The New Writer of BATGIRL is... GAIL SIMONE!

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A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that Gail Simone, writer of Batgirl since its relaunch for the New 52, was removed from the title. No reason was given, and Simone was upset about the decision but continued to praise DC for letting her launch Batgirl her way and promising she'd be doing more work for the company.

Fans, however, were not quite as graceful. The angry backlash was directed at DC Comics on twitter, their own blog, messageboards, and even on some personal facebook pages.

Turns out, Gail Simone's next DC Comics project is... Batgirl!

The writer announced the reversal of her previous bad news in a brief tweet saying, "Here's a thing. Gail Simone is the new Batgirl writer. :)" before adding, "THANK YOU DC for this privilege and THANK YOU everyone who wanted this to happen!" and "Not a Hoax" in later twitter updates.

A publisher firing then rehiring a writer due at least partially to fan backlash is not unprecedented. Marvel Comics famously fired Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo from Fantastic Four in June 2003, only to be hired back on after an explosion of fan support.

No word on when Simone's first issue back on Batgirl will be, as Ray Fawkes is currently solicited as a two-issue "guest writer" for issues #18 and #19.

When reached, DC Comics declined to comment on this story.

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