Did anyone get the Batgirl Showcase?

[mrphantasm]

I just finished reading the Batgirl Showcase and loved it, though I wish they'd picked anything else for the cover. The cover really demeaned Barbara.
Did anyone else enjoy the book as much as I did?

[Nics23]

I enjoy almost everyone of the showcases and Batgirl was no Differant. I loved manyofthe sotries. I say to anyone who is on the fnece to pick it up. I would love to see a RobinShowcase.

[Kid Kyoto]

I liked it too but I have no problem with the cover. Babs really was a transition character, halfway between competent butt-kicker and flighty woman so the cover worked for me.

And it is an actual image from the book.

[snipe]

I enjoy almost everyone of the showcases and Batgirl was no Differant. I loved manyofthe sotries. I say to anyone who is on the fnece to pick it up. I would love to see a RobinShowcase.

There is a Robin (and 2 Teen Titans volumes):

http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=8556

[Chad]

I liked it too but I have no problem with the cover. Babs really was a transition character, halfway between competent butt-kicker and flighty woman so the cover worked for me.

And it is an actual image from the book.

Yeah, the most degrading image DC could find. The fact that they don't seem to be the slightest bit embarassed by this cover says everything you need to know about how DC regards women. It's almost as if they want to apologize for having a strong female lead by saying "These stories aren't supposed to be taken seriously - they're camp - don't worry we're not seriously suggesting that we could publish an entire book of stories about a serious female crime fighter". And it's a philosophy they seem to be proud of.

[Captain Jim]

I just finished reading the Batgirl Showcase and loved it, though I wish they'd picked anything else for the cover. The cover really demeaned Barbara.
Did anyone else enjoy the book as much as I did?

I got it and agree with you completely on the cover. Sure it was an actual cover of the era, but there were so many other better ones available. I think a natural would have been her first appearance:

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/detective-comics/359-1.jpg

My only other complaint was that I thought they included too many non-Batgirl stories in which she only played a minor role. It's not like there weren't other, later Batgirl stories they could have included to round the book out.

[DonC]

My only other complaint was that I thought they included too many non-Batgirl stories in which she only played a minor role. It's not like there weren't other, later Batgirl stories they could have included to round the book out.


Don't the Showcase volumes print a character or series' stories chronologically? I seem to recall that's why Superman Family Volume 1 had almost no Lois Lane (or was it Supergirl?) stories.

[Kid Kyoto]

Yeah, the most degrading image DC could find. The fact that they don't seem to be the slightest bit embarassed by this cover says everything you need to know about how DC regards women. It's almost as if they want to apologize for having a strong female lead by saying "These stories aren't supposed to be taken seriously - they're camp - don't worry we're not seriously suggesting that we could publish an entire book of stories about a serious female crime fighter". And it's a philosophy they seem to be proud of.

Um, it's not like they used one of the images of her being knocked out or tied up.

And frankly the stories are camp. They're 30, almost 40 years old (maybe they are 40, I'd have to look at them again) and well, of course they're a lot of sexist attitudes there, of course there's cheese. It has cases with killed jai lai and killer bullfighters and aliens who are really actors in make up and so on and so on.

Making these stories look like modern, Buffy style strong woman stories would be the real disservice.

They were progressive for the time but seeing them now they're fluffy, they're old fashioned, but still fun.

[Captain Jim]

Don't the Showcase volumes print a character or series' stories chronologically?

Yes, but I see no reason why this has to include all of their guest appearances in other titles. In some cases it's warrented, but I thought they really went overboard here.

I seem to recall that's why Superman Family Volume 1 had almost no Lois Lane (or was it Supergirl?) stories.

Lois Lane. Supergirl had her own Showcase volume.

[Chad]

Um, it's not like they used one of the images of her being knocked out or tied up.

