The Oracle Code is the story of Barbara Gordon who was shot by the Joker and paralyzed during the story The Killing Joke. In this story author, Marieke Nijkamp reimagines her origin story and has Barbara shot during a random crime. She never became Batgirl, she went from being the Commissioner's daughter who used her laptop to trace crimes to being in her wheelchair. She is sent to the Arkham Center for Independence to "get better".

The art is absolutely beautiful. It fits the story well and the switch between the stories the children in the rehab center tell and the main story is powerful. I love the color choices and overall it was a beautiful book. About halfway through the book one of the kids in the center tells Barbara stories. Those stories were amazing. I would love to see a series that was these stories. They have all of the fun aspects of a ghost story and I absolutely loved them.

Overall the story irritated me. I don't know if it is because I am also disabled. I have chronic pain issues and the language used even by those who cared for the kids was frustrating. Barbara was sent to Arkham because she needed to be "fixed". The book had lines like "No child should have to suffer being less than whole." and "They are broken and won't be missed." I understand that it is the villains saying some of these things, but it was upsetting to see those things written in a book meant for children. If it was upsetting for an adult to see those things written about people themselves, imagine the frustration of a child seeing those things. Or maybe I am just reading too much into it?

Barbara Gordon stars as the young protagonist in this graphic novel. I like the re-envision of how Barbara becomes Oracle, as she is no longer the victim of events of the Killing joke. As for the story, it was an awesome tidy story. It moved quick and had powerful moments. More importantly this story has beautiful representation of young people with disabilities being fully confident, resilient and building a community. It was a coming of age story but also a coming to grips with a tragedy. I fully enjoyed this story.

Nijkamp's adaptation of Barbara Gordon's experience in the Arkham Center for Independence is told well and is supported by Manuel Preitano's excellent illustrations but falls short due to predictability at points. The story also falls prey to the stereotype of the evil doctors experimenting on the helpless patients (until Barbara can save the day) and I was hoping this might break that tired storyline. Even though I was hoping for something new and different, the book was enjoyable.

Commissioner Gordon's daughter, coder Barbara Gordan loses the use of her legs and is sent to a rehabilitation center. When patients start disappearing, Barbara searches for answers.
I was excited to try to book by Marieke Nijkamp and I wanted to like it, but it didn't work for me. The first half was boring and even though it picked up towards the end, it was a predictable conclusion. I appreciate that the book included diverse characters and characters with physical disabilities. I recommend this to fans of the main character.

This origin story for Oracle has Barbara Gordon as a teen hacker who becomes paralyzed and is sent to a rehabilitation center. Being in Gotham City, this center is not like the ones you might find in a real center. As children disappear, Babs' instincts drive her to find out what happened to them. Is this a mystery... or a ghost story?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
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The Oracle Code is a graphic novel under DCs Ink Imprint line which targets the YA reading crowd, and is separate from the DC Universe overall. There are nods to the DC world but the stories you read are not the comic origins of these characters. Just putting that out there right away.
Barbara, a young teen hacker, gets in the way of a robbery and ends up paralyzed. Her father, Commissioner Gordon, sends her to Arkham Center for Independence to recover. While there she starts to notice odd things, a mystery is forming around her but is Barbara ready to throw herself onto another mystery when the last time she searched out a puzzle it left her paralyzed?
I love the art style for this, I like the pop of colors used, how the characters you know and meet are distinct and defined and the other characters are almost shadows which adds a bit to the creep factor with the weird sounds and stories that Barbara gets told from one of the girls there. There is definitely a darker, creepy, more sinister edge to this story than some of the other Ink stories I’ve read which is cool because it shows variety in the stories they want to tell. I like the Barbara you get here, she is relearning who she thinks she is, she finds independence and strength with others at the institute and I love that the friends she makes have been there and they aren’t going to let her hide from them.

I think you really have to remember that the DC Ink imprint is supposed to be separate from the actual DC universe. Barbara Gordon has always been one of my favorite DC characters, so I was curious to see how her transition to Oracle would play out. I do really like the fact that this is about the struggle after what paralyzed Barbara Gordon (important note here that the Joker has nothing to do with it), but I think what I found most clever about other books in the imprint are the subtle homages to the DC universe, which I feel like was completely missing here.

Overall, good, and a book I wouldn't mind handing to kids.

This is a wonderful book. Really entertaining and fits with the character. It’s a solid story that includes great new characters.

