Who was/is the best Batgirl/Batwoman?

[RachelRules]

Was/is it:

Barbara Gordon
Bette Kane
Cassandra Cain
Kathy Kane (Golden-age)
Kathy Kane (current)

For me, it's Kathy Kane (Golden age). There's just something about that costume that I liked. That plus the fact that she was going to help Batman if he wanted it or not. She always had a great attitude about it.

You gotta love Barbara though. She's been through a lot and came up a winner despite everything.

[Jorriss]

Cassandra. She's actually done the most as Batgirl.

[timbox]

Is this a trick question?

The answer is obviously Cassandra Cain.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Cass is easily the best Batgirl. She fills out the role while having a strong origin that isn't based around Batman or 60s sexism.

[Quinnhop]

Kate Kane.

She's Lindsey Lohan levels of FIERCE.

[Captain Jim]

Given that the new Batwoman and Batgirl have yet to premiere, I think the question is premature.

[T Hedge Coke]

Cass is easily the best Batgirl. She fills out the role while having a strong origin that isn't based around Batman or 60s sexism.

Right. It's based around, what - Nineties - sexism, instead? She's small, wrapped head to toe with no eyes and a visibly-stitched-to-silence mouth. Oh, and her origin is she was abused as an even younger child, is subliterate, naive, and... seriously, she's the Bizarro Tim and something they'd never have done with a male character.

Cassandra. She's actually done the most as Batgirl.

Barbara Gordon fights crime, pinned Robin/Nightwing, beat the Devil, rode a motorcycle before every female hero did, and held public office successfully. Plus, she became Oracle and cemented herself as a necessity in the hyperspeed world of the DCU, while establishing a rotating team of crack specialists to do her bidding. Double plus, she's possibly appeared as a major character in more comics than any other superheroine than Wonder Woman in the past forty years of DC publications.

Cassandra Cain got drugged into being head of an assassin ring and has a costume full of uncomfortable stitching and muting subtext.

Kathy and Kate Kane are both pretty RAWK! though, in their own ways.

[Jorriss]

Barbara Gordon fights crime, pinned Robin/Nightwing, beat the Devil, rode a motorcycle before every female hero did, and held public office successfully. Plus, she became Oracle and cemented herself as a necessity in the hyperspeed world of the DCU, while establishing a rotating team of crack specialists to do her bidding. Double plus, she's possibly appeared as a major character in more comics than any other superheroine than Wonder Woman in the past forty years of DC publications.

Cassandra Cain got drugged into being head of an assassin ring and has a costume full of uncomfortable stitching and muting subtext.

Anything she does as Oracle would be irrelevant because this is who is the best Batgirl, I imagine same would go for holding public office (and wasn't this pre-crisis, albeit Im not sure?) She's became a mainstream character in comics, but she's not publicly that known, and either way, her exploits as Batgirl in general were small scale compared to the world Cassandra was thrown into.

Purely in the context of what was done as Batgirl, Cassandra has done more it would seem. Granted Barbara might of been better due to her deductive abilities, she wasn't shown to have done as much.

Your position may have more validity than I'm giving it credit for but your break down seemed pretty biased against Cassandra so I may just be defending aimlessly.

[Spiffy]

This should be a poll.

But I admit I'm split, depending on how you define things. Babs is the best character, the biggest "personality". Cass is more technically proficient and effective as a fighter. Babs is the better detective (at least as good as Dick, we know that, if not better). Cass has a more dramatic storyline (at least as Batgirl--Babs's drama didn't really ramp up until she became Oracle). Babs has the better costume and is more iconic. Cass appeals more to a newer generation.

Really you can go a lot of ways with this (as long as its Babs or Cass, I mean).

[Fatguy]

Cassandra. Though, the character does nothing for me anymore. I'm hoping this new Batwoman will trump them all.

[jgiannantoni05]

Barbara. Never cared for Cass.

Batgirl Year One is my favorite bat-felmale tale. Sot the traditional Barbara Gordon wins.