And frankly the stories are camp. They're 30, almost 40 years old (maybe they are 40, I'd have to look at them again) and well, of course they're a lot of sexist attitudes there, of course there's cheese. It has cases with killed jai lai and killer bullfighters and aliens who are really actors in make up and so on and so on.

Making these stories look like modern, Buffy style strong woman stories would be the real disservice.

They were progressive for the time but seeing them now they're fluffy, they're old fashioned, but still fun.

Hey Kid Kyoto. When I made my comments, I quoted you simply because it was the best way I could think of to establish my own opinion. I'd hate to think that by following something you said with such a strong opinion it would make me come across as attacking, lecturing, or even implying anything about you specifically even though that's probably exactly how I presented myself. If it seemed as if I were aiming a holier than thou opinion directed at you I'd like to apologize for that.

That said, yeah it's an attitude from 40 years ago and it is an actual cover/scene from one of the reprinted stories, but I mean, they could have choosen any number of covers and they went with that one. There's a lot about DC's past that the company isn't proud of - treatment of the Japanese during the war, racist depictions of black people during the 40's, and so on. I know that it's an issue when reprints are made of these stories (the stories are left intact but I mean you never see any of the racist images being used to promote the tpb or archive or whatever).

However, in this instance, nobody used the same line of reasoning when slapping the most sexist image in that book on the cover of this collection. The fact that it never occured to anyone that this is something DC shouldn't be proud of (and it was controversial 40 years ago as well based on the letter page comments I've read from the era) is disgusting to me. This is the same company that turned down an Alex Ross promo image for Kingdom Come in 1996 because his Batman was grinning and Batman doesn't grin. They also changed the cover of an issue of Solo from Batman dancing the Batusi to, I think Wonder Girl, because that's something to be ashamed of. However, "Golly! I'm just a flighty airheaded woman who doesn't know a thing about crime fighting"? Let's save that for the cover!

[graviton]

I enjoyed the volume, even though the cover was not what I might have chosen. That said, these DC Showcase volumes have been my favorite books of the past three years. I have purchased every volume they have published, because when most of these stories were originally published, I was a complete Marvel Zombie and missed all of those old books, and came to regret that fact in later years, when the back issues became far too pricey for my meager budget. The DC SHowcase volumes are a great deal, and a lot of fun. I hope the Secret Society of Super-Villains is published soon, along with the Captain Carrot collection. Maybe DC will include the complete run of the Joker title in the Secret Society volume! That would be groovy!

[DonC]

Yes, but I see no reason why this has to include all of their guest appearances in other titles. In some cases it's warrented, but I thought they really went overboard here.


I agree. However it's a double-edged sword. If they had left some of the stories out, I'm sure some people would have complained that the "complete" adventures of Batgirl were incomplete.

[Lorendiac]

And frankly the stories are camp. They're 30, almost 40 years old (maybe they are 40, I'd have to look at them again) and well, of course they're a lot of sexist attitudes there, of course there's cheese. It has cases with killed jai lai and killer bullfighters and aliens who are really actors in make up and so on and so on.

Just a quick comment on the chronology of this: the Wikipedia entry says, and I'm prepared to believe, that Barbara Gordon made her comic book debut in an issue of "Detective Comics" which was cover-dated 1967 but actually hit the stands in late 1966. So, although I haven't bought this Showcase yet, I'd say the oldest story in it ought to be almost 42 years old (I guess Babs will have her 42nd "birthday" or "anniversary" later this year), with even the newest ones being somewhere in their 30s (if they were released anytime between 1968 and 1978).

Beyond that, I have nothing to say in this thread at the moment, since I haven't actually read the source material or lovingly studied whatever illustration they chose for the cover. I'm sure I've seen it in the stores, but I'm not remembering it very well, and it doesn't seem worth the trouble of looking up a scanned copy of that cover on Amazon right now :)

[Captain Jim]

Batgirl's first appearance is the issue I reproduced above. The Showcase cover is here:

http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/7/4/7472_400x600.jpg