Batgirl Volume 1 Review

This is Batgirl and you're listening to the Geekcast

Radio Network. It's been five years and the Geekcast

Radio Network would like to give back to you.

How you may ask? Well, first of all, we're coming

up with a brand new website to be launched June

1st, 2014. In addition to that, there'll be many

new features for interactive abilities. So how

do you enter into this magical celebration? Well,

Geekcast Radio has a contest where you can win

some awesome prizes ranging from comics, blu

-rays, DVDs, trade paperbacks, and comics, and

more. How do you enter? Write in your favorite

stories of how the Geekcast Radio network has

affected you in the last five years and how it's

unleashed the geek in you. You can also enter

by writing reviews on our shows on iTunes. For

more information, visit www .GeekCastRadio .com

and click on the banner. So until next time,

unleash the geek in you. So sit back and enjoy

this week's poll bag Welcome to Gotham Hello

and welcome to the poll bag. This is the next

back issue classics episode. I am your host if

you and Mike and We're headed to Gotham City

this time and we have two very, very special

guests. You've heard them on our interview. You

can hear them weekly on the Arkham Sessions.

We have Dr. Andrea Letamendi and Mr. Brian Ord.

Hello, people. Hello. Hello. How are you guys?

Doing very well. How are you? Very well, very

well. I'm excited to get this going because when

I made the decision to stop doing single... bat

family coverage on the pull bag and go strictly

to trade. I'm like, who can I get to do bat girl?

And then we had our interview and I'm like, duh,

get her therapist. It could be the worst decision

ever because I may never stop talking. Well,

you know, I've already had, I think. There was

a three, actually in total it's a six episode

arc of Transformers comics on the show before.

We did more than meets the eye volumes one through

three and robots in disguise volumes one through

three. Those six podcasts average out to be about

10 or 11 hours of podcasts all together. So,

so trust me, I'm by no means against long records.

But yeah, so far the back issue classics I've

been doing the IDW turtle stuff and I figured

since this is going to actually air in the 75

years of Batman month that I have planned here

in May that I would throw back girl in since

Steve and I just talked about the killing joke

and we'll talk about that a little bit here Yeah,

I went nuts here in May 13 podcasts in one month

Wow Wow, I have a lot of time on my hands That's

dedication right there. Yeah All to Batman or

to the bat family because all of the episodes

this month are either pre 52 or or pre new 52

or post new 52 so very interesting Alright, so

do either one of you want to bring up really

quickly how you both first got into being fans

of Batgirl? That would be... I think, Dreah,

you've got a better story about Batgirl. I wouldn't

say it's better. You shouldn't say it's better.

It's just different. It's different. It's politically

correct. I mean, my story is very easy. Mine

was just, you know, she's a redhead. She's a

redhead. She's hot. No, I grew up. I grew up

reading all Batman titles and I grew up watching

the 66 Batman series. And so for me, Batgirl

was always just a part of the family. And, you

know, being a fellow ginger. I became an instant

fan. Well the whole, you know, the whole Gordon

family is... That's right. They're nice role

models for jitters everywhere. Well... Not all

of them. I forgot about the one... I will say,

though, that as a redhead I found it very unbelievable

that two redheads would get married and have...

Kids, typically we tend to stray away from the

other redheads, but I do know there are some

out there that like other gingers, but me, I'm

like, no, kids would be translucent. There is

one problem that I have with the Gordon family.

The fact that, at least from my knowledge, her

mother's name is also Barbara. It's also Barbara,

yeah. That drives me nuts! Yeah, she's another

redhead named Barbara Gordon. Oh my god, it drives

me nuts. Alright, Dre, what is your story for

getting into Batgirl? Oh, really quick, sorry.

Brian, who is your favorite voice of Batgirl?

Oh! Voice as in animated, or...? Yep, yep. I

don't know that I really have one. Oh, really?

Yeah, not really. No, I'm pretty good with anyone

who plays Batgirl. I'm generally good with most

people who are voice actors in general. I mean,

there are very few characters that I hold so

precious that can only be played by one person.

And I don't know that Batgirl is really one of

them. Why? Who's your favorite? For the younger

version, it's Tara strong for the older version

from Batman Beyond. It's Angie Harmon. Yeah,

I Mean, I like Stockard Channing in the beginning

in the actual series But once she was unavailable

for Return of the Joker and Angie Harmon took

it over That's who I hear in my head when I read

old Batgirl. Angie Harmon is good for sure I

like her voice a lot and and Tara Tara I liked

but Tara's always just seemed very young to me.

So I mean, it's and that's sort of her bread

and butter but But yeah, I know I like them all

All right. All right, Dre. What is your Batgirl

story? I actually didn't really read a lot of

Batgirl Prior to the new 52, of course, I read

the killing joke, you know, that is a story that

I that stayed with me for obvious reasons. But

when Gail Simone wrote, she started writing Batgirl

for the New 52, that first issue really was so

well -written psychologically that I actually

started my blog at that point with that review,

with the review of the first issue. keeping in

mind that I wanted to start talking about psychology

and comic books and and heroes and villains and

and trauma and and that particular issue that

very first issue Finally kind of sent me over

the edge so to speak in that I'm like, I just

need to start writing about this. Maybe someone

will read it I know I always when Everyone that

was complaining about Iron Man 3 I'm like go

read this and I point them to your psychology

of Tony Stark I'm like, this is the best explanation

I can show your people. That's so sweet. Thank

you. It's like You know people are come and I'm

going off topic here people are complaining and

complaining and complaining about that movie

And I'm keep selling them don't you people realize

he is gone through major crap He's not the drunk

that he was in the first two films right the

problem with any movie and not not that I want

to Like go off on try but I mean the problem.

Yeah, I this is the problem that I'm finding

online right now is especially which you're talking

about that the the hatred of Amazing Spider -Man

2 and and before then yet the hatred of you know,

whatever there are very few comic book movies

that make it through These days and and I think

I think the problem is most people want their

comic books on screen as opposed to the understanding

that a two -hour film has got to be different

than the way that you would write a slow burn

three or four issue and even in some cases 12

issue long arc of Batman or Batgirl or whatever

So, you know, I think I think When you're trying

to boil that down into two hours You're going

to have character development that's quick. You're

going to have a lot of pacing issues where you're

trying to slow things down a little bit, but

you're also trying to do big, big action sequences

because that's what movies require. And, you

know, it's very easy to hate on a movie like

Iron Man 3, but I think Dreya brings amazing

gravitas to the understanding of what those writers

were doing. Oh, yeah, absolutely. So back to

Gotham here, we have these zero issue and all

of these zero issues basically the covers are

the character bursting out of the book. I absolutely

love that they did that. I wish they'd do this

a little bit more often. Yeah. Sort of a throwback

to all the old issues that used to do the same

sort of thing. Yeah. We start out with Barbara

basically setting up her room and talking about

how her dad is a hero and And I love, just for

the art, I love how the artist is doing this

in this book. Ed Benes, I believe is how his

last name is pronounced. And she's, we don't

see the true recovery. Like, okay, we picked

this issue up. Wait, I thought she was in a wheelchair.

