Oracle Took Her Ultimate Form to Beat Superman’s God-Level Villain

As one of DC Comics’ most intelligent and capable heroes, Barbara Gordon has faced numerous foes as both Batgirl and Oracle, but it was only during her time as the Birds of Prey’s mission commander that she went toe-to-toe with Superman‘s most dangerous foe, Brainiac. As the resident information broker for Batman and the Justice League, Oracle was no stranger to world-ending threats, but when the terrifying villain took on Oracle in cyberspace, she revealed her limitless potential.

Although it’s been restored thanks to Infinite Frontier, Barbara’s history as Oracle is still as largely undefined as her technological capabilities in this new continuity. But Birds of Prey #73 by Gail Simone, Ron Adrian, and Eric Battle let fans know just what Babs is capable of. Unfortunately for Brainiac, he had to find out the hard way.

While sending the Huntress and Vixen on a mission to investigate a mysterious cult responsible for the deaths of affluent teenagers, Oracle finds herself digitally corrupted by the cult’s true master, Brainiac. Brainiac gestates in Barbara’s brain, planning to use her body to bring his corrupting code into the real world as the mother of all malware. At first, Brainiac’s hold is formidable, and he even has Barbara attempt to murder her teammate, Black Canary. But when he attempts to take her over for good, Dinah reminds Oracle just who she is. Motivated by her immense intellect and unshakable sense of self, Oracle battles Brainiac in her own cyberspace mindscape, taking on a metallic form and manifesting a glowing sword to cast him out into the ether.

While the physical effects of Brainiac’s assault would eventually come back to haunt her, it’s still incredibly impressive that she was able to resist the alien attack in the first place. Despite her association with Batman, Barbara is a hero all her own, and this encounter with Brainiac proves it. Barbara has one of the greatest minds in the DC Universe. That’s why Brainiac wanted her, and it’s why she was able to resist him. This conflict showed not only the strength of Oracle’s mind, but also her immense physical capabilities as well. After all, any normal human wouldn’t be able to expel Brainiac from their body with such force. As Oracle points out, in Cyberspace her technical skill and faultless memory make her easily the equal of DC’s mightiest metahumans.

Barbara will always be a hero in whatever identity she wears, but her greatest feats have happened as Oracle, applying her genius-level intellect to Justice League-scale problems and villains who have brought Superman to his knees – her ultimate form is the expression of her epic, unsurpassed brilliance, and the fact that she was able to claim Brainiac’s head shows that even having saved Gotham and the world many times over, fans still haven’t seen everything Barbara Gordon is capable of.

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