Change Is A Sound

dcwomenkickingass:

Gail Simone just confirmed it.

Writer Gail Simone sent us a few words about today’s BATGIRL #1 announcement:

“Barbara Gordon is pretty much my everything. Because of the Batman TV show, she was the reason I fell in love with superheroes. Because she was a redhead who could kick ass, she is…

This is not thrilling. This is actually the exact, polar opposite of thrilling. A friend of mine and I quite literally just had this conversation. We’re both men, he’s able-bodied and I’m not, but we both agree that Barbara Gordon was a much more effective hero as Oracle precisely because she wasn’t limited to what she could do in swinging around Gotham.

This is not a step forward for the character in any respect except for literally being able to take a step forward.

With that said, I’m going to ride a pogo stick through a minefield here, so get your flamethrowers ready:

Gail Simone started with Women In Refrigerators and Barbara Gordon was on that list. Reading Ms. Simone’s explanation, it’s clear that she identified and still identifies with Barbara Gordon, so - perhaps more than any other writer, especially in light of her role in bringing violence against women in comics to the forefront of discussion - she should understand how much being able to see a visibly disabled superhero in comics means to people who are disabled. She saw herself reflected in Batgirl, right down to the hair color. We see ourselves reflected in Batgirl, including overcoming tragedy and adversity and becoming stronger because of it.

Ms. Simone gets Barbara Gordon back as Batgirl. The disabled community loses one of the very few characters in comics who was disabled.

Since Charles Xavier was depowered and walking when I last paid attention to The X-Men, are there any other characters in comics who are visibly disabled? For sake of argument, let’s exclude characters who would be disabled in the absence of technology (see: Cable, Cyborg, Forge, etc.) and supporting characters whose role is either incredibly limited or augmented by cybernetics.

Who’s left?