Batgirl #7

[superfangirl1]

Barbara Gordon Sr finally visits Commissioner Gordon, having not spoken to him since she walked out a decade previously. We see a surprisingly vulnerable Jim Gordon, and learn something of why, in his wife's eyes she had to leave.






Later Batgirl fights a new villain named Grotesque again and does better the second encounter.

Comments

[aeka]

Does anyone know if Dinah's mum was still Black Canary I in this new DCU? That's been bothering me for months. :(

[big_daddy_d]

What bothers me is if her relationship with Roy is in this continuity. I enjoyed their closeness and her bringing up her mom there reminded me of when he was there for her as well as her being there for him at his lowest.

[icon_uk]

If these ARE the first generation of costumed heroes, and it's five years old, not sure that she can have been.

[violetclm.livejournal.com]

That is the least natural-looking red hair I have ever seen.

[darkknightjrk]

Pretty solid issue, especially with the Babs/Dinah stuff. It also seems to imply that the two had a really tight relationship back when she was in the wheelchair, so...take from that what you will.

[shadowpsykie]

It also seems to imply that the two had a really tight relationship back when she was in the wheelchair

hmmm

[shadowpsykie]

hmmm what started innocently... if you know what i mean? :D

im not the only one who... read into that am I?

you know...this is one of the few times i have seen the scenes from the killing joke replayed and it being actually poignant and not... exploitative... if that makes any sense.... especiallly that final panel...

also i like the slap panel (the actual panel lines) nice "distortion"

[darkknightjrk]

"hmmm what started innocently... if you know what i mean? :D"

The fact that her face in that panel looks like she's at the peak of climax probably helps that subtext.

[kamino_neko]

No. No. You are not nearly the only one.

I refuse to believe that Gail didn't write it that way deliberately... It's just...too blatant not to be deliberate.

[thespis]

Oh for crying out loud.

I wish this comic would shut the hell up about The Killing Joke already.

And then I wish the real Barbara Gordon would show up and give this whinging little impostor a good talking to.

[feyandstrange]

Motto, motto and motto.

[sadoeuphemist]

Hahahaha oh my god just when you thought the constant Killing Joke references couldn't get any more ham-handed.

[ilmari]

Dear God!

It's some random guy in the background who had the audacity to um, stand behind the Joker, I guess. He doesn't even really look like he belongs there, it's like he's some tourist who just wandered in and is about to ask the Joker for direction to the nearest bar.

But seriously, I haven't read the issue - is there some significance to that specific henchman, or is it really just some Killing Joke reference for the sake of having a tie-in?

[atom_punk]

Yes, because random blond beachgoer dude with shades is much more significant and traumatizing than the SKINBLEACHED-GREENHAIRED-BLOOD-RED-LIPPED-ETERNALLY-GRINNING-MANIACAL-PSYCHOPATHIC-MASS-MURDERING-CLOWN!!!!!!

Yes, because this character with no significance other than an incredibly distant tangential relationship as one of the Joker's trillions of nameless goons, will now prove to be "THE BIGGEST THREAT TO BATGIRL'S LIFE EVER"

Why? Because he was THERE!!!!

>:(

[auggie18]

Getting a little sick of the 'the REAL Batgirl' thing.

[icon_uk]

Likewise

[lascoden]

Frankly, I think it's a miracle that this guy is alive, considering the life expectancy of the Joker's henchman.

[kenwyn89]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFihTRIxCkg - clearly Joker henchman must have a similar orientation when dealing with laughing gas.

[thosefew]

Lets see who else they can dredge up...

*grabs copy of Killing Joke*

There's whoever impersonated Joker in the opening scenes,
the other henchman at the Gordon abduction,
the doctor who treated Barbara,
Colleen Reece, the woman who found Barbara,
the 3 guards at Ace Chemical Processing,
and possibly some of the freaks at the carnival haven't been used yet.

After that we're (hopefully) done.

[sadoeuphemist]

I hope those S&M cherub babies show up, that would be cool.

[sigmund_droid]

Hehe watch Babs kill this guy and still have the Joker run around.

