Retcon Of Killing Joke Rectonned In Batgirl & Birds Of Prey?

A retcon of a retcon of something that was never supposed to be canon to begin with happens in Batgirl & Birds of Prey #1

Ah comics. If a character has existed for long enough, they are bound to be involved on something controversial. One of the most controversial moments of Barbara Gordon’s history is The Killing Joke. Oddly enough not for anything she did, but for the fact she’s merely in the story to be shot, paralyzed and possibly sexually assaulted and raped (it should be noted that Killing Joke writer Alan Moore claims she was not raped by The Joker but some fans still interpret it that way) by the Joker for shock value rather than be a fully-fleshed out character in the story. Killing Joke wasn’t really ever supposed to be canon, but obviously many took it as such as that has long been treated as Joker’s “official” origin and Barbara Gordon was indeed confined to a wheelchair for a long time and had to become Oracle, a new kind of hero, one that helped fight crime through her mastery of information.

In The New 52 era, Barbara Gordon was walking again thanks to a successful experimental surgery and once again donned the identity of Batgirl. But during the “Batgirl of Burnside” run with Babs Tarr and Brenden Fletcher, they went one step further, suggesting that The Killing Joke and many other events were merely implanted memories:

While the writer & artist claimed that readers were left to interpret the panel as they wish, most I’m pretty sure came to the conclusion that according to this panel, The Killing Joke was an implanted memory and never happened.

Well, fast forward to months later. Rebirth has happened, and with it we have a new Batgirl title, Batgirl and The Birds of Prey, which seems to say that the events of Killing Joke definitely did happen:

Next: Nightwing Rebirth #1 Preview

So here’s where there’s some weird wriggle room of course thanks to Rebirth. We know that Dr. Manhattan has been screwing around with the DC universe and stole 10 years from everybody, and then who knows what else he did. So the revelation near the end of The New 52 that Killing Joke didn’t happen could just be Dr. Manhattan manipulating events. Of course the opposite could also be true. Anyone else’s head about to explode? I guess for now Joker shot and paralyzed Barbara Gordon, but she’s better now. Until that changes…

h/t Bleeding Cool