A review by tricky
Batgirl: The Greatest Stories Ever Told by Carmine Infantino, Duncan Fegredo, Gil Kane, Don Heck, Devin Grayson, Elliot S! Maggin, Frank Robbins, Bob Rozakis, Irv Novick, Terry Dodson, Mike Grell, Gardner F. Fox, Kelley Puckett

3.0

The problem with this collection of stories about Batgirl that it represents both the best and worse of the DC treatment of this character.
You start with what is perhaps the best known origin story of Batgirl as Barbara Gordon. This was created in the late 60s, is representative of its time but there is hope for Batgirl as character. I mean I did not mind that Barbara Gordon becomes a crime fighter because she likes the excitement and thrill of getting into a scrape with some baddies. From these humble beginnings you could see the possibility of a really interesting character arc in the making. However, that slowly unravels as you read through the decades. It was great that Barbara, runs for Congress but the motive was appalling. The further you travel through the decades the more Batgirl becomes tepid and almost ineffective as a crime fighter. The Batgirl and Robin adventures provided some redemption to this collection.
This collection teases you with how wonderful Batgirl could have been. Yet, the character is never fully developed in this collection and you see what could have been.
I understand that Batgirl was rebooted in the last couple of years and I have not read those. It will be interesting to see where Batgirl is now.