Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batgirl 6, originally released February 8th, 2012.

Drew: When Gretel was introduced last month, she came with a number of mysteries, some large and important, others seemingly insignificant. These are all more or less solved this issue, wrapping up Gretel’s story with a little bow that feels a little too pat for what I’ve come to expect of this title. Gail Simone has done so well imbuing Barbara Gordon’s social life with complications (both small and large), that the conclusiveness of Gretel’s resolution feels out-of-place.
Issue 6 picks up right where we left off in the last issue, with an apparently brainwashed Bruce Wayne preparing to take a swing at Batgirl with a crowbar. Babs tries her hardest to avoid his blows, all while trying not to hurt him. She’s unsure throughout the fight if Bruce is really under Gretel’s control, or if his actions are just a show to maintain his cover as a weak-minded playboy. We’re treated to a lovely but too-brisk flashback to Babs in the days following The Killing Joke, where Batman visits her hospital bed. That memory restores her faith in (or perhaps just her fondness for) Bruce, leading her to try negotiation instead of more violence. Sure enough, Bruce was “mostly” faking, but their ruse allowed Gretel to get away. Heartened by some encouraging words from Bruce, Babs leaves to follow some new leads.

Meanwhile, we get a glimpse into Gretel’s head, where we learn that she was Lisly Bonner, an investigative reporter with something to prove, looking to expose some of Gotham’s world-famous corruption. She got close to Boss Whittaker (the baddie she tried to off in issue 5), but was found out, and was shot and left for dead. As she recovered from her wounds, she discovered that they somehow left her with the ability to perform Jedi mind tricks (possibly just on men).

Babs returns home to find her mother has gone on some kind of baking-spree. How she got in or how she managed to continue cooking in spite of Alysia’s apparent objections aren’t entirely clear, but this sequence effectively manifests Barbara Sr.’s guilt and Babs’s unwillingness to forgive. The only thing Barbara Sr. knows about her daughter is that she likes cranberry-banana muffins, so this detail becomes magnified to tragicomic effect. Babs doesn’t have time to dwell on this, however, and commences her research on Gretel, where she learns who Gretel is, and that “338” refers to the three .38 caliber bullets Boss Whittaker shot her with.

Babs and Bruce decide to hatch a plan, hoping to draw Gretel out using Bruce as live bait. Sure enough, Gretel shows up at Bruce’s press conference, taking control of the entire SWAT security detail. This reveals just how truly powerful Gretel could be, Agent Smithing into whatever men are nearby. It also gives Babs an opportunity to pound on some cops, which is always fun. Babs makes short work of these police, and is only briefly delayed by Detective McKenna before Bruce suits up and steps in. The two head off to face Gretel, and quickly reduce her to a helpless mess. Babs delivers Gretel to McKenna, forcing a cautious truce.

As always, Simone nails Barbara’s voice, keeping her sharp wit front and center. She also manages to twist Gretel’s story just enough to highlight Barbara’s own journey. I was a little disappointed at how cleanly things wrapped up here, but the fact that Gretel’s story turned out to be so insubstantial worked to turn the focus back on Babs, where it really belongs. I enjoyed Barbara’s interactions with both her mother and Bruce, and the suggestion that next week’s issue may return to the events of The Killing Joke make the latter relationship all the more important.

As solid as those elements are, this issue does feel a little brisk. Given how much ground is covered here, I wonder why Simone included “mysteries” like Gretel’s changing hair color (turns out they’re wigs) or the mysterious “something” Babs noticed about Gretel’s gun (apparently that it was a .38 caliber). We don’t get any clue as to what was going on with Gretel’s “heroin addict” moment from issue 5, which makes me suspect Simone has more plans for this villain, which may excuse some of this weirdness. I can’t help but wonder if this storyline was somehow a casualty of the Night of Owls crossover event, forcing a planned three-parter down to two, but that’s pure conjecture.

Adrian Syaf continues to do great work on this title. I’m consistently floored by the expressivity of his faces, but the thing that really caught my eye this issue were his layouts. We see so many show-stoppers layout-wise that it’s easy for more inside-the-box achievements to go unsung, but these layouts are really fantastic. I dig the pink borders he uses to delineate Barbara’s flashback, and I especially like the way he splits this panel divide to both direct our attention and imply cause and effect:

They’re simple details, but they enhance the storytelling in creative ways, and the issue is littered with them.