(It should be noted that I think the batfamily has balooned too big anyway, especially with female characters)
________
CL200 (http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Honda_CL200)

[The Cool Thatguy]

Right. It's based around, what - Nineties - sexism, instead? She's small, wrapped head to toe with no eyes and a visibly-stitched-to-silence mouth. Oh, and her origin is she was abused as an even younger child, is subliterate, naive, and... seriously, she's the Bizarro Tim and something they'd never have done with a male character..

Cassandra's costume is a little creepy? Why, it's almost as if she's in a noir title and acts as some mysterious crime fighter!

And really, she's nothing like Tim (at first). Tim started out deliberately to balance out Batman. His sense of justice was an intellectual one that required no tragedy to form or fight for.

Now he's just Dick Grayson 2.0.

Cass' sense of justice is unique in that it comes from tragedy and a desire for redemption. And she's an interesting character because like too many people, she has to overcome the consquences of parental abuse.

Barbara Gordon fights crime, pinned Robin/Nightwing, beat the Devil, rode a motorcycle before every female hero did, and held public office successfully. Plus, she became Oracle and cemented herself as a necessity in the hyperspeed world of the DCU, while establishing a rotating team of crack specialists to do her bidding. Double plus, she's possibly appeared as a major character in more comics than any other superheroine than Wonder Woman in the past forty years of DC publications.

Cassandra Cain got drugged into being head of an assassin ring and has a costume full of uncomfortable stitching and muting subtext.

Kathy and Kate Kane are both pretty RAWK! though, in their own ways.

Babs, Kathy and Kate were all created to disprove any gay rumors between Batman and Robin. All became crime fighters to chase that dreamy Batman. And when Babs' began her career, her success rate was just above that of Miss Arrowette. I mean hell, she stopped in a fight to fix a run in her stocking.

Babs as Oracle rocks, I will admit. But as Batgirl she read like a Mary Sue mixed with a little bit of 60s sexism.

Cass beat Shiva, beat metahumans with her bare hands, dodged bullets effortlessly and has a sense of justice and dedication equal to that of Batman himself. And like a balanced characters, she has interesting flaws.

And, oh yeah, her title sold better than Catwoman and Robin when it got canned. For a female, bi-racial character, that's saying alot.

[Lorendiac]

Given that the new Batwoman and Batgirl have yet to premiere, I think the question is premature.

Why wait till the last minute to pass judgment? :wink:

But seriously, I think it's fair game to try to answer those questions about all past and present users of those names, with the understanding that someday new developments may force us to reexamine our positions! Heck, it will probably take more than one issue of a "new Batgirl" for the creators to establish enough of a baseline for us to be able to meaningfully compare her to other characters who starred in many stories across a period of years . . .

[Avenger08]

Id say that Oracle was the best batgirl. She is the classic. She was the one that matured into a BETTER hero after she was paralyzed. That is how strong she is. She showed that in the batman books. She proved herself worthy. Truly, unquestionably, the best

[Spiffy]

Id say that Oracle was the best batgirl. She is the classic.
Well, that might argue more for her being the "best" Oracle, rather than the best Batgirl.

Not that she might not also be the best Batgirl, but the argument would be a different one.

[Lorendiac]

Well, that might argue more for her being the "best" Oracle, rather than the best Batgirl.

Not that she might not also be the best Batgirl, but the argument would be a different one.

I was thinking much the same. What she acted like after she wasn't Batgirl doesn't prove much about how great she was when she was Batgirl, earlier in her life!

[nepenthes]

hard question since I've never really read a Batgirl story that stood out

[Hair]

Barbara Gordon, especially because of the Dini/Timm Batman Adventures holiday special.

[d newton]

Cassandra's costume is a little creepy? Why, it's almost as if she's in a noir title and acts as some mysterious crimefighter.
Here's Cass's costume:
http://jerome.galica.free.fr/dc%20comics/Batman/batgirl/Batgirl%20III%2003.gif
Now compare that to Babs's:
http://jerome.galica.free.fr/dc%20comics/Batman/batgirl/Batgirl-Detective359.gif

[Henker]

Cassandra Cain.