One of my favorite little show-up characters in comics is “Misfit”. These “Show-up” characters (my own phrasing) just show up to help a story line along then they are never heard from again. What I loved about Misfit was that she was constantly doubting herself but she wanted to be the best. She was constantly examining her actions and abilities trying to become better and to impress her mentor Barbara Gordon, Oracle.

Hard Claims

“But hard claims deserve hard examination, would you not agree?” - Gail Simone*

Gotham City was without a Batgirl, Barbara Gordon became Oracle, and Cassandra Cain gave up the moniker so Charlotte “Charlie Gage-Radcliffe decided to become Batgirl. Charlotte put together a “misfit” Batgirl outfit and set out to fight crime in Gotham getting the attention of heroes, villains and citizens. Barbara Gordon was not pleased but no one could catch this new Batgirl. Charlotte can teleport making it virtually impossible to catch her. If wounded Charlotte only needs to teleport and she is instantly healed. Barbara did catch Charlotte and agreed to train Charlotte but not as Batgirl (she did not want Charlotte to end up dead or in a wheelchair). Charlotte took the name Misfit like her costume.

When people make claims or statements that we do not agree with we automatically set out to examine the claims. It happens in government or business all the time. This reading is about examining ourselves. Many of the world’s spiritual practices involve self-examination. When we are steadfast in our pursuit of the examined life our days begin to change. We begin to really get to know ourselves. We begin to grow more responsible for our actions and more importantly our spiritual lives. Spiritual thinker Ding Ming-Dao wrote, “To simply be ourselves is the greatest challenge but the simplest spiritual technique.” When practicing self-examination keep this fortune Cookie thought in mind, “To be a man means constant revision like correcting writing.”

Misfit
First Appearance: Birds of Prey #96 (September 2006), DC Comics

Creators: Gail Simone (writer), and James Raiz & Nicola Scott (art)

*Gail Simone, http://www.sequentialtart.com/community/Forum9/HTML/000244.shtml posted 02-04-2008 12:05 PM