DCU Comic Book Reviews

BATGIRL #3

Batgirl Rising: Point Of New Origin,  Part Three

December 2009

Written by Bryan Q. Miller

Pencils by Lee Garbett

Inks by Trevor Scott and Sandra Hope

Cover by Phil Noto

Synopsis

In Devil’s Square of Gotham City, Batgirl (aka Stephanie Brown) searches for Scarecrow, who has created a new drug called Thrill.  Helping Batgirl is Barbara Gordon (aka Oracle) who provides an inoculation against the drug.  Batgirl finds Scarecrow in an old hospital.  She is able to fight through the hallucinations, in which she sees Tim Drake (aka Robin) and herself as the Spoiler, and defeat the Scarecrow in time for the police to arrive and arrest him.  Later, Oracle approaches Wendy Harris and offers her help to cope with being wheelchair bound.  In the batcave, Barbara pledges her support to help Stephanie as she protects the city as Batgirl.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This is a definite improvement over the first two issues and I think a lot of this is directly related to the characterization of Barbara Gordon.  For the first time in this series, Barbara is not bitter or angry, either towards Stephanie or towards herself for being wheelchair bound.  It was a characterization that did not suit her, the one who continues to workout her muscles and her brain to continue the good fight.  And because of that, it dragged the book down.  In this issue, she is acting more like Oracle from Birds of Prey in the sense that she is helping her operatives achieve her goal.  Barbara acts like a mentor, much like she had done with Misfit and, of course, with the Birds.  And because Oracle is acting more like herself, it helps the story.  It gives it a little more direction, putting the emphasis more on Stephanie and her search to determine who she is and want she wants to be.  Granted, a lot of she fights through while under the influence is predictable material, but it does provide the necessary background for her affirmation that she won’t run away and will continue to fight.  Add Oracle’s decision to help her and the ending affirms the need for this book.  DC has found a good hook, with a new Batgirl mentored by the old Batgirl, and for the first time Miller makes it live within the book’s pages.  As long as he can continue the dynamic between the women, and keep Oracle’s characterization consistent, then this book has a chance. 

In Batman #692 (which came out on the same day), Dick Grayson decided to pack away the Batcave, removing every item so that it would be a simple cave underneath Wayne Manor.  I hope that the editors at DC are aware of this and will adjust Oracle’s base of operations from the batcave she has used in the past couple issues of this title.  Personally, I miss the tower she used during the Birds of Prey run from a few years ago.  Hopefully, Miller has some ideas on a new Oracle cave.

 

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