Batgirl #8: OK, before I get to the main plot, I have to mention that I'm totally glad that Babs didn't buy her mom's story, because, although I totally believe that James, Jr. killed the cat and that Barbara, Sr. had a breakdown, I totally don't believe that she left James, Sr. and Barbara, Jr. with a burgeoning sociopath to "save" them. By the way, I'm thrilled James, Jr. is the James, Jr. that we all know and fear, as created by Scott Snyder. I think I would've put down every DC comic, period, if that amazing story had been part of the reboot. I can't wait to hear how he managed to escape Arkham Asylum. I mean, under normal circumstances, I'd wonder why no one has notified Commissioner Gordon that he's escaped, except, knowing James, Jr., he's somehow found a way to make it look like he hasn't or like he's paroled. It'll be genius whatever it is.
Onto the main story, Simone continues to deal with the repercussions of the Joker's shooting of Barbara in "Batman: The Killing Joke" in a way that I find totally believable. After all the years, it never dawned on me that the Joker intended for Barbara to die. I mean, he absolutely did, but it's never said explicitly in the story itself. Barbara survives, and you're focused on her paralysis as the result, without really focusing on the fact that, like she says here, the Joker probably intended for her to bleed to death. The fact that Simone so seamlessly picks up that thread is a testament to her writing skills. But, she takes that thread and runs with it. I couldn't figure out why Barbara let go the hood that she recognized at the end of the last issue as being one of the Joker's henchman on the night that she was shot. By rights, she should've beaten him to a bloody pulp. But, Simone builds the reveal beautifully, telling us in the end that he called the cops to alert them that she was there, bleeding to death. It was a true masterstroke and one of the reasons why I think this book is the best written Bat-book behind "Batman."
Simone includes other moments of grace in this issue, like Barbara preventing the other hood from smashing his skull on the curb. She also leaves open some questions, like, you know, who exactly Grotesque is. We should probably get some insight into him at some point, other than just the fact that he likes to rip off rich people of exquisite things. But, the Barbara, Sr., James, Jr., and Joker hood parts of this issue were so great that the Grotesque part seems almost like an afterthought.
Batman and Robin #8: OK, I've been critical of this arc, and I stand by my criticism. Tomasi has portrayed Bruce as focused more on Damian as an idea than a child, viewing him as a pawn in his game with Nobody, and Damian as a sociopath, ignoring the lessons that Dick taught him. However, here, Tomasi at least starts to correct that portrayal, and we get Bruce showing as much emotion as he's capable of showing. I though that his conversation with Damain about the fact that he's as much Bruce's son as Talia's was extremely well done, mostly because it results in the best defense of Bruce swearing off murder as I've possibly ever read in a Bat-book. In fact, I feel like Jason Todd's life would've turned out a little differently if Bruce had been open, as he is with Damain here, with Jason about the fact that he fights the urge to murder his opponents every time that he faces them. I thought it was equally compelling that Damian admits to wanting to be like Bruce, a rare insight into Damian that shows something other than the sociopath that he's often portrayed as being. It reminds me of "Batman" #713, where he talks about the honor that he felt at being Dick's friend, and makes me hope that those emotional connections -- first to Dick, now to Bruce -- help to begin to move his character past the way that he's been shown thusfar. (I don't think it would hurt to maybe have the three of them join together on a mission for a few issues, to help underline that point.)
Batwoman #8: I...have no idea what's happening in this story anymore. I can't say it was terrible, because I don't understand what happened enough to know whether or not it was terrible. Some mystic group needs to do something involving some kidnapped kids. Someone previously within their group who (for reasons I either don't remember or don't yet know, a distinct possibility given the choppy structure) found herself in police custody and agreed to help Batwoman take down the aforementioned group. There you go. I've got nothing else. We have yet to get any real idea what the group intends to do or any sort of backstory on its leaders, like Mero and the "Mother." As such, the threat that they theoretically pose to Kate feels hollow, because, given the odd structure, we haven't really seen them do anything, other than create monsters who are, at various points, sent against Kate. Moreover, these monsters don't exactly pose a threat, given that Kate deploys some sort of magically powered arrow-head to take down Killer Croc, the creepy girl, and the Weeping Woman. She barely even breaks a sweat. If WnB actually spent the rest of the issue focusing on character work, I might actually be OK with Batwoman just walking into fights, hitting a button, taking down the villains, and then returning to discuss whether she and Sawyer should go Thai or Vietnamese that night for dinner. But, we get so little character development that I'm hard pressed to see what exactly the magic fighting arrow-head does, narratively, for WnB. If no one is a threat, because of your tech, and no one is a friend, because of your walls, then what stories are there to tell? In the end, the patch-work approach, where we move between characters and timeframes, has officially gone from interesting to a liability to unbearable, a problem exacerbated by suddenly weak characterization and overly convoluted plots. This series had such potential, and I would love to stay with it, but I think I'm done next issue.
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