BATGIRL #40 Review: A Tale Of Two Batgirls

Writers: Cameron Stewart & Brenden Fletcher

Artist: Babs Tarr

Colorist: Maris Wicks

When the creative team of Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher, and Babs Tarr was announced for Batgirl, I couldn't help but be a little apprehensive. They were following a pretty successful run by one of the best writers in the business (Gail Simone), and were moving Babs away from Gotham proper into a trendy suburb, so there was plenty of room for a letdown.

Fortunately the letdown never happened, and now here we are at issue #40, the big climax to the first major storyline. For those who haven’t been keeping up with the story so far, I suggest you give those a read, but if not, here is a recap.

Since Babs arrived in Burnside, there has been someone in the shadows trying to muddy up her good name, make her a wanted criminal in her new town, and isolate her from her friends and allies. Up to this point, that plan has achieved a healthy amount of success. The person knows a great deal about her, so much so that a natural assumption would be that the culprit is someone close to her.

All right, last warning: spoilers from here on out.

Look, I even put a big picture here just to give you one last chance. What can I say, I'm a giver.

In last week's Secret Origins, we got a glimpse into how Barbara regained the use of her legs. In un-Sheldon Cooper terms: through the use of multiple brain scans, an algorithm was created that relays a signal from an implant in her spine to her nervous system, allowing those nerves to regain function, which allows her to walk.

I'm pretty sure I just made my old science teacher really proud.

The experiment worked, but in the process it appears as if the algorithm that gave her legs life again has also gained a sort of sentience, and that small flicker of consciousness has now deemed that her life was stolen by the flesh and blood Barbara. Understandably, she wants that back. What sticks out here is how striking a resemblance the artificial intelligence bears to Pre-New 52 Oracle. It starts to go into very meta territory if you let it, especially with its replays of past events that should be very familiar to fans of Batman lore. Fortunately, it wraps up before it gets too convoluted.

Issue 40 kicks off right where Secret Origins stops, with Frankie and Babs confronting the A.I. Things go a bit south afterward, however, and she finds herself about to have her mind erased so the A.I. can “resume” her life where she left off. 

The last half of the book is a blast and gets so many things right tone wise, but it is not the most important part of the issue. Page 4 (I'm reading a digital copy this time, so might be page 5 or 6 in the paper version with ads taken into account) illustrates a flashback between Barbara and Frankie, in a short exchange about Babs' then-new project, a predictive algorithm that seeks to anticipate criminal activity before it happens. That in itself is a slippery slope that involves Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell, so it's best to be avoided, but the thing that stands out most is just how angry Barbara is.

In Secret Origins you see her and Frankie meet for the first time, where Frankie is also in a wheelchair, and it's Barbara who encourages her about the future. In the issue 40 sequence (part of which you can see above), with Frankie already making progress towards walking again, and Barbara still wheelchair-bound, it just hit home how infuriating that must be, when despite having the will, the skills, and the strength, the body just can't function like you need it to. As much as a comic can make you empathize, this series of panels did just that. It really hit home with me, and while I’ve never had to experience that set of circumstances, my heart goes out to anyone that has, and I couldn’t stop thinking about that after I read this page. Take that for what you will, but thought I would mention it.

The flashback sequences also endear you greatly to Frankie in a way that really shouldn't be possible in a mere 5 issue stint. There are characters that have 30 and 50 issue runs that I couldn’t care less about, but in a very small amount of time the writers have ingratiated her to the reader, and I couldn’t be happier about that.

The last half, as previously said, flies by, with a fantastically illustrated fight scene that shows how much of a badass Batgirl can be, peppered with some nice character moments from Dinah, Frankie, and Qadir. The same youthful exuberance that has been prevalent since Stewart, Fletcher, and Tarr took over is on full display here, and the biggest complaint I have about the book is that I have to wait until June to read the next true issue due to all this Convergence nonsense. It should also be mentined how refreshing and cool Tarr's art is. It's fun and dynamic, and shines in both dialogue and in action scenes. The new costume is good on its own, but with Tarr's pencils, it really reaches its full potential. 

Oh, and I couldn't finish this without mentioning the best cherry on top in a long while. Towards issue's end, there is a very big, not subtle at all, just-about-says-it-out-loud cliffhanger on Frankie becoming this version of the DCU’s Oracle, which is fantastic. One, Frankie is awesome in her own right anyway, but two, it allows the Oracle persona to not go by the wayside and allows a fresh character to inhabit the role and give it new life. It's things like this that I wish the New 52 did more of, but truthfully I’ll take what I can get.

With all the creative shake-ups and mass crossover hysteria that is the New DCU lately, I hope this book remains unchanged and continues to be one of the highlights of DC’s monthly output.

By now you probably got the point that I loved this issue, and just about adore the book in general, but I’m always interested to hear what you think as well, so make sure to let me know in the comments.

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