Wait...that's not funny...

[mrstatham]

Blegh. Barbara REALLY isn't endearing when she calls the other person a smartass after receiving a lecture she utterly deserves.

This book still wasn't worth getting rid of Steph's, frankly, despite how much Simone justifies it in saying Steph's book was going to get cancelled anyway. The writing is bland, the art ranges between competent and awful - why does it look like Barbara's pleasuring herself whilst flying through the air on that first page?

And now Simone's resorting to one of the most boring concepts of all - some background guy from one story is now a supervillain? It's like Morrison suddenly deciding that one of the dudes running away on the cover of Action Comics #1 will now be the biggest threat to Superman's life.

[sadoeuphemist]

"Dr. Hurt"

[skemono]

So Gordon needed his wife to remind him what his son's name is/was? ...yeah, I'd probably leave him, too.

[espanolbot]

"You named your son after yourself! That was just self indulgent that I had to leave!"
"What would you have called him then?"
"Barbara 3."

[e_307]

What...what is supposed to be going on with her face while she's swinging in that first scan?

And that slap looked less like a slap and more like Dinah just showed Babs that she could dislocate all her fingers at once without her other hand.

[lascoden]

Sleep-swinging?

[espanolbot]

I have to say, when the supposed "real" Batgirl is whining more than, say, the previous two candidates in the job, both of whom underwent both large amounts of physical trauma AND have parental issues too, it doesn't make me want to root for her to be completely honest.

Look, there's being affected enough by events enough to be traumatised, and there's constantly referencing something because the character considers herself to be defined by it now.

YES, she underwent something horrible. YES, I understand that she'd handle trauma differently to Cass and Steph. But there's brooding about a past event, and then there's whinging.

[jaybee3]

I just don't understand why GS needs to keep going down the Killing Joke well again and again. Who exactly was asking for that? Especially in a new DC where most of the old stories and relationships have been retconned out - and yet this one (which eve its author didn't want in continuity) remains? And what was the point of bringing her back as Batgirl with the whole insulting "one true Batgirl" line when you could have told the same exact story as Oracle?

I wouldn't have minded if they had brought Batgirl as her Year One type persona - fun and enjoyable but this? This is boring - its a boring book (and I never thought I'd say that about a Gail book - I even liked Firestorm!).

Cassandra was given massive character development in her title and went through a lot of actual thought provoking plots (given her own background) and a lot of her book had to deal with her getting BEYOND her upbringing and past history. Stephanie got beyond it (being the Cluemaster's Daughter) even without the angst - thats why she decided to become a hero and her book had a ton of levity to anchor away from the grimdark of Gotham. But this Batgirl? I still don't get it, it doesn't seem like the book has a core outside of DC's "the one true Batgirl is back (the others were pretenders) so buy this book!"

[eyz]

Besides the fact this title's seriously lacking some "fun", it isn't that bad.

Also, how old was Barbara during the DCnU "Batman year one", supposing its mostly played out alike?
This New 52 is making me so confused... (that's why I liked the "Batman's been around for 10 years" at the point most post-Crisis stories took place)

[jetwolf]

I have to admit that I'm a little surprised at some of the response I'm seeing here. The impression I get is that Gail Simone is trying hard to do justice to Barbara's past. Obviously the editorial edict was that in the New 52 Barbara would no longer be in wheelchair. So rather than wave a hand and pretend it never happened, Simone's attempting to give weight to the shooting and the recovery, and show that while Barbara may be physically healed, it's not that simple. It feels much more significant to me to show that this is a slow, painful and lengthy processes rather than get rushed out and done and swept under the rug in an issue.

And what would the reaction be if it were?

There is absolutely a hell of a lot more to Barbara than "The Killing Joke", but I also feel that from issue to issue, Simone's proving that too. Still, this is a spectre that's going to hover around her head until she takes the time to heal herself - something that, oddly enough, I got the impression was about to come to a head beginning with this storyline.

I confess I have nowhere near the attachment to DC characters that a lot of folks do and maybe that distance is distorting my perspective. If what Simone is doing isn't the way to handle "The Killing Joke" situation, what would be better?