I've always been a fan of Barbara Gordon, as Batgirl, as Oracle, it doesn't matter. She's such a cool character, and I was really excited to see her as a teenager.

Quick Thoughts
-The author's handling of Babs' injury is interesting, but it made sense. The Joker has nothing to do with her injury—in fact, the incident is hardly mentioned in the book. I felt this made sense since that added trauma would probably be too much to handle in a YA book.
-The art is a lot of fun. I loved how it showed Babs' mind, how she pieces puzzles together. The art in this book also breaks away from previous DC Ink styles—instead of monochromatic with pops of color, the colors in this one are bright and saturated, other times dark and moody.
-I loved seeing how Babs' friends and others in the Arkham Institute supported Babs'. She wants to separate herself from everyone, but they don't let her.
-I was slightly disappointed, though not surprised, that the Arkham Center for Independence was indeed shady. But, when you hear the name Arkham, it's obviously going to be bad news.

Lasting Impressions

This book is chilling in ways that some of the previous DC Ink books are not. This is also the first book in that line that is a mystery, and it's a dang creepy one at that. There are a couple of stories one character tells that are just terrifying, and the art brilliantly portrays them as well (sorry if that sounds vague, but I don't want to give spoilers!) I loved how creeped out I was by it all—it was really fun.

Overall Feelings

This is a fun addition to the DC Ink line, and I would recommend it to mystery lovers and Batgirl/Oracle fans.

I was so relieved when I saw Marieke Nijkamp was writing the Barbara Gordon entry in the DC Ink series, and they didn't let me down! Context: pretty much all the DC Ink books are meant to be standalone entry points to a single character in the DC universe for young readers who aren't familiar with their lengthy, often self-contradictory backstory in other comics. So this is NOT a retelling of The Killing Joke or anything like that. Batman doesn't even feature, nor Dick Grayson or the Birds of Prey. (Black Canary also has her own book in the DC Ink series; I don't know if there's any plan to eventually bring some of the disparate books together in the future.) Barbara is introduced as a computer-savvy teen whose interest in crime stems from worry about her policeman father. In the first few pages, she follows him to a crime scene and is shot; the rest of the book takes place at the rehab center she is sent to in order to learn how to navigate life in a wheelchair. Babs is understandably having a hard time adjusting, especially since her best friend from before the shooting is ignoring her texts, but several other girls at the rehab center are persistent in offering their friendship, and the sudden disappearance of one of them spurs her to return to detective mode. Is the moral of the book (disabled people don't need to be "fixed", they need to be respected as whole human beings) presented in a subtle way? No. Is it GREAT for a middle-grade book? Yup! I really hope that Nijkamp (and Manuel Preitano, whose art is a perfect complement to the story) will be returning for more Oracle books, because this was absolutely fantastic.

One final note: I complained in my review of Shadow of the Batgirl about the way Barbara's wheelchair was glossed over when the setting included stairs to navigate. Here, there's a scene in which three girls who use mobility aids have to confront a non-accessible staircase: one of them has learned a technique for getting her wheelchair down a flight of stairs backwards, but Barbara doesn't know how, because she hasn't been taught it yet. So their third friend, who uses crutches, helps get Barbara's wheelchair to the bottom while Barbara climbs down. It's a small scene but it's one of the little moments of authenticity you only get when you hire Own Voices writers. So, if you're listening, DC: it does matter, and we do notice.

Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, never intended to be shot. Frustrated and afraid, she is deposited at the Arkham Center for Independence. Commissioner Gordon is unsure of how to address his daughter as she works to regain her sense of self during physical and mental rehabilitation. With a wheelchair as her new normal, she is angry enough to avoid making friends. However, one night a young girl comes to her begging for the protection of her brother. Barbara has the feeling that something is dangerously wrong. Unable to shake the weird sounds surrounding her at night and the fact that residents seem to suddenly disappear, Barbara contacts her father but soon discovers she's going to have to put the pieces together with the help of her new friends in the facility and discover her new life as Oracle.

The Oracle Code is the type of graphic novel that feels impossible to put down.  Author Marieke Nijkamp tells an amazing story that keeps readers turning pages. Paired with the beautiful art by Manuel Preitano, The Oracle Code is fast-paced and wonderful. I'm a big fan of the idea that to be it, we need to see it. The Oracle Code is highly inclusive for people with mobility challenges and it is wonderful to see a graphic novel that is so careful to show that wheelchairs are not the end, but a different way of life.

