Inspired by the Dark Knight, Barbara Gordon protected Gotham City for years as Batgirl. Since then, others have followed in her wake, but Babs has never given up the fight for justice. In Barbara Gordon: Breakout, that mission takes Barbara to the depths of one of the city’s most infamous prisons, where she must form unexpected alliances if she hopes to survive and get to the truth of what’s happening behind its highly secured walls. It’s just the latest remarkable turn in the life of one of DC’s most remarkable characters.

But how much do you really know about her? To celebrate Barbara Gordon’s first ongoing solo comic in over five years, we’ve rounded up seven things that even the biggest Batgirl fan might not know about the resourceful young hero.
 

She Has a Doctorate

Batgirl doesn’t like to brag, but her proper title is actually Dr. Barbara Gordon. According to her first appearance in Detective Comics #359, Barbara earned her PhD at Gotham University, where she graduated summa cum laude. In fact, the narration box in the story identifies her as “Dr. Barbara Gordon,” a title which would be downplayed in subsequent appearances. Batgirl may not flaunt her higher education, but the Bat-Family likely knows that she’s smarter than all of them combined, even if they won’t admit it.
 

She Earned a Law Degree in her Spare Time

Not only is Barbara the only PhD holder with a key to the Batcave, but she also has a law degree. According to Batman: Gotham Knights #25, Barbara took a correspondence course in law in her spare time. She realized she knew most of the material, so she took the bar “for the hell of it” and passed. I can’t think of a more “queen move” than that, but as if that wasn’t impressive enough, she also received a Masters of Law from Harvard. It’s enough to make even the most productive person feel like an underachiever.
 

Batgirl Was Not her First Superhero Identity

You’ve heard of Batgirl, and you’ve probably heard of Oracle, but have you ever heard of Barbara Gordon’s first heroic identity—Mighty Girl? In Adventure Comics #453, a preteen Barbara Gordon was having a horrible time at summer camp when a mystic crystal from the future responded to her thoughts, granting her superpowers. Mighty Girl made her grand debut when some campers pulled the whole “pretend to be a ghost” trick around the campfire. Babs thought the ghosts were real, and almost took them apart, but Superboy was able to stop her. Ultimately, he separated Barbara from the crystal, and that was the end of Mighty Girl. Her one and only battle may have been sloppy, but it was a great practice run for Batgirl.
 

She Was a Congresswoman

How can Barbara’s resume get more impressive? Well, she once served in the House of Representatives. Babs’ father, Commissioner Jim Gordon, was originally recruited to run for the House seat in Detective Comics #422, but he wasn’t really into it. Barbara offered to run in his place and she captured the youth vote by utilizing her Batgirl boots as a symbol of how it was time to “boot” out the incumbents. Babs won her Congressional seat in Detective Comics #423, becoming one of the few DC heroes to hold elected office. Barbara served a full two-year term, but her duties as Batgirl got in the way of her campaigning, causing her to lose reelection in Detective Comics #487. Still, the fact she was able to be Batgirl and a Congresswoman at the same time is nothing short of amazing.
 

She Dated Superman

Are you a Batgirl and Nightwing shipper? Believe it or not, before Dick and Babs hooked up, Bruce Wayne had the idea to set her up with his good friend Clark Kent. Batman reasoned that Barbara would loosen up the uptight reporter, but Clark resented the matchmaking effort. The blind date happened in Superman #268, and the potential Clark/Babs romance was dead on arrival. Barbara found Clark boring, which shows that the Dark Knight is good at everything except for pairing up his friends. Years later, Babs and Clark would work together regularly while she was Oracle, but you have to wonder if memories of their cringey date ever made things awkward.
 

She Beat the League’s Best Assassins from a Wheelchair

Barbara Gordon may be one of the smartest heroes in the DC Universe, but people also underestimate her skills as a fighter. Even after a gunshot from the Joker placed her in a wheelchair, Barbara was still able to hold her own. In Red Robin #12, Ra’s al Ghul sent the League of Assassins after Batman’s closest friends, including Barbara Gordon. Tim Drake asked Wonder Girl to keep Babs safe, but it turned out that Cassie wasn’t needed. Barbara was able to fight off the League of Assassins from her wheelchair. Seriously, how can you not stan a woman this awesome?
 

She Once Turned into a Snake

From lawyer to congresswoman, you might be wondering where else this list could go, and we saved the most unusual one for last! In Detective Comics #515-517, Batgirl fought a snake-human hybrid named Lady Viper. During their battle, Viper was able to inject her venom into Batgirl, turning the heroine partly into a snake. While Batgirl’s upper body remained human, her lower body was all serpent. Resourceful as always, Babs was able to use her new snake powers to defeat Lady Viper and develop a cure. Perhaps most surprising of all is that for a moment, Barbara considered remaining a snake. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to give up that much power, but luckily, common sense prevailed. Let’s be honest, “Snakegirl” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
 

Barbara Gordon: Breakout #1 by Mariko Tamaki, Amancay Nahuelpan and Tamra Bonvillain is now available in print and as a digital comic book.

Joshua Lapin-Bertone writes about TV, movies and comics for DC.com, is a regular contributor to the Couch Club and writes our monthly Batman column, "Gotham Gazette." Follow him on Bluesky at @joshualapinbertone and on X at @TBUJosh.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Joshua Lapin-Bertone and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.