the profession, in that it is represented as a valuable and honorable career. Even in light of the fact that the character abandons it to run for United States Congress, Barbara Gordon is seen as being given a "career switch that even most librarians would consider a step up." In the essay "Librarians, Professionalism and Image: Stereotype and Reality" (2007), Abigail Luthmann views the character less favorably, stating that "[t]he unassuming role of librarian is used as a low-visibility disguise for her crime-fighting alter-ego, and while her information-locating skills may have been useful to her extra-curricular activities no direct examples are given." Representation for Asian Americans The Cassandra Cain version of Batgirl, depicted as a biracial character (half White and half Chinese), is notable as one of the most prominent characters of Asian descent to appear in American comic books. Jeffrey A. Brown states that while her ethnicity is rarely mentioned in the comic books, Asian women have had a long history in comics of being portrayed as martial artists and are often exploited as sex objects. However, in the case of Batgirl, "Cassandra's racial identity is treated more implicitly than explicitly. Her costume design actually conceals her entire body so that while in her guise as Batgirl her ethnicity is completely unapparent." The fact that her sexuality is also understated represents a shift away from the typical portrayals of women, and Asian women in particular. The most controversial aspect of her character came about during the One Year Later event, when she is reintroduced as a villain. The abrupt shift in her character brought about negative criticism from readership. When questioned about the change in characterization, writer Adam Beechen stated: "They didn't present me with a rationale as to why Cassandra was going to change, or a motivating factor. That was left for me to come up with and them to approve. And we did that. But as far as to why the editors and writers and whoever else made the decision decided that was a good direction, I honestly couldn't answer." In other media Portrayed by Yvonne Craig, the character's first adaptation outside of comic books took place in the third season of Batman (1967), Barbara Gordon having been discussed months earlier by her father and Batman in the second-season episodes "Batman's Waterloo" and "The Duo Defy". Les Daniels, in Batman: The Complete History (2004), wrote that the