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. :(

[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]

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"

[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.

[sadoeuphemist]

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

[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.

[lascoden]

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

[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.

[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.

[skemono]

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

[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.

[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.

[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?

[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.