'50s but she had nothing to do with a bat. She was like a pesky girl version of Robin. I knew we could do a lot better, so Julie and I came up with the real Batgirl, who was so popular she almost got her TV show." Yvonne Craig portrayed the character in the show's third season. Barbara Gordon and her alter ego Batgirl debuted in Detective Comics #359 (Jan. 1967), "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl", as the daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon. In the debut story, while driving to a costume ball dressed as a female version of Batman, sporting a black bodysuit with yellow gloves, boots, utility belt, and a bat symbol along with a blue cape and cowl (similar to Batman's), Barbara Gordon intervenes in a kidnapping attempt on Bruce Wayne by the supervillain Killer Moth, attracting Batman's attention and leading to a crime-fighting career. Although Batman insists she give up crime-fighting because of her gender, Batgirl disregards his objections. In her civilian identity, Barbara Gordon, Ph.D., is depicted as a career woman with a doctorate in library science, as well as being head of the Gotham City Public Library, "presumably one of the largest public libraries in the DC Comics version of reality." She was given a regular backup slot in Detective Comics starting with issue #384 (February 1969), alternating issues with Robin until issue #404, after which she had the backup slot to herself. Frank Robbins wrote nearly all of these backups, which were penciled first by Gil Kane and later by Don Heck. Barbara Gordon's Batgirl exceeded the earlier Bat-Girl and Batwoman characters in popularity, and readers requested for her to appear in other titles. Although some readers requested that Batwoman also continue to appear in the publication, DC responded to the fan-based acclaim and criticism of the new character in an open letter in Detective Comics #417 (1971), stating: "I'd like to say a few words about the reaction some readers have to Batgirl. These are readers who remember Batwoman and the other Bat-girls from years back ...They were there because romance seemed to be needed in Batman's life. But thanks to the big change and a foresighted editor, these hapless females are gone for good. In their place stands a girl who is a capable crime-fighter, a far cry from Batwoman who constantly had to be rescued [by]