Garth

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the LJ...

• Modified street clothes seems to be a common theme. pyawakit's FLCL-influenced version wears a Bat-vest, jeans, and Connies
• e22 incorporates Batgirl's hair into her costume in his design. I love the coloring here, and as a bonus he shows the pencil, ink, and finished color stages separately
• Another nice anime-influenced version, this one from spacecaptsteve and featuring SUPER BOOTS! I like how the design includes a pair of larger pouches or holsters, strapped to the legs at the bottom so they don't flop around. The gloves are also cool
  
• bangalores draws a vaguely World War One-ish Batgirl
• questionstar kicks it up a notch with an awesomely detailed action shot. There's a lot of stuff going on with her costume, including a cape that's more like a couple of scarves, a bat-helmet with yellow visor, and a huge bat-shaped crescent blade thing (anyone know what that sort of weapon is called?). Impractical, but very fun
• kurozukin_a doodles up a Bat-Mary-Poppins!
• slimu does a pair of oekaki sketches, one of lingerie Batgirl (!) and one of mahou shoujo Batgirl.
• sukeban drops the cowl in favor of just a pair of pointy ears and a domino mask. The yellow wrist and elbow guards and shoulder pads are cool details
• erik3k's midriff-baring Batgirl pic kinda makes me think of a Dreamcast game box.
• bobvonunheil draws for a very geometric-cartoony pic that's more about the scene than Batgirl herself
• Over on DeviantArt, Hector Sevilla (artist of Lullaby) imagines Batgirl as a Sakura-like Batman admirer. The batwing shape of her skirt is a nice touch, although the hips are kinda weird
• Superhero comics pro Mike Wieringo (The Flash, Rogue, Tellos, Adventures of Superman) blogs about the phenomenon and provides his own Nightwing-inspired design
• d0wn_on_paper provides one of the few Cassandra Cain redesigns (the other Casses I've seen are just pics of the existing design; most redesigns are either of Barbara Gordon or original characters), going one better than spandex and just painting the costume on (mildly NSFW)
• heartshapedkey gives us a stylin' indie-rock Batgirl weilding a tonfa
  
• stellaroux was unfamiliar with the character, so she went with what she knows and gives us faerie Bat-girl
• eikiji gives Babs a black-and-yellow costume and a sultry look
• onion_sama's submission almost looks like a woodblock print
• robotarm has a cool, semi-cartoony style

Additionally, the Batgirl meme has caught the attention of a Swiss newspaper (congrats Abby L!), and somebody has made custom Lego figures of several designs!

Even Bunny gets in on the action!

So on Friday the 13th, LiveJournal suddenly exploded with pictures of Batgirls. It all started when an artist posted pics of an alternate Batgirl from an unsuccessful pitch to DC Comics for a Batgirl Elseworlds (for those not into DC, Elseworlds is their term for self-contained stories not set in the official continuity, e.g. "Superman: Red Son", in which the infant Kal-El landed in the USSR). Some of his artist lj-friends posted their own versions of Batgirl, and from there it caught on like wildfire throughout the artistically-inclined parts of LiveJournal. As of last count there are more than 300 pieces, and that's just the ones that have come to the attention of himynameisjamie, who is maintaining the master list. There are quite a few Barbara Gordons, and very few Cassandra Cains, but most are completely original in the spirit of the pic that started it all.

Now, I'm no artist, but I know what I like. So I'm going to list the ones I've seen that I thought were particularly good, in no particular order.

• azn_incognito gives us a gorgeous painted headshot of a short-haired redhead with a small cowl
  
• Josh "Avalon" Phillips goes all Megatokyo and draws Sad Batgirl in Snow
• Maritza Campos's Batgirl makes me think of April for some reason
  
• ashuriaeryn gets a great sense of motion with big, bold lines
  
• Lea Hernandez (of the Texas Steampunk cycle, Rumble Girls, and Near-Life Experience) contributes a new costume design (sans cape) for Babs
  
