Batgirl #19 review

Batgirl's entry for DC's month of surprising gatefold covers suggests she may have to murder pesky brother James Gordon Jr. He's the guy who's been sniffing around Gotham hatching lunatic plans to terrorise his father, mother and sister. Without revealing who he was, he even took Barbara's roommate Alysia out on a date, and gifted her a cat named after Babs' childhood pet, as a creepy message.

There's a bigger reveal than Barbara considering a murder, though. It's already been well-spoiled by DC Comics itself, so I've no qualms about revealing it here. After Barbara opens up about her past with the Joker, her time in a wheelchair, Alysia shares a secret of her own - she's transgender.

I never saw that coming, but there's no reason I should. In real life you may encounter a person and wonder if that deep voice on a woman, or the 'feminine' gait of a man, means they've been reorientated; almost certainly they haven't, everyone's different is all. And Gail Simone isn't the kind of writer to put crass clues or tells in her script - Alysia is just a decent woman and that's the end of it. There's no sensationalism in the reveal, it's all very matter of fact in terms of Simone's script and Daniel Sampere's pencil art, and that's all to the good. Some people happen to be transgender, and now Barbara knows that one of her few friends happens to be such a person. There's no reason a TG reader shouldn't have their existence reflected in a comic, and if a confused kid happens to read Batgirl and see that there is life after gender reassignment, and feel a little bit better, hurrah.

But you can  bet your life Simone isn't going to get preachy about it. Life goes on.

In this instance, life going on means Alysia stays home while Barbara - who tells her roomie to call her Babs, as that's how she likes those she loves to address her - goes looking for James Jr. She's had enough of his nonsense, and even though due to the Joker's recent attacks she's not at her best physically, and is short on weapons, she's going to take him down.

And, following an encounter at the old Gotham Aquarium, James does drop out of the picture, leaving Barbara in big trouble, both legally and personally.

This is an excellent comic. Simone wraps up the James Jr storyline in ways that are true to all the characters without ever being predictable. The fascinating relationships between the four members of the Gordon family become richer, promising a slew of interesting storylines. The instalment is narrated, as always when Simone is writing, by Barbara, enhancing what we can see on the page while taking us deeper into Batgirl's character. There's a very interesting moment when Barbara justifies to herself not going all the way with her Alysia sharing session, keeping her identity as Batgirl a secret: 'If she doesn't know that part, I can still protect her. I can.' Keep telling yourself that, girl - and remember the moment next time you chastise Batman for keeping information about the Joker from you ...

Sampere, with inkers Jonathan Glapion and Marc Deering, serves up page after gorgeous page. Not pretty pretty, but gorgeous in their dramatic sweep, with the personal moments as grippingly portrayed as the big action sequences. There's especially fine body language in the conversation between Barbara and Alysia, right down to that cute cat. And James Jr is chilling without being portrayed as a leering madman. There's a great panel of him as perceived by a concussed Batgirl, but my favourite moment shows that our ginger librarian can look every bit as imposing as the big, bad Batman (above). Colourist Blond deserves a share of the credit in both cases, for some terrific dark and stormy night work. And letterer Dave Sharpe does his usual fine job of laying out the script. Then there's that foldout cover by Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira and Marcelo Maiolo, which has a splendid sense of motion and depth.

There has to be something I don't like about this issue, surely? Yup, Barbara's boots. They're knee high with a bat-head at the top, complete with pointy ears and wing tips. Maybe they're a secret weapon - Batgirl has a history of adaptable costumes - but she really is going to do herself an injury before taking anyone else down.

Picky, I know. Just buy this comic.



Link borrowed from Fanboy Watchtower, cheers folks!