Birds of Prey Reveals First Look at Barbara Gordon’s Return

A familiar face is back in the fold of DC’s Birds of Prey. Earlier this month, the publisher released the solicitations for their March 2024 comics, which reveal the first look at the upcoming Birds of Prey #7. The issue’s cover seemingly confirms that Barbara Gordon / Batgirl will be finally joining the rotating roster of this new series, after she and Helena Bertinelli / Huntress were both deliberately left out of the team’s first mission of rescuing Cynthia “Sin” Lance from the Amazons on Themyscira. As the series’ first issue explained, that omission was because Dinah Lance / Black Canary wanted to ensure Sin’s rescue would occur without mishaps, and worried that Barbara and Helena would be as emotionally-attached to Sin’s fate as she is.

This news will surely be a welcome development for Birds of Prey fans, as Barbara actually helped form the titular team alongside Dinah in the 1990s. Either as Oracle or Batgirl, Barbara has been part of the team in essentially every iteration since. She did not make an appearance in 2020’s Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), due to plans tied to Warner Bros.’ now-shelved Batgirl solo movie, which would have starred Leslie Grace as the titular heroine.

What Is Birds of Prey #7 About?

BIRDS OF PREY #7
Written by KELLY THOMPSON
Art and cover by LEONARDO FERNANDEZ
Variant cover by NATHAN SZERDY
Variant cover by PABLO VILLALOBOS
1:25 variant cover by LEIRIX
Women’s History Month variant cover by SOZOMAIKA
$3.99 US | 32 pages | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 3/5/24
Sin is alive and back with Black Canary in Gotham, and the world didn’t get destroyed, but the cost was high and nobody’s exactly sure what it means yet. Shocking revelations in the wake of the Birds’ first mission lead Dinah to…a conspiracy against the Birds of Prey and a whole new mission. New mission, new team. Hold onto your butts.

“I think I’ve been trying to write Birds of Prey, in a way, ever since I first discovered it,” Thompson told ComicBook.com in an interview earlier this year. “A lot of my books at Marvel were female led and I’d often build out their supporting casts and that tended to be a lot of women. So even when I wasn’t writing all-female teams like Birds of Prey, I was sort of trying to? [Laughs] So finally getting to do just that and to do it on the premier title? Dream come true. Getting to do it with Leo and Jordie? That’s something you don’t even dream—for fear you’ll jinx it!”

What do you think of the first look at Birds of Prey #7? Are you happy to see Barbara Gordon return to the series? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

As mentioned above, Birds of Prey #7 will be released on Tuesday, March 5th wherever comics are sold.