Batgirl #38

[history79]

Comments

[captainbellman]

Fridged? Secret super villain? Dumps her when he finds out she's Batgirl? I'm taking all bets here, people.

[halloweenjack]

Dare to dream! He's a non-corrupt non-supervillain-in-disguise cop who honestly doesn't like the idea of costumed vigilantism (and not because Killer Croc ate his granny and Batman didn't stop him, or some such thing), and never finds out that Babs is Batgirl because most people aren't superheroes and she's been at this game for a while. And not fridged. It's such a crazy idea, it's gotta be true.

[lieut_kettch]

DC has no idea what to do with nonpowered civilian love interests. Look at what they did to Jason Bard.

[cyberghostface]

So I've heard different reports but is this a reboot of the character? How young is she supposed to be?

[shadowpsykie]

early 20's i believe.

[thereddouglas]

Young enough to go to college while still being a continuation of the previous Gail Simone run.

[baroncognito]

The first panel says that she's 21.

[akodo_rokku]

This isn't a reboot but feels like one, and I think that's really where the disconnect comes from for me. Babs and Dinah don't act like Babs and Dinah.

(ESPECIALLY Dinah, woof.)

[shadowpsykie]

ok so what happend to the place?


also, guy comes off like a jerk. i mean yeah, straight laced cop, but in a world of supervillains... kinda a jerk

[nyadnar17]

Maybe not in a small town. I mean wasn't Burnside handling things well before Batgirl? My understanding is that its not like Gotham or Metropolis where there is blood running through the streets if Batman/Superman take a day off.

I really hope they slowly transform him into her Commissioner Gordan. That would be much more interesting than a fridging or breakup.

[informationgeek]

If you are referring to the coffee shop, well...

Batgirl decided to get a bit more proactive and went after someone, who is a douche and a terrible person admittedly, but went a bit overboard. She got into a high speed chase, nearly hitting a few people, caused the person she was chasing to crash into the shop and pretty much wreck the place. Not one was hurt, but like the guy said, the place is screwed over royally.

[reveen]

I'd have to hear his opinion on other superheroes like Supes or whatever before passing judgement. Because let's face it, there's a lot for a cop or anyone else who knows anything about the law to criticize about an avenger of the night swooping around beating up criminals.

[thereddouglas]

Yup. Superheroes are primarily a fantasy because real life vigilantes tend to be more like the Punisher given the mentality involved in taking the law into your own hands.

Even in the DCU the very concept should at least make more than a few cops skeptical. And it's refreshing to see it voiced by someone who isn't an obvious curmudgeon.

[starwolf_oakley]

I like the idea that there are certain GCPD members who dislike that the Commissioner's top civilian consultant is the scary man in the bat costume.

[thereddouglas]

This title has promise though I admit that the sheer amount of words can crammed in the panels can be off-putting. Which is probably a weird complaint to make since the dialogue flows naturalistically, but it just seems too much for the panel most of the times.

Mind you I'm noticing that part of the problem is that Babs Tarr is great with action and facial expressions, though there's a number of really static shots where we see the characters' bodies and full backgrounds, but not their faces. And those are also the panels where the most dialogue is dumped. I'm not sure if it's down to the artist or the writers having trouble figuring out how to effectively use skills. Nonetheless some of the larger panels probably would have worked as smaller shots that focused on the characters more.

[jlbarnett]

how physically attracted to this guy must she be to keep listening to all those personal insults

[ablackraptor]

That's what I'm thinking. This isn't like he's just criticizing vigilante's in general, he's singling out her particular alter-ego; honestly, regardless of how much 'passion' he has for justice, I don't understand how she can be all smiley after his ranting.

[akodo_rokku]

Am I the only one not really feeling this run?

[jaxjyls]

nope

What is this Earth Prime? Earth 1? 3?

[7dialsmystery]

Naw, I don't care either about anything that's going on in any of DC's realities.

[mrstatham]

It's not the best thing ever that some claim it is, but I'm enjoying it a hell of a lot more than the miseryfest we got before. Of course, that isn't saying much.

[bradygirl_12]

Yikes, Babs, don't make any decisions or get depressed about your superhero career because of what you read on social media! Message boards, Twitter, Facebook, etc., are prime trolling spots and pretty reactive. Ever read message boards and Twitter during a game? The losing team's fans invariably are yelling fire the coach, the GM, bench the players, etc.! :)

Like most of the Internet, it's all ephemeral and won't be long-lasting. It's all in the moment. Tomorrow they'll be praising you for something.

[informationgeek]

Well, I think her being upset and depressed is a combination of things. Besides the aftermath of everything (she probably realized her actions were far more over the top and she did inadvertently destroyed a shop when a car she disabled crashed into it), she has been actually feeling a lot better as of recently. Earlier in the issue, she was talking about how she felt better now more than she ever had in weeks (and if you read Simone's run, it was a pretty miserable existence for her) and was starting to gaining the respect and love of the people... so seeing everything crumbling down is going to lead to her being rather down in the dumps.

[michaelhealy]

Is this leading to a #BatgirlGate?

[sagrada]

Don't even joke, comrade. Do not even joke about that.

[deepspaceartist]

Man, the cop guy does have one really good point. For all people complain about the cardborad prisons that are Arkham and Blackgate, how many villains and/or criminals get to go free because the presence of costumed vigilantes ruins the evidence needed to get a conviction? Any evidence handled by Batgirl (or Batman, Robin or any other hero) would most likely be inabmissible in court, right? How often does Black Mask, Penguin or any villain rich enough to have competent lawyers get off scott free on the grounds that "all evidence against my client was handled by an anonymous wierdo in a cape who could have tampered with it." ?

[philippos42]

Yeah, if I were a cop in Gotham, I don't think I'd be working with Batman. I'd probably suspect him of being in a conspiracy with the other freaks if anything.

[philippos42]

I am waving my arms and screaming! Someone acknowledged vigilante dysfunction in a Batbook!

I figure this is a case of StrawmanHasAPoint. One of things Officer Powell talks about is one of my big gripes with how Batman has often been played (especially since COIE). You have a "mysterious loner vigilante" who can't work with the police or testify in court, often getting in the way of successful prosecutions.

[jlbarnett]

hasn't once of the biggest problems with vigilantism been vigilante's tendency to claim the punishment part of the process too.

Superheroes don't do that. And Batman rarely gathers evidence to convict someone, he gather evidence so he can be on the scene when they start there plan. And then he's pretty much the same as any citizen acting when confronted by danger