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It was meant as a homage to 1988’s seminal Batman standalone story The Killing Joke, written by Alan Moore, in which the Joker attacked – and probably sexually assaulted or raped – Batgirl aka Barbara Gordon, daughter of Commissioner Gordon, leaving her in a wheelchair."
Teresa Justino, writing on the female-centric comics website The Mary Sue, said: “It’s disturbing. And while it’s certainly drawn well, and it references a classic story from The Joker’s history, the fact is, it’s not what many of Batgirl readers of any gender want to see for one of DC’s few female heroes currently with her own title.”
However, a counter-movement sprang up, with others calling on DC to #SaveTheCover – among them American actor Adam Baldwin – and saying that pulling the cover would amount to censorship.