• Chuck Whelan of Pewfell Porfingles inaugurates his new LJ with an angry redhead leaping into action
• nekofairy666 has fun with screentone in this sketch
• robotazalea sketches Sailor Batgirl
• Kris Straub (of Checkerboard Nightmare and Starslip Crisis) gets all literal-minded on us
• Josh "Girly" Lesnick eschews the expected cheesecake and gives us crazy blue-haired Batgirl. Then gives us a disturbing image of her bedroom
• Meridith "Kiwi" Gran (Skirting Danger) draws '50s secretary Batgirl
• Leann Buckley does a fantastic, sassy interpretation of Bryan Lee O'Malley (of Scott Pilgrim)'s hipster Batgirl design (btw, check out her gallery—it's awesome!)
• starline, who most likely needs no introduction to readers of my LJ, contributes a '60s-ish miniskirted Batgirl. Love the loose belt!
• Abby L (of The Green Avenger)'s trad-minimalist take has the sexiest green eyes ever
• Natasha Allegri (of Normal Life) pulls out her cartoony style for an irate short-haired redhead on rollerskates
• wootsauce's version actually kinda looks like Lea Hernandez' self-portrait from Near-Life Experience
• conga_chili's Batgirl wears modified street clothes, and learns the hard way why swinging from grapple lines indoors is a bad idea
• fuelinjected draws some great action poses
• sprezzaturan draws a cute short-haired Batgirl in a nifty costume watching a miniature Batman and Robin
• steverolston contributes a raver Batgirl in a Bat-halter-top with a Bat-tat. Nice two-tone coloring job
• loverspit's Batgirl has geekgirl charm
• Brian Carroll of Instant Classic gives us a pic of Batgirl sleeping. Shh!
• say_no_to_jon draws a Batgirl with some meat on her thighs, and a costume that incorporates a utility garter belt (!)
• rebel_abrahams contributes what must be the most original Batgirl design ever. I get a bit of a euro-comics vibe from this one
• Jen Wang (of the Pants Press collective, and who has appeared in Flight and You Ain't No Dancer) contributes a simple yet sumptuous art nouveau watercolor interpretation
• Vera Brosgol (another Pants Presser)'s sketch is the bat's pyjamas
• shutterbox puts up two entries for the price of one: a cartoony kid Batgirl (with snaggetooth fang!) and a shojo-manga Batgirl
• Brian F of Bottomless Pop provides a design based around a simple grey dress with a cape, big ol' leg warmers, a double utility belt, and a really nifty mask
• Sean Esty of Skullcano Island contributes a fun design based on a light grey color scheme. The grey thigh-highs with bows under black boots are a neat idea, and the collar of the cape has a very jaunty look
• Oni/Udon artist Corey S. Lewis draws an indie-comix Batgirl. Great expression on this one.
• Dan Hernandez of pennydreadfull.net does a cute cartoony version that kinda makes me think of Nancy Drew
• artgolem draws an urban Batgirl Aikidoing the hell out of some punk
• invisiblechord takes the name "Batgirl" and draws cute yet disturbing conclusions
• the_big_mo gives us three, count 'em, three, drawings, including a goofy dream sequence guest-starring Man-Bat, Batgirl Royale, and a finny redesign
• the adorableness of joeyweiser's tea party knows no bounds
• RPG World's Ian J does the basic Barbara Gordon design with his own inimitable flair. Ian likes curves
• feltup skips the conventional drawn/painted medium entirely and gets crafty with a felt Batgirl
• Indie master Dean Trippe contributes a practical yet stylish costume design
• johnnythunderz remembers the Bat-bike and incorporates it into his redesign as a Vespa!
• Indie legend Dean Haspiel (Fallout, Harvey Pekar's The Quitter, Billy Dogma, and many others) goes for a classic '60s design. I love his coloring
• Mike Segawa's contribution is sleek and modern
• cwright's contribution is anything but sleek and modern. Victorian Batgirl!
  
• goraina draws a chipper-looking junior high Batgirl
• thespus finds inspiration for his redesign in Princess Mononoke
  
• Andy "Owly" Runton does what he does best: cute airborne animals
• Andre Richard (Girlamatic's Jeepers) just can't stop drawing Batgirls! (one more!)
• Neither can indigoskynet, but my favorite of hers is her interpretation of Carrie Kelly (the female Robin from Dark Knight Returns) all grown up
• L. R. Jonte (Girlamatic's Arcana Jayne) notes that Batgirl doesn't actually have any bat-related superpowers
• miss_muffinfuck gives us Portland, Oregon Batgirl
• mercuryshade submits Batamari Damacy
• windwoodrose draws one of the few examples of Cassandra Cain
• kosher_jenny draws her interpretation of a young Barbara Gordon discovering the joys of pulled muscles. Adorable expression on this one
• Charlotte of Incubus calls this a sketch. Say what? Nice lighting and an intricate mask on this platinum blonde Batgirl
• haikuninja designs a costume that looks like a one-piece swimsuit, with yellow utility belt, finny gloves, boots, and a little cape

The full list is here.

EDIT: added mercuryshade
EDIT: added windwoodrose, kosher_jenny, marukka, and haikuninja. Bumping.