What happened? We don't see that directly in

this as far as how she's walking again. But,

um... There's sort of allusions to it, but nothing...

Yeah. Yep. She says, you know, I made a mistake

once, but that's a story for another time. And

she's got this paper she has to do for college,

but it's all a big hoax because she wants to

get into the... the, um... the evidence locker

to find the armored bat suit. Well, and what's

interesting is she's already playing into the

Oracle. personality oh yeah like there's there

are already allusions to the fact that she is

super connected to information and how to get

in and out she's not doing it with the computer

but she's totally getting in any way she can

oh yeah absolutely and it's really interesting

how they're there The cops in this as she's get

getting in to see this the suit of armor and

these cops doing this stuff and they're in the

precinct They're talking about the whether Batman

is a myth or not and some are saying no, it's

all tech You know now that old argument But it's

interesting too because that's right in the heyday

of like the Nolan, you know really to be fair

a lot of the Nolan Mythology of Batman was most

of it was tech Mm -hmm Absolutely So Dre, what

are your first initial thoughts on? Up to the

point where she sees the bat suit or the armored

bat suit. Well, I think you're right. You know,

we we are unsure about kind of what her both

her physical and psychological state are in terms

of what she's experienced and and we certainly

see that she's motivated which is great to start

with you know that we're we're you're kind of

pulled in pretty pretty quickly you know and

then once we do see the suit yeah I think that's

where it really picks up and we meet we meet

Harry here as he's being basically drug through

the police precinct and she and James jr. run

into him and I love the line where she goes,

that's just my brother, I know what he is, I

can see, and that's kind of a hint of... Like

you know one when you see one? Yeah, pretty much.

I don't know about that. How old do you think

James Jr. is here? He's James Jr., right? He

looks maybe, what? Yeah. Six, seven? No, no,

I don't think he's that. He's not that young.

I'm just looking at one piece of art that's just

from up above. Oh, no, he looks maybe... Nine,

ten, yeah, something like that. What I do love

about this is I love how Gail writes her. I will

forever say this, the rest of the time we review

this story and potentially other traits in future

episodes of the show, I love the internal monologue

that Gail writes for her. It's absolutely amazing.

I always jab at a few of my Canadian friends

and I find it absolutely hilarious that she threw

a jab at Canada with this character So yeah,

yeah James James is about 9 or 10 I would say

Now do you think Harry here is like do you think

he's having an effect on her as he's talking

to her here, Drea? Is he getting into her head?

Well, I'm making sure we're looking at the same

page here This is when he interacts with her

and starts talking to her, right? Right, right

Training for what Harry? For the coming plague

red Hmm. Where is that? Where am I looking? Why

am I not looking? That's the page right where

he's it's the opposite page where he's being

brought in It's right After it's right after

the doctor who had out here at the bottom. Yeah.

Yeah. No, I mean, obviously he's he's trying

to intimidate her. He's sized up her brother.

He's, you know, he's getting up close to her

face. That's probably what he does. I don't I

don't know that it's anything in particular to

her. I just think that that's how he treats people.

That's how he treats young women. So I think

he is just trying to antagonize and intimidate

her. And he may not know who she really is, that

she's very bright and she's strong and that kind

of interaction doesn't impact her the way that

he's used to that, you know, affecting people.

But I like it. I think that you can kind of see

how she doesn't back down, and she makes eye

contact with him, and she engages and asks him

questions. I don't know that most of us would

do that. So his disciples, I guess you could

call them, his own version of Waco basically

breaks in and tries to break him out. Right.

Now this You know the art here. I absolutely

love how how they're doing the the breakout with

the guns and the and the and the story I mean,

that's what I love most about about Gail's run

or her her storylines here is she Works the writing

so well and the artists whoever's on the book

doesn't matter if it's Ed Benes or somebody else

They work the art so magnificently around it.

Oh, yeah It's so great Now what's it say that

what does it say that that he is the holy man

and his disciples are a lot of gun -toting women

Yeah, pretty much It probably says that he prefers

his women as submissives then someone who would

fight back which he's not gonna like it later

so we get to the page where he is chasing Barbara

and James jr. and she's basically saying the

cops are all headed for the lobby we can't count

and rescue James and James says I wasn't so I

really don't get this kid I don't dislike him.

Like, I have a seething hatred for Damian Wayne,

for completely other reasons that I'll say later.

People who listen to the show already know why.

Oh, I strongly hate Damian as well. Yeah, oh

thank god, somebody else that agrees. We'll have

to talk about that another time, but I don't

understand James here. I know what he's going

to become. But I don't get, like, the I wasn't

thing. Like, what is that kid gonna do? I think

that means he's not hopeful, right? Because in

that moment, she's saying, you know, the cops

are headed for the lobby. We can't count on being

rescued. I mean, I think what she's saying is

we kind of, we need to come up with a plan here.

And he's telling her, I think what he's saying

is I wasn't counting on being rescued. As a psychologist,

I mean, you know what James becomes. Yeah. What

are you seeing at this age that are red flags

or anything? Is something like that a red flag

for someone who, I mean, he's fairly calm, but

he's not? I don't see him as being calm. I just

I see him as being emotionally a bit vacant.

And not you know she look she's clearly in distress

She's she's not panicking, but she's clearly

emotionally upset. She's scrambling to think

of a plan. She's scared for her life. And I think

he's impacted by this to some degree. But I noticed

that nothing he ever says ends in an exclamation

point. No matter of fact, he's sort of cold.

