Batgirl #17
Endure the Flame
I'm surprised to find that after building up his appearance for approximately forever, Gail Simone handed off Barbara's confrontation with James Jr. to Ray Fawkes. I know that there was the whole firing/rehiring thing, but if Simone could get herself unfired, surely she could secure the story about James Jr., so this strikes me as odd. Also, James Jr. had a rather odd role in Death of the Family. I could buy into the idea that perhaps James had been keeping tabs on his mom and therefore knew she was in danger and that James might want to save his mother from Joker so that she could be his play thing alone, but I don't see how trying to make a deal with Joker and then trying to kill the Joker helped him out in any of his goals since his mother was still being guarded by Joker's goons, so James' entire role up until this point has been confusing.
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Still, it's time to find out what James' angle is. Does James serve as an excellent villain for Batgirl, or is this just a confusing nonsensical story?
In this issue, Barbara is lured into a twisted game by her brother and Commissioner Gordon sics the GCPD on his own flesh and blood.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
I was kind of excited to see an interpretation of Batgirl from somebody other than Gail Simone because though I've liked Simone's recent issues, I still feel Babs is being presented as a very stiff, flat character, and I really want to see her feel more like a person.
Fawkes, in my book, succeeds in doing just that. I actually enjoyed Babs as a person more in this issue than I have in almost all of Simone's issues. Babs here is still calculating and somewhat reserved, but she also shows some willingness to get outside her comfort zone and flirt, and she makes a nice gesture, though perhaps misguided, by trying to get the cops to reel in Joker's henchmen as a sort of confidence booster for them. These little things make her feel like a developed person rather than just a victim.
Sadly, this accomplishment is swallowed up by bigger failures. I really want to know what James Jr.'s angle is here, and perhaps I am being a bit harsh on Fawkes considering I would be more patient if Simone had not been building it up for so long, but now that we have finally reached the James Jr. arc, I want to know what this arc is about! There is no explanation whatsoever for James' actions. In fact, his motivations become much more murky in this issue. Why is James involved in these police killings? Why does James care about Joker's henchmen? What is he hoping to accomplish? Why is he typing on a phone with his mother's severed finger? Why did he go to visit his mother in the first place?
Perhaps there is a good explanation for all these things, but my Bat sense is tingling and telling me that this is a bunch of craziness which will not come together in the end. I'll correct myself later if I am wrong, but this feels like something which will have a thin veneer of rationalization smeared on it at the end of the day.
Batgirl and the Super Bag
(Spoiler for this entire section) Taking the gold star for our “What the heck?” moment of the week, Batgirl stops a rocket with a bag. Oh, I just laughed like crazy after typing that line.
The issue starts with this really cool setup of Batgirl battling with flames licking all around her. There is this cool monologue coming from either a narrator or James Jr. about the way flames peel back everything, and it sounds really cool. Then, we are treated to an image of some sort of mini rocket being launched at Batgirl, and Babs leaps into the air to meet it while drawing something from her belt. The scene ends there only to be picked up at the end of the issue leaving me to wonder what Batgirl will bring out to stop the rocket? Will it be a baton or some sort of blunt instrument that will deflect the rocket? An explosive which will detonate it in a less harmful manner? A piece of tech which will drain away the energy from the rocket or fry its guidance system? Nope, its a bag with which Batgirl catches the rocket. Again, I can't type that without laughing.
First, why does Babs carry giant bags in her utility belt? What frequent use would this have as to make it standard gear? She already has a belt for carrying things. Second, how would the bag be strong enough to catch a rocket. That's a lot of force. Third, if it was strong enough to stop the rocket, why didn't the rocket explode? Fourth, ignoring these other issues, why didn't catching this much force rip Babs' arm right out of its socket? Fifth, where did this bag go? Babs is traveling straight up to the window from which the rocket is fired, yet it is nowhere to be found by the time she reaches the window. Did she just drop it on the ground? What a stupid scene!
Conclusion 7/10
That one scene is stupid enough to nearly kill the issue for me, but I did really like that Babs was a bit more developed in this issue, and though I hated all the unanswered questions raised about James Jr., I suppose this could be leading somewhere interesting. If you are a big fan of Batgirl, pick up this issue, but everybody else should approach with caution.
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