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This was one of the most talked-about relaunches of the New 52. Getting Barbara Gordon out of the wheelchair was a big move on DC's part. It had it's fans, and it had people opposed to it. There was a very poignant post called "Oracle is Stronger than Batgirl Will Ever Be," on Newsarama from Jill Pantozzi, a red-headed woman who is in a wheelchair due to Muscular Dystrophy, and who has a blog called "Has Boobs, Reads Comics."
Gail Simone has always been sensitive to all groups, and understood the weight of the decision that was made to have Babs walking again. She also did an interview with Jill months ago, and answered as many of her questions as honestly as she could.
Jill's post and Gail's interview show the emotionally-charged nature of this change. And it was made clear that "The Killing Joke," the story where Barbara Gordon was paralyzed, still happened.
Which wasn't at all ignored in this issue.
As usual, Gail's knack for characterization shines through. Even before her stint as Oracle, Barbara was among the most cerebral heroes. Here, her internal monologue shows it. She is always analyzing. In some ways, that is like Batman, but in others, it is pretty far removed - she is not only analyzing her surroundings and her opponents, but also herself, and her feelings.
The book starts off with a new villain who kills a man, in a rather unusual way - using a syringe-type device to drown him - and then crosses his name off a list. A list we see the name Barbara Gordon on.
We go right from that into a several-page action sequence. Well written, and beautiful to look at, we see Batgirl in action, and see that she might be a little rusty, but still very capable. There is also a line which nods to the fact that there are now two redheaded Bat-females running around Gotham, as the folks she saves say "Bless you, bless you Batwoman."
Some more quality character stuff, with Barbara telling her father that it is time for her to move out, and meeting her new room mate, who promises to be an interesting supporting character. The art is as great in these scenes as it is in the action scenes. I love the way that Ulises Arreola used such a completely different palette for these scenes as well, really helping delineate the Barbara vs. Batgirl worlds.
However, Barbara's "getting to know the roomie" time is interrupted. She gets a text that was sent to her father, and heads off to stop the Mirror, the new villain of the issue, at a hospital, where he has headed to kill another person. We get a little more insight into the motives of the Mirror here, and it seems that he is killing people who had incidents that should have killed them.
Batgirl heads over on her motorcycle for a confrontation that did not go the way I expected. Once again, Gail manages to wrap character and action together very well, and leaves us with a "Holy crap" moment that also leaves Batgirl very firmly on my pull list.
I also love the fun that Adrian Syaf has with the bat-symbol in this issue. Even the tire tread of Batgirl's motorcycle is done in that motif, as well as the tops of her boots (quite evident when she is kneeing one of the home invaders).
He also did a nice job showing some armoring on Batgirl's costume, which I think is a nice touch.
Oh, and the mysterious character in red who has been showing up everywhere? This book is the hardest to spot the character in yet. So where is Waldo? Second to last page, bottom panel, there is a reflection in the window.
Oh, and one last thing: I don't intend to be a shill for Newsarama, but Jill Pantozzi does share her thoughts on this book in the "Hey, That's My Cape!" entry for week one.
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