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Warning : Spoilers for The Batman and Scooby - Doo Mysteries # 11 !
The question whether or not Commissioner Jim Gordon always knew Barbara Gordon wasBatgirlcan now be accurately serve . The comedian seldom get a chance to delve into ifthe original champion of Gothamknows his daughter is a crimefighter , at least in recent store . Barb is more alive as an Oracle nowadays , while Gordon is ordinarily paired in stories with Batman more often than he is Batgirl .
However , The Batman and Scooby - Doo Mysteries#11 by Sholly Fisch , Puste , Carrie Strachan , and Saida Temfonte present a rare conjugation between Commissioner Gordon and Batgirl . The ending hints that Commissioner Gordon always knew that Barbara Gordon was Batgirl .
A present moment like this strikes a specific curiosity in a reader . It begs one to wonder if within the real main canon of DC Comics traditional knowledge , did Gordon ever knew that Barb was alsothe often badass Batgirl / Oracle ? prove this comic , as well as past comic strip from DC ’s vault between the two , should add interview closer to better answering that dubiousness .
Did Commissioner Gordon Always Know Barbara Was Batgirl?
A Scooby-Doo Crossover Suggests the Answer is Yes
In between Batgirl duties , Barbara Gordon gets herself a task at the local Gotham Public Library , something that her Quaker in the Scooby Gang and her father coincidently both decide to visit to celebrate her accomplishment . At this point , Barb has had frequent adventures with Scooby - Doo and his amazing friends , but she ’s yet to tell her dad about being a crimefighter orher online legacy persona of Oracle , hence why she differentiate them to be a little discreet about her adulterous activities .
Just then , the library is invaded by Scooby - Doo ’s belated colossus of the calendar week , Grotesque , someone who puts Barb ’s Batgirl science to the test once she pink him out . After Grotesque is later unmasked , Barb makes a joke about leave the librarian business to be a police officeholder . Jim gag back that their family already has a pretty near crimefighter and detective in himself . But he thenwhispers in his daughter ’s ear,“and so are you,“making her ponder if Gordon might actually know she ’s a superhero . As rich Batman lore would advise , Gordon more than suspects - he ’s always known .
When Gordon Knew Barbara Was Batgirl in the Bronze Age
Jim Has a Secret During 70s Era Batman Stories
Detective Comics#417 boast a backup story title , " Batgirl in A Bullet for Gordon ! " by Frank Robbins and Don Heck . In it , Jim Gordon and Batgirl knead together to tail a cop killer who murdered a ally of the Commissioner ’s . While present a group of mobsters , Barbara nearly slips up when her father infix the room , say " Da- look on it … he has a gas ! " Barb ’s save when she feel like Jim did n’t catch her almost call him dad , butthe fib ends with the equipment of Gordon enquire to himself if Barbara will ever concede to him that she ’s Batgirl .
The preceding offspring would stay on expanding on Gordon ’s secret knowledge of Batgirl ’s secret identity , like inDetective Comics#421 when he subtly tells Batgirl that he stop over worry if his girl was secure elsewhere the moment he saw Batgirl . This secret would culminate inDetective Comics#422 ’s " The Unmasking of Batgirl ! " by Frank Robbins and Don Heck . Convinced she ’s failed as Batgirl , Barbara confronts her father watch to leave superheroing behind to run for Congress , butbefore she even has the prospect to unmask herself , her father calls her " Babs . "
One of the biggest questions is how James Gordon , an prescribed police commissioner , can continue to mould with a vigilante — but DC has the answer .
She ’s shocked to find out in the next issue that her dad has have sex she was Batgirl for a while , as Jim says,“After a lifetime of constabulary workplace , Darling River – not many things turn tail my prepare eye!“A line like this seems to intimate that Gordon may have known about his girl being Batgirl for even long than that initial Detective Comics upshot . It plays on the fact that Gordon is almost asskilled of a detective as Batman . He may not be The World ’s Greatest Detective , but unlike most officials at the GCPD precinct , he is damn good at his task and has been for a long time .
Jim Gordon Always Remembers Barbara Gordon is Batgirl, Even Post-Crisis
Timeline Alterations
Barbara Gordon ’s response to being held at gunpoint in her wheelchair is the ultimate triumph over her debilitate combat injury from the Joker .
In this issue , Barbara decides she ’s finally quick to recount her pappa about her hero modus vivendi -except , he already know that she was Batgirl , it ’s just being Oracle that comes as a surprise to him . In his own words,“I knew you had some strange friend , Barbara . But did I remember you were the neat and powerful Oz ? No . That did n’t occur to me . “He was , however , well cognizant she was Batgirl for a long time . The reasoning is the same give during the Bronze eld : Gordon is too in effect of a bull to not love that there is a superhero decently under his nozzle .
Gordon’s Dynamic with Batgirl in the Modern Age
He’s Destined to Always Know About Her Superhero Affairs
DC would reboot again once following Flashpoint , which rebooted the DC Universe entirely with The New 52 , then partly restoring the anterior canyon with Rebirth . One of the thing that Rebirth did n’t bring back into canon was Barbara ’s last confessing to her founder about being either Batgirl or Oracle . This would lead toJoker#2 by James Tynion IV and Guillem March , whereJim Gordon bear witness his detective skillsbydropping the sudden bombshell that he always knew that Barbara Gordon work with Batman .
As all of these instance would indicate , why it can never be exactly pinpointed exactly when Commissioner Gordon found out that Barbara Gordon was Batgirl , the view was always that he was right enough of a police detective to have eventually enter it out , even if he figure it out off - panel . When he ’s stand next to a heap of superheroes , among them being the World ’s Greatest Detective , it ’s easy to draw a blank just how skilled Gordon is at his job . This is proof . At least , it would make Gordon far too bungling if he did n’t estimate out on his nose thatBatgirlwas his daughter .
The Batman and Scooby - Doo Mysteries#11 is on cut-rate sale now from DC Comics
