Batgirl #22 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Simone is taking us somewhere really interesting here.  First, it seems difficult to believe that James, Jr. is dead, given how much potential that he has as a character.  As such, when James, Jr. eventually reveals himself to be alive, Barbara will no longer technically be a killer.  But, Simone makes it clear that said technicality doesn’t really matter to either Barbara or the Commissioner.  They both know that Batgirl shot to kill that night.  Simone is using that knowledge to take both characters to interesting places.  Barbara is trying to move past the grief, something she manages to accomplish (at least for now) because of her date with Ricky, an affair that seems unlikely to be anything but tragic in the end.  But, it’s the closing sequence with the Commissioner and Batman that provides the real surprise, with the Commissioner starting down a road of revenge in his quest for Batgirl.  Batman’s words to the Commissioner here – both in terms of losing a child and in crossing the line into vengeance – should be well-taken by the Commissioner, but Simone does a great job of showing us how the Commissioner is too far gone to listen.  Choppy waters ahead, folks.