Apologies in advance for the ramble!

[thespis]

See, I don't necessarily blame Gail because I think she's doing her best in what is clearly a shitty situation.

The idea of Barbara returning to the role of Batgirl is one that, to me, goes fundamentally against her characterisation and all the development she underwent as Oracle. The shooting did leave her physically and emotionally shattered, but she pushed on through the anger and the fear and depression, and eventually she realised that the bat didn't define her. That, in truth, it had never defined her. And while she would never regain the use of her legs, what she hadn't lost was the intelligence, technology savvy, strategic thinking and sheer courage and determination that had allowed her to succeed as Batgirl in the first place. And that she could overcome the obstacles life had set in her path and continue to fight for justice in her own way, if she had the courage to leave the bat behind her and reinvent herself.

And she became Oracle, building up vast networks of information and contacts and spheres of influence. And she built up a team of her own, and she became a leader in her own right and a mentor to other would-be superheroines.

Given this, the idea that Babs would ever regress to that previous identity is utterly ridiculous.

For Cass and Steph, becoming Batgirl allowed them to grow as characters, to move beyond their pasts and become stronger for it. For Babs, going from Oracle to Batgirl is necessarily a backwards step.

To reconcile this problem, they seem to have downplayed Barbara's role as Oracle, reducing it almost to a temporary tech support role. There's very little evidence of Oracle's extensive information networks in play: instead, Babs is reduced to piggybacking on her dad's phone and sneaking into his office to get information. To me, the comics read not as a story of Oracle regaining full mobility and returning to a role in the field, but as one of Batgirl gradually recovering from a serious injury and trauma to reclaim her former role.

Seen in that light the new Batgirl comes off a lot better, although the execution still lacks subtlety. Take the first issue, for instance, in which Babs freezes up in the face of a gun and is subsequently accused of murder for not stopping the gunman. Now, okay, if we ignore Oracle and focus on this as a story of Batgirl still struggling to come to terms with the psychological trauma of the shooting - I can buy that happening. But the writing and the execution were still ham-fisted: "You let him kill that man! You just watched him die! Murderer!!" "What have I done?!" Give me a break.

Likewise with this latest development. Babs struggling to readjust is one thing. Throwing absurdly contrived melodrama in her face like "Dear god! It's that nameless thug who just happened to be standing behind the Joker when I was shot!" is... it just doesn't ring true. A lot of the story developments thus far have had a very contrived feeling, which is in large part why I can't take this comic seriously.

And, like others, I could do without all the bullshit references to the "real Batgirl" and how Babs was always "meant to be Batgirl". It's such a kick in the face both to fans of Oracle and to fans of Steph and Cass.

[maxisanacorn]

Gail remembering how to write by having Black Canary call Barbara out on her whining is throwing a bone to fans, and to show that once she was in the wheelchair, she had that strong personality that we loved when she was Oracle. That Barbara, though younger, existed.

It wasn't until she gained back her mobility that she started acting like this, which explains her sudden new "reboot" personality.

This is essentially a soft retcon already, or at least Gail trying to cover her tracks to how she's written Babs the past 7 (SEVEN) months.

I really wish Gail would let go of the Killing Joke, it's centralizing Barbara as a victim.

[maxisanacorn]

Also the REAL Batgirl quip here isn't a kick to the other Batgirls, it's more comparing to how Babs is acting now as opposed to when she was first Batgirl. It's a motivator to Babs. She's Batgirl but she's not acting like it. It's like saying "You're not Barbara, the REAL Barbara wouldn't act like this".

It would have been a low blow but that quip COULD if phrased differently would have been a great place to slip in a mention to any other Batgirl.

That way it's showing Babs is acting inferior to her supposed "temps" or if the REAL Batgirl can't nut up, they can find better people to help them.

[randyripoff]

This series has been okay so far, but...

I can't believe a crusty old curmudgeon like me is saying this, but I'm not digging Barbara as Batgirl. I'm happy that she's no longer crippled, but she still just isn't working for me right now.