Superhero comics started popping up around the 1930s but these superheroes were different than the ones seen today. They included Popeye, Dick Tracy and The Shadow. While Popeye didn't go out and fight crime, he did eat his spinach and displayed some 'above average' feats of human strength while fighting his nemeses Bluto. The Phantom became known as the first costumed superhero debuting in 1936. The Phantom was the kind of hero that despite his normal "human" capabilities, fought crime with bravery and death defying stunts. Many future heroes would follow his lead. These heroes may include the iconic Superman and Batman; all created by DC comics. DC comics or Detective Comics is the longest running comic book producing company. They have created some of the worlds most famous superheroes including Batgirl. Around 1940 Marvel Comics started to produce comic books. They are known for characters such as The Human Torch, Iron man and The Avengers. Dc Comics and Marvel are the most popular comic book producing companies around.

Batgirl Whether she is fighting crime on foot or in a wheelchair Batgirl is one superhero that will be known forever. She has been portrayed by many different characters and has had her story retold more than once. She started out during the Silver Age of comics when Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino were the first debut her as Barbara Gordon, the daughter of James Gordon; Gothem citys Police Commissioner. Batgirls original adventuresdepict her as a librarian by

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day and as a spirited crime-fighter by night. Her original story was that she was going to intervene a kidnapping on Bruce Wayne, catching Dark Nights attention, leading to a career of crime fighting. Over time her story has been changed and Batgirl has been played by many characters including Oracle, an international hacker and computer expert fighting crime from her wheel chair after being shot through her spine by joker and becoming paralyzed. Cassandra Cane, one of the worlds greatest physical combatants became the next Batgirl while seeking redemption for her fathers crimes. Since then she has been saving Gothem city from crime not matter what her background may be. There have been 5 different Batgirls since her original debut. In the New 52 Barbara Gordon regained use of her legs after being paralyzed, ditched the role of Oracle and became Batgirl once again. Although his new regained mobility may only be temporary, so Gordon must be careful. Summary of Comic Batgirl is a crime fighting, city saving superhero. In Batgirl Knightfall Ascends, Batgirl is faced up against three criminals trying to protect Gothem City from crime; Katharsis, Bleak Michael, Bonebreaker and their leader Charise Carnes. Katharsis uses weapons to take out her victims, Bleak Michael is infused with acid and Bonebreaker has super strength. Carnes is an 18year-old girl convicted of slaughtering her family, later explained in the comic by Detective McKenna. After being saved by the Detective Batgirl goes with her to her house where she tells the story of Carnes. Her whole family, cut to pieces, with the same two knives you saw tonight, explained by McKenna. Once convicted and sent to prison there was an outbreak and Carnes was left unsupervised alone with criminals for 48 hours. When SWAT arrived, 10 hostages had been taken and one was of the hostages was the detectives husband. She quickly switched positions with a SWAT member to get into the scene when she froze and watched a

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man get murdered. Charise saw it all and later contacted McKenna. The comic then ends with Batgirl finds out that someone in her organization is working with Carnes to kill these criminals before they kill again; drown it [the criminals] in blood. This two-part comic leaves readers on the edge of their seat to find out who in Batgirls organization is working against her. Will it be he her longtime friend Batwoman and will she finally defeat Knightfall? One may only find out by reading the next adventure. Writer Batgirl, Knightfall Ascends was written by Gail Simone. She started out with a blog where she wrote about comic books them went on writing for The Simpsons. She first started her career working for Marvel, then went to Dc and started to write Birds of Prey. Birds of Prey are a spin-off of Batgirl and involving Oracle who leads this team as they fight crime all over the world. Batman funds this team of 3 including Black Canary and Huntress (who is also another Batgirl character). Simone has had a troubled background with DC comics though In 2011, Gail started DC's New 52 writing Batgirl and co-writing the Fury of Firestone but left the latter after issue #6. She was the only female writer at DC Comics until the second wave. In 2012 Simone was fired from DC and was to end the Batgirl series at #16. No one quit knows the reasoning behind her sudden leave but about 12 days after her let go, DC welcomed her back with open arms. She returned with Batgirls #20 issue coming out in May. Barbara Gordon has been an instrumental influence to the comic book world and has inspired many with her comic books. She continues to write today and fill peoples lives with joy as they read her comics.

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Review Batgirl is a wonderful superhero that serves to show children and adults all over the world that not only are guys superheroes, but so are girls. She lives a normal life during the day and at night protects Gothem City. She inspires you to do well in your own community and then you too can be just like her. Though youre not necessarily beating up bad guys and saving the worlds from mass destruction, you can help make the environment safer and preserve the world that we live in. In some comics she comes from a troubled past to show children that it doesnt matter where you come from or what has happened to you, that you can change for the better. In the particular issue I read about Batgirl, though she necessarily did not save the day, it showed me that sometimes you cant do everything on your own and you may need someone elses help. Batgirl ended up being saved by a detective and even though she didnt fully stop the villains she found out more important information on the reasoning behind their bad behavior so she now understands their reasoning. It teaches you to not always judge someone by how he or she may look or act and to find out the reasoning behind their behavior, before questioning or getting mad at them. She is able to capture readers attention in one comic book and leave them waiting for more. You may not be a fan of hers but once you read one issue you will not be able to stop. Her two part books are perfect to keep a readers attention and keep them hooked. Not have read her Batgirls comic or any comic before, I enjoyed this one. The beginning I was a little thrown off and didnt enjoy is all too much, but by the end of the comic I had actually enjoyed myself. I left wanted to know what was going to happen next with Batgirls adventures. The comics are more like a series of books and each one is connected to the next. I thought each one contained its own story. I never had an interest in comic books before this, but now I will appreciate the comic book industry a lot more. Many superheroes are forgotten about after a year or so; Batgirl on the

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other hand has not been one of those characters. She continues to evolve with each period and continues to strive and grow a bigger fan base.

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Works Cited

"Barbara Gordon." Comic Vine. Comic Vine. Web. 31 Aug 2013. <http://www.comicvine.com/barbaragordon/4005-5368/>. "Batgirl Origins." Wikia . DC Comic Database. Web. 24 Aug 2013. <http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batgirl_Origins>. "Batgirl." Wikia . DC Comic Database. Web. 31 Aug 2013. <http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batgirl_Origins>. "Gail Simone." Comic Vine. N.p.. Web. 31 Aug 2013. <http://www.comicvine.com/gail-simone/404041294/>. "Gail Simone." DC Comics. DC Comics. Web. 31 Aug 2013. <http://www.dccomics.com/talent/gailsimone>. "Gail Simone Is DC's "New" Batgirl Writer." Comic Book Resource. Comic Book Resource, 21 Dec 2012. Web. 31 Aug 2013. <http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=42806>. Simone, Gail. Batgirl Knightfall Ascends. 11. DC Comics, 2012. Print.