Barbara Gordon is a teen hacker who is harmed when she gets in the way of a police chase. Her father, Commissioner Gordon, sends her to the Arkham Center for Independence for rehabilitation. Babs has trouble getting used to the center, but starts to make a few friends as she also suspects something weird is going on when a new friend disappears and she starts hearing strange noises at night. With her love for puzzles, she vows to find out what happened to her friend. The art is colorful and expressive, with lots of bright and dark colors, plus a motif of puzzle pieces when changing scenes. Babs is a dynamic character, and I hope there will be more books following this storyline.

**Publication date: March 3, 2020
**Read via NetGalley

This was not the Oracle/Barbara Gordon I’m used to. In this universe, Babs is in a wheelchair as a young teen after she is shot in a robbery, rather than as an adult post-Batgirl, post-Killing Joke. At first that ret-conning bugged me a bit, but after finishing the book it grew on me. Sure, this young Babs isn’t quite Batgirl or Oracle, but a lot of the major pieces are still there, and her actions are completely in character.
Most importantly, this book rings true to the underlying spirit of Oracle—a super hero in a wheelchair who isn’t solely defined by her injury. Initially Babs struggles to accept her new reality, but over the course of a mystery at her rehabilitation center, she is able to reorient herself. I especially appreciated that this graphic novel was written by a disabled author, and the tone of the book manages to be uplifting without drifting into the saccharine. I would heartily recommend this book to any teen, especially teen girls that are figuring out who they are after a major change.

Barbara Gordon is the daughter of Commissioner Gordon. After suffering in a terrible accident, Barbara goes to Arkham hospital for rehabilitation purposes. Barbara finds herself in the middle of a mystery - children are disappearing from the hospital. Barbara uses her hacking skills and her new friends to find out what is really going on.

The mystery in this graphic novel was very compelling, and Barbara was a well-developed character that helped propel the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

The Oracle Code is a compulsively readable coming of age story focused on Barbara Gordon. This satisfying mystery focuses on Barbara's life in Arkham Center as she rehabilitates from a gunshot wound and learns how to embrace her new life in a wheelchair.

The most powerful part of the storytelling, for me, is the symbiosis between the story and the art. The motif of puzzle pieces recur throughout the narrative, linking various parts of the story and visually showing the reader how "Babs" is connecting the dots of the mystery. The art style is clear, and uses color and style to convey mood and character's emotion.

Two panels that are especially powerful convey Babs' panic and her friends' support (in the ARC, it's marked as page 150). This half-page is a beautiful representation of how panic feels as well as how friends can support loved ones needing emotional support.

I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Not the Oracle story that I grew up reading, but still an interesting new take on her background. This book was well written and kept me interested the whole way through. The art was great too!

Recommended to all teen and above DC fans.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. I'm a fan of Barbara Gordon in many iterations over many years... but found this story boring. It reminded me, at best, of a Scooby Doo episode.

This is a comic that takes place in the Batman universe, but it's very different from what Batman fans are used to.
The main character is Barbara Gordon, daughter of commissioner Gordon, future librarian, and future Batgirl. In this world, Babs is a teenage hacker until one night, out late with her best friend, she gets in the way of a very bad guy and is shot. The shooting leaves her paralyzed from the waist down. Commissioner Gordon, wanting to help his daughter as much as he can, sends her to the Arkham Center for Independence, a hospital that specializes in rehab for people with disabilities relating to their movement.
There she meets Jenna, a girl who survived a fire which killed both her parents. Jenna sleepwalks, and likes to tell ghost stories, but when Jenna disappears, Barbra realizes there may be a lot of truth to the stories her friend was telling her... and why are the doctors in this place so damn creepy?? Only Babs' hacking skills can figure out the puzzle.

A fun and intriguing mystery that follows a teenage Barbara Gordon through physical and mental rehabilitation at the Arkham Center for Independence. Not only does she have to pick up the pieces of her life, but she also needs to solve the puzzle behind the disappearance of some of the patients there. The plot kept me engaged and I enjoyed Barbara's character growth. I highly recommend this read!

I'm a DC girl through and through so I've been having a lot of fun reading all the new YA and Middle-Grade titles that DC has been putting out. I really loved this adaption with Babs aged down a little and adjusting to her new life in a wheelchair. The mystery element was fun and we got a whole lot of realism in there too. We don't get to see enough characters in fiction who live their lives in wheelchairs and Oracle is a fantastic one to spotlight. I really just loved this. It had all the Oracle vibes that I've loved before for a new and younger audience.