Barbara Gordon

Barbara "Barb" Gordon is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and inrelated media, created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino. From 1967 to 1988, she was the superheroine Batgirl; from 1989 to November, 2011, she had been known as Oracle. In Batgirl Vol 2 #1, she recovered from her injuries and hit the streets as Batgirl once again. Introduced as the daughter of Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon, Barbara Gordon made her first comic book appearance in a story published in Detective Comics #359 titled "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl" (January 1967).

    General Information:

Real name:  Barbara Gordon

First Appearance: as Batgirl:
Detective Comics #359 (January 1967)
as Oracle:
Suicide Squad #23 (January 1989)
Return as Batgirl:
Batgirl Vol 4 #1 (September, 2011)
Created by: Gardner Fox
Carmine Infantino
Affiliations: Batman Family
Abilities:  Skilled martial artist
Genius-level intellect
Superb hacker
Skilled detective
Photographic memory
Portrayed by: Yvonne Craig
Melissa Gilbert (voice)
Mary Kay Bergman(voice)
Dina Meyer
As Batgirl, Barbara Gordon has been described as one of the most popular characters to appear during the Silver Age of Comic Books and is also regarded as a pop culture icon due to her appearances in the Batman television series of the late 1960s and continued media exposure. The Barbara Gordon version of Batgirl has been adapted into various media relating to the Batman franchise, including merchandise, television, and animation. During the early 1970s, the character was also used as an advocate for women's rights.
History
Batgirl (1966–1988)

Editor Julius Schwartz claimed that when planning the new Batgirl's comic book debut, he had considered the character to be a vehicle that might attract a female viewership to the Batman television series of the sixties. When producers William Dozier and Howie Horowitz saw rough concept artwork by artist Carmine Infantino during a visit to DC offices, they optioned the character in a bid to help sell a third season to the ABC television network. Actress Yvonne Craig portrayed the character in the show's third season. When interviewed on his involvement with creating Batgirl, Infantino states-

Batgirl came up in the mid-’60s. The “Batman” TV producer called Julie and said Catwoman was a hit, could we come up with more female characters? Julie called me and asked me to do that. I came up with Batgirl, Poison Ivy and one I called the Grey Fox, which Julie didn’t like as much. Bob Kane had a Bat-Girl for about three stories in the ’50s, but she had nothing to do with a bat. She was like a pesky girl version of Robin. I knew we could do a lot better, so Julie and I came up with the real Batgirl, who was so popular she almost got her own TV show.

Barbara Gordon and alter ego Batgirl debuted in Detective Comics #359 (cover-dated 1967, although the comic was actually released in late 1966) as the daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon. Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl had been preceded by an earlier Bat-Girl character, which was depicted as niece and sidekick to Batwoman. Gordon exceeded these earlier figures in popularity, and readers requested for her to appear in other titles. In an open letter to readership in Detective Comics #417 (1971), DC responded to the fan-based acclaim and criticism of the new character.

Powers and abilities.

Martial artistry
Technological skill
Information broker

Source:http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Barbara_Gordon