Not to set you up too much here, Patrick, but something for you to ponder. For whatever reason, Gretel has no effect on Barbara, Bruce’s female assistant, or Detective McKenna. We’ve been kind of assuming she has no effect on women, but dig this panel from the SWAT fight scene:

Now, it’s possible that that’s just a male cop with long hair and full lips that Babs is wasting, but it sure looks like a lady to me. There may be all kinds of explanations that involve that individual not being under Gretel’s control, but I’m going to go ahead and assume that she is. To me, this either suggests that there’s something special about Babs, McKenna, and the assistant, or that Gretel wouldn’t willingly force a woman to do anything. Given her backstory, the latter option seems particularly titillating, but maybe that’s just me reading into things. What do you think?

Patrick: I think that’s a keen little detail I didn’t notice. I guess it seems arbitrary that she would only be able to control women, and the psychological implications of her selectively not controlling women are pretty compelling. So it makes sense that, when push comes to shove, she will highjack a lady to stage her attack against Bruce Wayne. The thing that remains mysterious about Gretel: why is she targeting Bruce Wayne at all?  He doesn’t fit into her origin narrative at all, where all the rest of her victims do.

My mind naturally turns to the Court of Owls. They’ve sent (or will send, I’m not totally clear on what the chronology is supposed to be here) Talon to off him, it’s not outside the realm of possibility to consider that they also sent Gretel. Batgirl muses “Bruce is making powerful enemies, who don’t want Gotham fixed, apparently” and it seems like the Court fits that description. I too am hopeful that we’ll see more of this character in the future, as it feels as though we’re not quite done with her yet. But on the flip side, I’m also happy to have nice two-part adventure, less an arc and more an action-drama in two acts.

Yeah, how about that Babs flashback? It’s starting to feel like a trend: authors of the New 52 like to mine the history of the series they’re writing for, keeping a reverence for the past while inserting new character-based details. In Batman #4, we were treated to Bruce’s obsessive investigation of the Court of Owls after his parents’ murder. But in Batgirl, we get a little tender moment between Babs and Batman.

There’s a giddy thrill I get out of seeing Batgirl and Batman working together. It’s an easy, easy trick – match up members of the Bat-family and I start smiling like a jackass. Nightwing and Batgirl, Batgirl and Batman. It’s fun. It allows for our characters to kick a little more ass, and it’s always a treat to see the softer side of Batman. It also humbles Batgirl, which is good because while her voice is charming, she can be a little cocky. And, hell, even when humility takes a back seat, the banter between them is engaging.

I get that this issue isn’t titled “Babs and Her Mother Argue Some More,” but I wish we would have gotten either more or less of this long-lost-mother drama. A page and a half is committed to this strained relationship.  While Babs gets to lob the unintentionally barbed “I’m not hungry” in response to her mother’s baking, the scene is insubstantial for my tastes. There is an interesting mention of Sr.’s plans to see (or not see) James Gordon, which gives me the distinct impression that she fowled the relationship between them. The accepted history is that as presented in Year One, right? Without getting dragged into another continuity rant, I just wanted to point out that this is interesting.

Batgirl #6 is remarkably smooth. I think we’ve noted in the past that Adrian Syaf’s action sequences are fluid and exciting. It its prohibitively long, so I shan’t post it here, but there crane-top fight that closes the issue is rendered in stunning clarity. There’s such a vivid expression of space and movement that I really can’t image the scene depicted any other way – including actually animating or staging the thing. There’s also a great little move early in the issue where Batgirl grabs Bruce by his fancy little vest and flips him over. It’s a little moment in the action, but gosh it looks cool.

Can I make a confession in this space? I’m going to make a confession: I’ve never read the Killing Joke. I know what happens (because, obviously). But I’ve never been handed the book by a well-meaning nerd (not even you!) and been forced to read it. For whatever reason, I haven’t explored any pre-relaunch Batman on my own. Last month when you brought up No Man’s Land, I had to head over to the DC Wiki and educate myself. I was so deep in Green Lantern’s War of Light that I scoffed at anything that didn’t contain like two dozen power rings. Incidentally, during this time, Batman tried on both a Green and Yellow ring. He rejected the former and the later rejected him.  I DIGRESS. With the next issue teasing a revisitation of the “Joke,” should I get my ass in gear and read Killing Joke? Or should we preserve my precious ignorance for the sake of interesting discourse next month?

For a complete list of what we’re reading, head on over to our Pull List page.  Whenever possible, buy your comics from your local mom and pop comic bookstore.  If you want to rock digital copies, head on over to DC’s website and download issues there.  There’s no need to pirate, right?