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DC's Batgirl / Oracle is back in Barbara Gordon: Breakout series

DC's Barbara Gordon has been many things over the years: librarian, politician, Batgirl, Oracle, and more. Now she has a new role: Inmate.

Barbara Gordon: Breakout header
Image credit: Karl Kerschl (DC Comics)

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DC's Barbara Gordon has been many things over the years: librarian, politician, Batgirl, Oracle, and more. Now she has a new role: Inmate.

The one-time Batgirl is back in her own series called Barbara Gordon: Breakout, part of DC's 'Next Level' line of comics, which was announced at Comics PRO annual event. Described as a "tense, character-driven thriller," Barbara Gordon: Breakout is set in a new prison for Gotham called Supermax, created specifically by supervillain-turned-Gotham police commissioner Vandal Savage. She's put there after being arrested by Savage's police forces for aiding and abetting the 'criminal' known as Batman, and his costumed colleagues.

"[Barbara Gordon: Breakout] forces her into the heart of Gotham City’s most dangerous new battleground—one she'll have to face not with Batgirl's tools or Oracle's tech, but with only her wits to survive," reads the series' description. "She will find herself alone, surrounded by dangerous criminals and equally dangerous guards, in a place where nothing is what it seems. The true danger is just beginning."

While the Supermax prison in the series is a new creation, this isn't the first Supermax in DC history: a proposed, but never-made, 2008 theatrical Green Arrow movie from the writer of The Dark Knight went by the titles Super Max and Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max. 

Barbara Gordon: Breakout is by the reunited team of writer Mariko Tamaki (This One Summer, Skim) and artist Amancay Nahelpan (Justice League Dark, Green Lantern), who worked together previously on Detective Comics and Crush & Lobo. Karl Kerschl has drawn the main cover to Barbara Gordon: Breakout #1, with variants by Nahelpan, along with David Nakayama, Yanick Paquette, and Jorge Corona. You can check those out here:

Barbara Gordon: Breakout #1 will be in your local comic shops (and available online) on May 13. 


About ComicsPRO Industry Conference

Every year, the giants of the North American comic industry congregate behind closed doors for a closed-door conference to talk about the changing landscape of comics, what they've learned, and what they are all planning to do in the future. It's not a comic convention for fans, though - it's in a B2B event called the ComicsPRO Annual Meeting, and this year Popverse is going there to bring it all to you. At the 2026 Comics PRO Annual Meeting, Popverse will be covering the announcements, the conversations, and the insight from the likes of Marvel Comics, DC Comics, VIZ Media, Yen Press, Image Comics, Skybound Entertainment, and more.

Dates

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Location

Glendale, California
United States

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Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant: Chris Arrant is the Popverse's Editor-in-Chief. He has written about pop culture for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel, Newsarama, CBR, and more. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. (He/him)

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