That Batgirl Cover Wasn’t Originally That Gruesome

According to a story on Bleeding Cool, the controversial Batgirl Joker variant cover that was canceled over protests of the imagery it represented for the title originally wasn’t as gruesome as the final product.

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Citing inside sources, Bleeding Cool claims that while the cover was basically the same idea, it was far less extreme. Batgirl wasn’t in extreme distress, there was no blood on the face, there wasn’t a gun pointed at Batrigl’s crotch, etc. Apparently this final version is the result of artist Rafael Albuquerque recieving some notes on his initial version from DC and then redrawing and submitting the final version we’ve seen that cause such an uproar.

This is an unconfirmed rumor at this point, but it’s totally plausible. In the meantime, Rafael Albuquerque also stressed in an interview with Brazilian site UOL that he received no pressure from DC to drop the Batgirl cover and it was his decision:

"No. I took the initiative. I see many people commenting on freedom of expression and that I gave in to pressure. I have always defended minorities. I think is the right and moral thing to do. I do not think a comic that aims to raise women´s self-esteem should have an image that may suggest otherwise. In another comic, maybe that image made sense. Not for the current Batgirl comic. Freedom of expression also means not saying what you do not want to say, and it was exactly the right that I exercised here."

Check out the translated interview at Bleeding Cool where Albuquerque talks a lot more about the cover and how comics are today. I honestly think both Albuquerque & DC were in the right to cancel the Batgirl cover if they felt it not only wasn’t right for the Batgirl audience, which is intended to be teenage women, but especially if they felt it sent out a bad message they never intended.

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