He's not hopeful. He's not in distress. I think

he's just experiencing it. He's going through

the motions and And I don't know that there's

a lot of empathy there. Maybe we would expect

a sibling to be empathic and to look for comfort

and to try to look for comfort from her or provide

comfort to her. And that's not happening. He's

kind of disengaged. And that's what we would

expect, knowing what happens to him, knowing

who he becomes. That doesn't surprise me. Every

single line he has in the story It just confuses

the cur like like Brian said he you know, he's

basically cold and and then he He says tear gas

how interesting like tear gas is the most interesting

thing in his life right now You've got this giant

criminal chasing after you and the in the criminal

Harry says basically I've decided the girl lives

the abomination dies. So I think I honestly think

he knows one when he sees one. I think so for

sure. I really think so because I don't I don't

I don't know if that's his character being that

way or if it's the fact that Gail wanted to work

that part of like basically not necessarily showing

you what James is going to become right now but

basically hinting at it. Yeah. I don't know if

it's that. I don't know if it's her way of making

Harry know that or if it's just how his character

is. And I think I think she's done a good job

and so has Ed in his illustrations of showing

James as a kid who is far too interested in the

process. I think that's why he's fascinated by

the tear gas. I think it's... To see a man coming

at you is one thing but but to see that man or

in his disciples using guns and tear gas and

explosives I I think he is fascinated by the

by the process of killing Yeah So we get to the

fact that she basically loses him in the gunfire

and the tear gas and everything else So Barbara

and James are separated from each other And Harry

says, oh, did your little brother rabbit on you,

Willow? You're better off, you know. He's right.

And, you know, I gotta say, I'm generally not

one to liking when they use, like, the and sign,

or the at sign, or the exclamation point for

cursing, and they don't do it here, thank God.

She actually finishes her thought in monologue,

but she basically says, oh, sh - So I like how

they did that there. And again, Harry's like,

I'm really doing your family a favor. So how

much of this is Gale throwing into this character

that he seems to know this whole prophet thing

of his? That's a little, it's not, I wouldn't

say strange. It's a little... Don't know well.

I think I think she's also setting up because

up to this point You know issue zero came out

after a number of other issues So so up to this

point. We've not really gotten a really good

sense of what kind of a character James is I

mean this was this was basically a real you know

the new 52 relaunch was supposed to start every

character at ground zero and work their way up.

And this is the first time we really get an opportunity

to really explore what James is going to become.

And I think this is her way of setting that up

by making a very creepy villain. Because, you

know, right after this issue, not that we'll

cover it here, but right after this issue, we

start to see a lot of what James has become.

Oh, yeah, because it goes issue 12 to issue zero

to issue 13. Yeah. In the DC order, but in the

proper order So we get to the page where she's

like breathe Barbara breathe And the Commissioner

is outside and he you know, he wants to get in

there his kids are in there and McKenna basically

says the the hostiles are blocking the exit.

Let the negotiators do their jobs. We can't lose

you sir And we go back to Harry And he's basically

searching for Barbara. He says, don't you want

to say goodbye to your rescuer? And all we see

is him turn around and someone say, hey, and

she's decked out in the armored bat suit. It's

great. I like, I mean, this costume or suit.

I actually, you know, the way that it's drawn

on her, it's a little bit loose, but it works.

You know, it fits her. It shouldn't. But it's,

you know, like, it's in in places, it's kind

of loose, as I said, but it's still it still

is, you know, looks like obviously like a bat

suit on her and she makes it work. She makes

it work most in the cowl, the rest of it, actually

the sad thing is it reminds me of when my mom

got a 89 bat emblem, sewed it on a sweatshirt,

and I went out in sweatpants and a sweatshirt

as Batman for Halloween. It's not that terrible.

No, no, no, I'm not saying it's bad. But it is

supposed to be that sort of homemade thing. I

mean, this was the cops, you know, their basic...

You know description of what Batman look like

and you know No, I'm not saying it is as bad

as a you know someone on emblem on a sweatshirt

and sweatpants I'm just saying that's what it

reminds me of because I had Bat gloves and a

cowl and then the rest of the outfit was a sweatshirt

and sweat. Yeah, it is a little ill -fitting

but but it I think it's inspiring. I think that

this is, if it wasn't already obvious, you know,

to folks as they're reading through this, this

is that moment that she becomes the superhero

because in the page before, she's questioning

herself and realizes, no, I'm intense, I'm driven,

exceptional, but now I have to prove that. So

this is how she does that. Yep. And so she does

do that. You know, bat her up, she socks him

one. You know, thank you, Sensei, thank you.

Now, she says in this that she's had training,

and I understand this issue came after the first

12, but she's had training. When did this training

happen? If this is supposed to be a relaunch?

See, that's the problem. That's confusing. Okay,

yeah, but she says thank you sensei So when did

you know when did Bruce sent her to Japan because

actually in this issue if you think about it

She's not bad girl yet. She I don't know. It's

the way I took this issue. This was Supposed

to be some sort of zero month or zero year kind

of thing But So we just took it that she was

a trained that she had been through martial arts

like a lot of kids that's true um so we get to

um she says uh you know oh man did that just

happen i think that just happened and she basically

shouts hooray with a question mark and we see

a you oh my god it's him you did this kinda and

we see uh the new 52 batman in the bat suit I

love the Jim Lee design. Mm -hmm do it it fits

Batman so well I'm sold on anything Jim Lee does

frankly So So we get her supposed first confrontation

with Batman and she basically tells Dwight that

she's gonna go get help and she'll be right back

and She says I know I want my life to matter

and all of a sudden junior pops back in how interesting

Yeah, where where has he been the whole time?

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm wondering It's

not like there's a Robin suit in the evidence

locker Yeah, that I mean, I'm my guess is that

Well, he's been hiding. Well, he's what is that?

Yeah, he's hiding behind a pot behind pipes,

right? But but his comment he's he's watched,

you know, he's kind of He knew what happened.

Oh, yeah, right. So he's been watching he's not

he's certainly not been helping but he's also

But he's also like, you know nor now normally

a kid around his age would have been in distress

or shock And would have completely showed signs

of some kind of emotional reaction so he's again

as you mentioned he's just kind of. Emotionless

you know just kind of flat affects just okay

that was interesting and and it's a little odd

I think it's an I think I think the intention

was that he he would be. Unemotional and odd

and that we would be we would have an uncomfortable

feeling about him. Yeah, I mean even after you

know because I obviously read you know previously

to this when this first came out I obviously

read the first 12 issues before this but after

Yeah, even after those going back to this. It's

like That kid looks like somebody needs to be

on unsolved mysteries or something How early

do how early do kids who grow up to have that

sort of problem that James is like, like, at

what point time do you start to see signs of,

you know, pulling wings off of flies and, you

know, or animals? Usually, you do see it under

the age of 18. Usually there are some signs during

adolescence. And I mean, we joke about it, but

one of the major predictors of adult antisocial

behavior is animal cruelty during childhood.

So that means torturing animals, harming animals,

killing animals. And that is this sort of the

combination. It's a combination of not again,

not having empathy, like not realizing that that's

that that hurts, that it's hurtful. but also

this interesting curiosity to cause pain. Right.

Absolutely. So the next page we get more of Barbara's

monologue. Next day all the papers mentioned

was my father's brave leadership. No one mentions

the two oddballs with the capes. And we see a

beautiful, beautiful picture of her with her

blue, black and gray outfit. She almost looks

like Catwoman here, except she's got a bat symbol

on her. Yeah, it's very nicely drawn. Oh yeah.

I'm not sure if she should be swinging around

though without the mask on. That panel that's

right next to the one where she's sliding down

with the full full costume on but she basically

has no cape and and Yeah, that's a little strange

So we get you know part of her monologue is you

know, she's gotten used to the hero life and

you know the the next page is Batman Batgirl

and Robin going out and and basically, you know

crime fighting and I love the the the twistedness

of how Gail writes this because she came back

to this This one year later the bottom line here

Like twisted moths. We can't stay away from the

darkness, which she said that about her actual

family Earlier in the issue. It's just slightly

tweaked here So that's that's interesting No

wonder she had to get a new therapist. She can't

date the current one I'm not gonna lie. I thought

I thought that I thought that current. Oh, well,

that's true. Yes No, not the new one the current

the guy. Yeah He's the physical therapist, okay

She just mentions it as therapist so yeah, he's

Which you do he's a physical therapist and you

might have a physical therapist for just as long

as you have a you know a therapist a behavioral

therapist or a psychologist and I was confused

by that too because she calls him her therapist,

but it's her It's her physical. He's her physical

therapist, and I don't know but I also don't

know if she should be dating her physical therapist.

I think that's probably frowned upon. Yeah, pretty

much so. The issue ends with her monologue saying,

but that's the thing, the terrible truth. Sometimes

the darkness finds you and we end with that classic

shot of Mr. Hawaii Five -O himself. Right. Oh,

that is just so chilling. Just... Don't ever

answer the door for the Joker ladies and gentlemen.

Just don't it's not that she knew that that was

him No, but we as the audience do yes. Well,

yeah. Yeah No matter what he's wearing do not

open the door. Yeah Especially if he looks like

Tim Drake old Tim Drake Alright issue zero. I

really did like it. I Cannot say enough good

things about gales writing the art in this was

absolutely amazing What about you guys? What

are your final thoughts on the zero issue? I

like the I like the sort of revision to her old

story because you know we always knew that that

You know back in the day she she went to a costume

party dressed as as Batman in order to Sort of

get back at her dad, and I like this story Better

really. I mean, I like that that it is tactical

gear. It's not a costume It's a it gives her

an opportunity to show off her moves and Batman

actually gets to see it. He's impressed Yeah,

yeah, I agree. I mean the art is absolutely fantastic

it's excellent, but you know as you said the

story is well written because you You get her

in her monologue and when Gail writes that she

she really does capture the the emotion the cognition

the behavior like she she really does capture

everything that happens in our brains when we're

in action or when we're you know emotionally

overwhelmed and and she does that really well,

so it's It's it's well written, but it you know

it also It also really handles the idea of Barbara

having that innate sort of self doubt and both.

It's an interesting dynamic. It's the idea that

I'm exceptional. I'm different. I'm empowered.

I'm going to do something. I really am going

to do something heroic coupled with can I do

this? Am I strong enough? You know, what will

happen to me? this really what I'm supposed to

be doing so that we'll see that theme throughout

we have seen that theme throughout You know the

first the first several issues Absolutely, absolutely.

We're gonna take a quick break. I'm gonna insert

some sort of Batgirl funny quip here and We'll

come back with the darkest reflection What you

should be sidewalk stroganoff I change the menu

Hi, my name is Dr. Andraela Namendi, clinical

psychologist. And I'm Brian Ward, nerd. And we

want to invite you to listen to our new podcast,

The Arkham Sessions. It's a podcast dedicated

to the fun... And geeky... Analysis of Batman

the animated series, episode by episode. We pay

tribute to the writers and the stories of the

animated series. While also exploring the very

real psychology behind Gotham's robes. And maybe

even its heroes. All of this and more... Each

week... On The Arkham Sessions. underthemaskonline

.com. Alright, we are back and we have Batgirl.

I have the trade. Brian and Dre have these single

issues. The trade is very well put together.

I absolutely love it. How it starts out for the

trade is it's an it's basically an image of Batgirl

versus mirror And then you open it to the the

actual credits It's part of the train sequence

that happens later in the in the book where she's

riding the train trying to stop it No pigeons

were were hurt in the drawing of this image And

we get the main cover of the first issue, which

is basically her just coming out of the shadows

with what I assume are a whole bunch of bats

surrounding her. I like this cover. I could do

a little more, maybe. I don't know if the...

I don't know. I like it. It's interesting. I

think what's more interesting in the trades is

how they do the covers where they do the regular

cover and then they do the black and white version

behind it. That's awesome. So we get a prologue

here and we see some guy with a list and he's

got this list and the top panel is The very bottom

letter is a B, so we know something's up with

that. And he's crossed... Did I cross this off

or he did? Oh, he crossed that off. No, he did.

I'm like, am I defacing my comics here? One name

is already crossed off. So, you know, something

pretty menacing is going on. Yep. So we're at

the... the happy home of Mr. Carter, and he says,

who the devil? You should never dance with those

in the pale moonlight. No, never. No matter what

the Joker's wearing. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. This,

from what I remember, yeah, it's kind of a gruesome

death. Yeah. Yeah, it is. Because I don't think,

does he just, I don't think he just shoots him.

Oh No, he doesn't just shoot him he shoots him

in the mouth the gun is actually in the guy's

mouth Wow Yeah, that is pretty gruesome Well,

it's a wait. It's a It's a hose, right? It's

his water hose. It's he so so mr. Carter is You

watering is he's his little dogs there. He's

watering his garden or something. Yeah, he's

watering his garden and this You don't quite

see this full character. You see this, you know

glove and a dark black cape and then he grabs

the he grabs the hose from this man and I mean

just the one page of him Basically what he's

drowning him by sticking a hose in his mouth

Yeah, I remember when I first saw this I was

it's just it's very it's very visual. There's

not a lot of dialogue here I mean there I mean

there is dialogue, but there isn't a lot here,

but If you look at the top panel there where

you see his hand It to me it really did even

though I now see that there's water coming out

at the end of it It did look like a gun because

how the metallic is is shiny often Yeah, and

I think that's intentional. I think it's supposed

to look that way. Yeah, most definitely So Graham

Carter is crossed off the list and next up is

Barbara Gordon. What the heck is going on with

this new villain? Oh boy So we get to Barbara

later, where she says, I'm not Barbara Gordon.

I have to keep remembering that. Tonight, I am

not Barbara. Tonight, I am not the police commissioner's

daughter. And she says, I am the one who recognizes

the vintage costumes you wear. Tonight, I am

Fat Girl. Audrey, you've talked several times

on the Arkham Sessions about Batman and his and

Bruce Wayne keeping the two identities the three

identities you said yeah Bruce Wayne Batman Yeah

You know this seems to be that exact sort of

thing her Differentiating Barbara girl Gordon

from Batgirl Batgirl would have no fear right

well she I think a couple of things are happening

one is that That dynamic I mentioned before that

she has both this feeling of heroism while also

feeling self -doubt and vulnerable. So I think

in order for her to really capture what she needs

to capture psychologically in order to be Batgirl,

she has to tell herself, you're not Barbara,

you're Batgirl. Batgirl is a more powerful, more

able -bodied person if that makes sense And I

also think when when you're trying out a superhero

for the well for the first time or for your first

year You tend in my experience you tend you tend

to have these Simplistic or general, you know,

kind of general beliefs about what that means.

So I think that she believes that I have to not

be Barbara. So it's this extreme kind of think

very black and white thinking. Bruce slash Batman.

While there is that divide between those identities,

he's not this black and white. He's not as rigid.

I don't know. I think I think I think Batman

probably has the reverse, the reverse pep talk.

I think he tells himself, oh, don't forget, you

are Bruce. Right now, you are Bruce Wayne. He

forgets that he's Bruce. He's a little bit more

fluid, though, than Barbara in his switching

back and forth and what inspires him. I think

Bruce can accept himself as Bruce and also Batman.

Barbara Gordon is still struggling. with who

Barbara Gordon is, which is why she has to have

these these kind of like self talks, self talk.

Yes, I would say that Bruce is more he he has

to have the talk with himself all the time that

he is Batman like Bruce Wayne is the mask. Yes.

He is Batman that that's what you know, that's

that that's what it boils down to what you know

Like you guys are saying with Batgirl. It's slightly

different What do we think of the new 52 outfit

for her? Brian It's fine I Look at the I look

at the the image the one with the credit block

I don't know the There's something about it.

That is a little off to me I mean the the legs

look a bit stubby the the foot coming toward

us is a little I don't know I I'm not quite Enamored

by this particular image, but Well, right, but

I mean like the overall aesthetic of the suit

Yeah compared to the blue and gray and black

that we saw in issue zero, right? I mean, right

This is essentially a black and gold and purple

Batman is what this is So we then go to The brisbee

killers Which apparently they didn't give themselves

that name it was a news media stunt doesn't surprise

me at all and they are basically terrorizing

this family when Batgirl shows up and and she

shows up and basically kicks their asses and

and one guy says Danny what the hell hey you

knocked Tanya out cold I did Completely did like

she is she is so enthralled with herself because

she is just coming off of you know three years

of being in a wheelchair Mm -hmm, and it's her

first night and I don't think she expected herself

to do this. Well little victories Yeah Yeah,

yeah, she surprised herself And she's doing fairly

well for the most part. Is there a Spider -Man

reference, Brian? Which one? When she's basically

holding onto the guy's arm and arms and kicking

him in the face. Oh. Yeah, what move is that?

I don't know. It looks like one of the... I think

it happened in Amazing Spider -Man 1 where he...

Basically shot the webs out and used them as

a slingshot. That's what looks like she's doing

here Yeah, she kind of looks like she's kind

of looks like she's grabbed his arms And she's

she's doing that move where you where you kick

straight up, but she's doing it with both legs

It's kind of like she's sort of using him as

a swing Yeah, and then we find out that she is

way too rusty And we get to, let's see here,

she says, you know, so she basically saves the

day. You saved us, bless you, bless you. It's

okay, I'm glad. Bless you, Miss Batgirl, because

I think one of them calls her Batwoman at one

point. Mm -hmm, bless you, Batwoman. Yeah, yeah,

the name's Batgirl, yeah. And then we have probably...

The best image, this entire trade, all six of

these, seven of these issues, Simone and the

artists have the shooting scene recreated. That's

creepy as all hell. Yeah. Well, do you want to

talk about what this is? Oh, yeah. You know,

she says, I'm not Batgirl, not tonight. Not Batman's

former star pupil as I used to be. Not the girl

who did everything right, who danced through

Gotham and dazzled everyone she met. Tonight

I am Barbara Gordon. She of the Edetic Memory.

She who never forgets never, except how to breathe

sometimes. And she's basically flashing back

to when the Joker shot her. Right. Yeah, I mean

I describe this as what a flashback would look

like in a comic book that it's it's funny the

way this works because for folks that don't know

a flashback is experiencing the the traumatic

event again in like little snippets it could

be a It could feel as if you're re -experiencing

the trauma. And so when you talk to people who

have flashbacks from a traumatic event, they'll

say, I can see it happening. I'm in it right

now. I'm living it again. I can smell it, taste

it, see it, you know, all the senses. But what's

interesting is that in a flashback, it's not

exactly the same. It's very, very similar and

the person will say this is exactly how it happened,

but it's slightly different. And what's great

about this flashback in the comic book is that

it's not exactly the same, is it? It's how anyone

looking at this would say, yep, that's how I

remember that happening. Um, but as you said,

they, they recreated this image, right? So it's

not exactly one for one, exactly the same, but

it's incredibly the same. It's similar enough

that we would look at that and say, I know exactly

what's happening right now. I know exactly what

that is. Yeah. And where that came from. Right.

Um, and that's what I was mentioning earlier

about, you know, the Hawaiian shirt and the camera

around his neck and the fedora and oh God, he's

the evil version of Dick Tracy. Damn. Wow, that's

so wrong. No, I would have to go in the other

room and grab my killing joke trade to actually

tell you if this was like the image from that

taken into, you know, but I think it is a straight,

probably not a total straight recreation, but

it is there, you know, the new 52 recreation

of that image. Exactly. So. But yeah, she's she's

flashing back and it's it It's interesting because

in these, you know first what five or six pages

They basically tell us You know her origin how

it happened what happened they show us what happened

with him shooting with him shooting her because

I don't remember And of course, we just did the

killing joke episode and I can't remember it.

I don't remember if it actually shows him shooting

like in this. It shows the gunshot. It shows

her reeling back from being shot. I don't remember.

Brian, do you remember if it showed that in the

in the killer? The blood come out the other side.

That's the part that I feel is different. OK,

the the expression. Obviously, you know his what

he's wearing his expression and us I believe

seeing it from that perspective is the same but

there but I think there are some subtle differences

and and why I think that's interesting is that

again Memories are not like Xerox copies. We

don't remember it exactly the way it happened.

So What is probably unintentional, but what's

brilliant about this flashback? Is that this

isn't exactly how we remember remembered it,

but it's so damn close that we would probably

say oh Yeah, this is from the killing joke, and

I know exactly what this is Absolutely, so we

get to The next day pretty much, but it was serious

a gut shot an l1 injury first lumbar of the spinal

cord for three years I couldn't move or feel

my legs and we get to her and her dad what's

interesting here in reading the zero issue before

this is we have zero explanation Where James

jr. Is and yes, I know we can say it a million

times the zero issue happened after this and

it was gale backtracking To tell you know a zero

origin story, but I'm really surprised that we

don't see James jr. At all in this first This

first issue or even you know I don't even think

they mention it. They're solely focused on Barbara

and her recovery and her getting back into the

cost right and I I do think later much later

You know like in in some more recent issues.

There is an explanation that he's been away Right,

but you're right the way Chronologically the

way things were written it doesn't make direct

sense to what like he should probably be there

But I think there's an explanation made later

Absolutely. So we get her and her dad having

a discussion and he's just happy to see his beautiful

gifted daughter be able to walk again. It's basically

moving day for Barbara Gordon. She's moving out.

She needs to stretch her legs. She goes to the

Cherry Tree Hall, which I assume is in Cherry

Hill of Goth. I think, yeah, that is where she

lives, Cherry Hill. Now, comics use things in

pop culture all the time. Why couldn't they have

just said Craigslist instead of Greg's List?

Really? Come on. I don't know. Can they say Craigs?

Maybe they can't say Craigslist. I've seen comics

recently refer to iPhones and iPods and laptops

and Windows. Yeah. I've seen, you know, popular

terms in comics more recently now. I don't know

about in 2011. I wonder what goes into that though,

because if you, I mean, you had to sign a contract

to get your name into the... Yeah, I did. So

it's very possible that you've got to license

it. Yeah, that's true some degree might as well

and and we we all know that comic companies and

all kinds of companies are are Quite scared of

of anyone who might be litigious Yeah, yeah But

yet half of them can draw an iPhone and without

really making it look like a real iPhone So Barbara's

moving out on her own she meets her new roommate

Alyssa Mm -hmm, and we see her her new apartment

her new room It's really interesting how these

two Interact with one another I love the playfulness

of of Alyssa and Alyssa is I believe not to get

too far ahead of ourselves, but she is One of

the firsts in comics history as we go down the

line in later issues, most definitely. So we

see that she's kind of an activist and the reason

why Barbara has chosen to room here is because

Alyssa works nights at a bar and well, that works

for her because, you know, nighttime she's a

bad girl. Right. It's a good arrangement. Pretty

much, yeah. I don't know about a roommate that

paints the walls and, you know, fight the power.

Yeah, I would probably be like, I'm out of here.

Well, maybe she was part of the militia at one

point in her past. Well, I mean, you're right.

They have an immediate connection. There's something

about for each other. There's something about

each one of them that makes them feel comfortable

in a weird way. It seems like they're a good

fit. Absolutely. So after they meet and they

fist bump, we go to the hospital where the guy

from the Brisby Killers is recuperating. We then

cut back to Barbara and Alyssa, and they have

a... She's like, my shift starts in 20, but I

can help you unpack this year van. Yes, no, wait.

Yeah, we can't have anyone finding out the hidden

compartments in the back of the van. Right. I

think it's absolutely really, I think it's really

interesting that Barbara has the equivalent to

a Frank Castle battle van. I know everybody hates

the battle van for the Punisher. But it also

makes sense. I mean the idea that the idea that

you've got a character like Batman who sort of

miraculously has exactly what he needs when he

needs it. is is always sort of been weird. The

idea that she's got the equivalent of a battle

van is totally makes sense. Absolutely. But,

you know, I don't want to overlook the the conversation

that happens where the roommate, you know, asks

about the wheelchair lift and and then just immediately

says something about that, that, oh, that's that

sounds like that's my biggest fear. I'd be trapped

in a chair like that. It's like a prison without

realizing that Barbara was in that chair for

three years. And I like that part because then

Barbara, in her mind, says she didn't mean anything

by it. She doesn't know what it's like. She doesn't

know that the chair helps you do things. And

I don't feel like explaining that to her. right

now. So it's an interesting exchange. And I think

it's nicely done. Like there's an acknowledgement

that she was in that chair and we're reminded,

oh right, it was probably in some ways like a

prison, but Gail also acknowledges the respect

and the functionality of someone in a chair.

And I think that was her way of doing that. Absolutely.

Absolutely. So after they hug it out and everything

else and we go to, we go back to the hospital

and we see Batman, not really, but that's when

you see that panel here to see Rankin Theodore,

just seeing the cape or whatever this new villain

has. It just reminded me of Batman. And Heidi,

who has an exclamation point next to her name

on her name tag. I don't think they put exclamation

points on name tags. No, I've not seen that before.

That's weird. He says his name is Mirror. And

he basically goes on a rampage. we still don't

really see his face and I think this is purposeful

and I like that it's purposeful that we don't

see his face but we see his his giant mirror

ball that's on his chest and we see that you

know shots fired what the hell is going on call

it in call it in so apparently isn't is that

McKenna that is McKenna right That says what

the hell is going on. Yes. Yeah, so McKenna and

her partner are here guarding this brisbee killer

guy and Because Barbara is such a super genius.

She basically Secretly wrote it so she can get

her dad's texts alerts You'd think he'd know

that you would think that somehow Gordon would

know that that he's been hacked Don't know. I

don't know. I don't know that anyone really knows

for sure when when if and he's old school He's

totally old school. So oh, yeah, he's probably

one of those guys who has the difficult time

You know operating his own texts I'm just shocked.

He he has text messaging at all No, come on come

on this isn't 66 Gordon come on now This isn't

chief or hat I hear So she interrupts Alyssa

and says that she has to go and she has to deal

with something and We see okay. I may not have

a batmobile, but I still can arrive in style

Come to mama sweetheart, and she has this kick

-ass bike with bat symbols on the wheels That's

the biggest thing about the bat family in general

anyone that you're gonna get to do automotive

detailing on your vehicles Is gonna find out

who the hell you are Bruce Bruce and Alfred are

their own mechanics And then you probably have

Lucius Lucius did all all their yeah, wasn't

there an episode in BTS where They had them.

Yeah, they had a mechanic for the Batmobile and

BTS. I mean, we haven't gotten there yet I just

want I just want tires with with the bat ears

I think I think the thing that shocks me though

is the the dichotomy between these characters

who want to remain mythical But at the same time,

do things like put bat symbols on tires so that

if they are to leave treads, you know that whoever

was there is a member of the bat family. So it's

it's this it's this interesting juxtaposition

of do I exist? Do I not exist? I'm leaving marks

all over the place. And yet and yet people still

think that, you know, I am a, you know, this

Sort of boogie man character Leaving marks all

over the place reminds me of a line from epilogue

Bruce's DNA was easily enough to obtain he left

it all over town not remotely what I meant So

Barbara has her her bat cycle and she's she's

often running and I'm sorry sorry bet girl emergency

she's basically gonna run over all the hospital

workers and doctors like they really have to

run straight into her bike they can't run around

her yeah it's a bit dramatic and I don't know

I mean well at that point she could get off the

bike but she continues to you know drive it straight

in yeah she pulls a Looney Tunes gag or an old

Golden Age cartoon gag where you've got, you

know, you ride your horse into the elevator one

way and you somehow flip it around and it comes

out the other end the proper way to wherever

you're going. Right. And we see the, we see the

full image of Mirror. He kind of looks like Mask

of the Phantasm. A little bit. Not that I have

a problem with that. I think that's great. Yeah

But he he kind of does He says Will someone please

tell me what the hell is happening you I Assume

she's gonna curse there You killed my partner.

Yes. Sorry. They are ranking you should have

fallen. You're on the list and again this kind

of I know what the mirror will eventually, what

Bagger will eventually reveal about him, but

this is basically, this whole character is like

the Phantasm from Mask of the Phantasm because,

you know, she had a list, you know, Chuckie Shaw,

you're on the list, you know, it's kind of the

same thing. It's a nice little homage. I really

like it. So Batgirl gets in there and she goes,

would you be a lamb and hit the button for the

14th floor? No, seriously. How did she turn the

bike around? Because if she's in that elevator

already, how did she turn the bike around? Hey,

if if Schwarzenegger could do it with a police

horse and true lives. Oh, my God. That's where

did you pull that from? That was interesting.

So. Well, and so, OK, now the mirror has an actual

gun and has killed McKenna's partner and is saying,

you know, he's he's pointing it. He's pointing

it at Batgirl. Yeah, and her internal monologue

is just, oh, my God, he's pointing a gun right

at the spot. Mm hmm. And she. Right. And she

has. She has another flashback, and it's similar

to the image we saw before. It might actually

be part of the same image. I think it is, yes.

And she says, he's going to shoot me. And that,

you know, again, it's that flashback in comic

book form. We know what's happening to her. She's

froze she really she really she just freezes

which is Which happens when we're triggered by

by a traumatic event Sorry, we're triggered by

something that reminds us of a tragic Traumatic

event. Sorry. Yeah, cuz she says it doesn't even

have to be it doesn't even have to be a gun it

can be like the smell of coffee can can cause

her to go into an anxiety attack. She acknowledges

a number of things that are actual trauma reminders

like palm trees, images from his shirt, the smell

of coffee, the image of a gun pointed at her

midsection, just being in the same position.

So what's interesting is while other people may

not know that those are her trauma reminders

or those are her triggers. She knows them quite

well. She knows that she immediately goes into

this state of panic. And she says, I froze. He

pointed that gun at my spine and I froze. And

in the moment of her freezing, he throws out

the brisbee killer guy right out the window in

the hospital bed and all. Yeah. And Mir is basically

like, good night, ladies. It's been a pleasure.

It's kind of like he's signing off of late night

television or something. And McKenna's like,

you let that man, you let him kill that man,

you just watched him die. Murderer! I'm noticing

in this book, it's the artists sort of proclivity

to giving characters guns in their left hands.

My mirror is clearly ambidextrous, but well and

so as mechanics we see her The right hand and

yeah, they switch switch back and forth pretty

liberally much much more than I would and I'm

a pretty good shot Do you not now this is because

I've never handled a weapon of any sort you you

don't just switch back and forth. No Hmm, you're

either right or left. There are some people that

are ambidextrous, but very few Very few. Interesting.

In my case, I have to be left considering the

cerebral palsy affects my right side. That would

be the safer option. Yeah. Practice gun safety,

everybody. So that's how the first issue ends.

Such an explosive issue. Oh, sure. It's great.

This is what, like I said, this is one of my

favorites. It's the one that... that really inspired

me to write extensively about this character

and to talk about the psychology of trauma and

PTSD. And it really does a very nice job of explaining

what a flashback looks like, explaining what

nightmares might be related to trauma. And like

we've talked about, what happens to us when we're

triggered. by these trauma reminders. And so

I think it's a great story. For the next issue,

for issue two, we've got Batgirl sitting in front

of a gravestone and Mirror's shadow is over top

of her. I love this. This looks, it's just an

amazing cover. Yeah, it's good. Absolutely. So

we pretty much pick up where we left off. Yeah,

it goes immediately into that scene where Barbara

had been asking herself Did I did I really just

let mirror kill somebody? And we know why right

we she she was panicking she she physically froze

So I think we know that she didn't intend to

do that You know and Miriam basically says You

might have a talking about McKenna you might

have a concussion and you're not on the list

or you're none of the list And then she says

bad girl. Don't leave this room. I'm sorry detective

never again never again. Yeah I'm flashing again

to Batman Beyond with that plot that line. Yeah

So we have more of her monologue and an amazing

lightning -filled shot of her following Mira

out, I believe. Yeah, that's... How that shot's

working here. That's interesting. So she follows

him out, and she realizes now she's not ready.

