Oracle Fans Unite Online to Create Art and Activism

The news that DC Comics is returning wheelchair-bound heroine Barbara Gordon a.k.a. Oracle to her original role as the decidedly mobile Batgirl has hit an uncommonly sensitive nerve with comic book fans. As demonstrated by the more than one-hundred (and counting) reader comments to our editorial on the subject, readers are widely divided but extremely passionate about the decision to effectively remove mainstream comics' most recognizable representation of the disabled or otherwise mobility impaired people of the world, but no segment of that readership is more vocal than those who wholly oppose the move.

In response to the Batgirl news, a group of Oracle fans collaborated on Oracle-Create-a-Thon, a new Tumblr blog dedicated to fan art, fanfiction and activism to maintain awareness of the physically challenged and to make the feelings of Oracle fans known to DC Comics.Oracle-Create-a-Thon was initiated by Yamino (aka Elena Barbarich), creator of the Sister Claire webcomic about the adventures of a pregnant nun. The blog encourages Oracle fans to create original works inspired by the character and submit them to the blog for posterity. Also published on Oracle-Create-a-Thon are links to essays about the characters, cosplay, excerpts from memorable Oracle comic books and previously created artwork.

Some of the artwork found on the blog: