Oracle: DC Comics superhero, created by
John Ostrander, and regularly appearing in
Birds of Prey,
JLA,
Suicide Squad and all
Batman series. One of the best superheroes ever, mostly because she has no powers at all.
In 1988, Alan Moore's infamous "Killing Joke" storyline saw Barbara Gordon crippled by the Joker. In a bizarre departure from comic book tradition, there were no miraculous cures in sight, and Barbara was confined to a wheelchair, her crime-fighting career ended cruelly (ending her long reign as what some Batman fans call the most annoying sidekick in comic history). For a few months she did nothing but sit at home, but soon she decided to deal with her situation in the same frontal-assault fashion she displayed throughout her life as Batgirl. Taking a grant from the Wayne Foundation, she bought a state of the art computer system, and pretty much moved into cyberspace, using research skills honed in years of library work. This was in 1988, so it was a little more impressive than it sounds today. For one thing, there wasn't a WWW yet.
Although Barbara stubbornly refused to accept any help fom her friends and family, Batman used the clever screen alias "Matches" (what kind of a geek is this Batman person, anyway?) to convince her to study escrima under Richard Dragon. The stick-fighting training apparently gave Babs the self-confidence she needed to return to the detective's life, but this time she would not be an imitator and she wouldn't wear any latex. She would forge her own identity as the superheroes' Oracle, the seeress and advisor. Working behind the scenes, she might not get in criminals' faces, but she would certainly help stop them. She worked successfully with the Suicide Squad for several years, has accepted JLA reserve membership, and finally formed her own team by enlisting Black Canary and other agents to work as her "hands". Few people have ever met her or know her identity, but she seems to be as active as Batman, observing everything that transpires from her heavily wired apartment in Gotham's Clocktower.
Oracle has been an inspiration for numerous fans who sympathize with her situation. She is consistently portrayed as a strong, capable character, despite her physical vulnerability. The dangers of working as a superhero in a wheelchair have not been downplayed, but the writers have never let her appear pitiful and helpless. For several years some jaded fans feared that the wheelchair was some kind of sympathy play on the part of DC's editorial staff, designed to set up a triumphant comeback a la "Knightfall" and so many other story arcs. But in the years Barbara has worked as Oracle, especially in the monthly Oracle/Black Canary title "Birds of Prey", the situation has come to seem permanent. She has turned down two offers to regain her mobility - one from Neron in the "Underworld Unleashed" arc, and one from the Martian Manhunter. Oracle is here to stay, proof that physically disadvantaged people can be every bit as heroic as the perfect supermen of the genre.
Major events in Oracle's history: