Though I was still a child in 1988 when The Killing Joke was published, I certainly didn't read it, nor did I know much about Oracle until I was much older. However, she's still one of my favorite heroes. Far more than Marvel's Professor Charles Xavier, Barbara Gordon as Oracle helped me realize that I could be a hero in of myself, as myself, without a lot of fanfare, hoopla or even other special powers. Lacking super powers, Barbara, as Batgirl, saved the day countless times, and as Oracle, saved the day just as many times, proving that heroes can sit down and still save the day. For a person with a physical disability, like myself, that speaks volumes and practically screams how anyone, disabled or not, can be a hero, and looking at the bigger picture, can make a difference in people's lives. I didn't have to have Superman's powers borne of the yellow sun, nor did I need Captain America's super soldier serum. I could be a hero all on my own. In fact, the only character who has shown me this concept other than Oracle was Daniel Sousa from Marvel's Agent Carter, and I've already made an action figure of him.
Barbara uses Hope Summer's head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's body, as ACCustomFigures had done. Her eyeglasses are a piece of paper clip hand twisted and inserted into her head. To fit the head onto the body, I had resculpt her neck knob and bulk it up using Gorilla Glue and Gorilla Tape (oddly not from the same company, btw). Her wheelchair is a WWE figure's chair that was bought as some sort of playset that included crutches and what I can guess is a neck brace.
Yes, she's lacking her computers, but she's still a hero to me.