She's nowhere near ready to be actually on patrol.

Because she says that, well... I'm jumping ahead

of myself. She chases him, and I love this image

at the bottom, at the bottom right of that panel,

the bottom left, where she says he doesn't consider

me a threat, so he didn't look behind him. The

image of her coming down on his head, I wish

I had that as a larger image. That would be so

awesome. Yeah, that's great. And then she realizes,

uh -oh, too fast, too fast, too fast. She's not

ready. She's nowhere near ready. Well, I think.

Do you mean physically? Like, OK, OK, physically.

Yeah. And I think part of that, too, is is her

confidence. Right. Because psychologically, she's

she's not. Well, I don't want to say she's not

ready psychologically, but she's still struggling

with her confidence and asking herself, is this

something is this something that I can do? after

what happened to me, because she knows that when

she puts on the cape and the cowl, she's risking

her life again. So I think that there's a combination

of psychologically struggling with not sure the

uncertainty, the lack of confidence, and that

impacts her ability to function physically. Well,

yeah, I mean, she says she even says as as she's

coming down on him. Oh, oh, oh, and then her

internal is my legs because that's what I mean.

She's physically she was not ready for this drop.

Yeah, she just wasn't. She should have been doing

real physical therapy instead of the horizontal

physical therapy with the. Well, we don't know.

I would say she was also doing actual physical

therapy because she's. She's not just walking.

She's scaling buildings and yeah, but you know,

we don't know what she was doing with him Jerry

Springer all over again. I can see and Dick Grayson.

This is who she's cheating on you with God I

can just now imagine the entire bat family on

a Jerry Springer episode. Oh my god That would

be so amazing. Okay, I'm going to get technical.

She's not she what she wasn't cheating. No, I

know. We're not together. So I know. They're

on a break. I'm just alluding to the fact. Of

course, I also like I also like the the acknowledgement

that she can feel her legs. Yeah. Well, of course,

because she couldn't for the last three years.

Yeah. Of course she could. Well, in the sense

that you you You have to have some kind of sensation

to be able to No, I'm talking about right here.

I'm talking about the ow ow ow my legs Yeah,

it's it's the actual acknowledgement that she

can feel her legs. Yes Yeah, no, I see what you're

saying So we get to where she says, okay if I

could stand I might kick myself And she She falls

on a cab and the cabbie gets out, hey, look what

you did to my cab. Yeah, but look what your cab

did to my ribs. Another example where if this

were real, she would be incredibly injured at

this point. She would be sidewalk stroganoff

pretty much, yeah. Or street pizza until Robin

comes up and changes the menu. That's an old

wounds reference, people. Get with it. um uh

you you friggin bad people all the time with

your vampire ways what you uh why don't you go

swoop over metropolis and fight larry luther

yes ma 'am sorry ma 'am i read the larry luther

line i'm like oh my god that's so hilarious wow

um so let's see where uh so we have that interaction

she says huh Headed in the same direction. He

was going when I interrupted him so masterfully

But nothing's out there So we get back to at

the hospital where McKenna is basically refusing

to get checked out She's pulling the you know

the oh, I'm a tough -as -nails cop. I'm not you

know I'm not injured. I don't need to be checked

out and Gordon comes up and basically puts her

in her place Tells her to get checked out and

The bottom the bottom panel here Glad to hear

it now. Let's see us. I do what they can for

detective Paulson. Will you do that for me? My

condolences detective McKenna Commissioner we're

gonna need a second warrant for a bad girl. She's

back and the look in Gordon's eyes is like Complete

notice it to me. It's complete another shock

mm -hmm don't think And I know for a fact that

he doesn't know because I've read up to the current

issues already. And Gail did the Wanted arc and

she almost told him, she almost showed him. But

I know for a fact in this series he does not

know that Barbara is back. Yeah, but I wonder

if they knew going into it that they... That

they he didn't know because he does give that

look like my god. My daughter is back in the

costume Or someone else is doing what my daughter

used to do He does give he does give a very sort

of almost knowing look well remember he has relationships

with the bat family members, so Yeah, it's true.

I think that that look could refer to Thought

she was dead or I thought she was missing or

you know, this is this could be a look of relief

So it's good that like it's a nice expression

because McKenna doesn't see his his expression

there. She's behind him. So Yeah Yeah So we find

out that mirror is Like we said before he's got

this hit list He introduces himself to bad girl.

He opens his giant Cloak and it's all He's basically

his own hall of mirrors. He's basically his own

carnival And I do love how Gail writes her and

I do love how it How the the sarcasticness comes

out of that girl, I think that's really really

awesome and She basically engages mirror and

this is something she's most physically most

definitely not ready for him, right? He outweighs

her. He is stronger. He's basically Brian will

probably crucify me for saying this and most

listeners might as well. He's basically her version

of Bane. Oh Uh, yeah. Well, yeah. Little, little

bit. I mean, granted, he doesn't have the venom

that Bane does, but, I mean, you know, he outweighs

her, he outmatches her. And she does make reference

to his sort of super, super strength, and, you

know, he's sort of scary in that regard. No,

I would say that he's probably the equivalent

at least up to this point. Yeah. um so yeah so

he basically um let's see uh and i just boosted

these papers you keep obsessing over you have

no right you don't get to see that uh then we

both heard sirens must have seen us on the surveillance

cameras like i said this place holds a lot of

capitalists yeah um yeah that's right you run

Don't want none of this, oh man, ow. And Barbara

has no idea how she got home, no idea how she

got out of the costume, no idea where the, you

know, she says the bike is probably in police

impound. But, you know, we get to this and Alyssa's

like, hey, whoever's leaning on the doorbell,

I've got a bat. That's strangely ironic. I didn't

notice that until just now. And if you look at

her shirt, the way the shadow is played on the

shirt, it looks like she has a bat symbol on

her shirt. Hold on a second. More editing. so

Alyssa thinks that some boyfriend has beat her

up and and all that and they basically said Barbara

basically says I promise I'm not a criminal and

I'm not a victim Gordon I'm serious here someone's

hurting you I'm not gonna sit by and watch it

go on I'm not that person are we clear crystal

so we then have more exchanges with them She

basically asks Alyssa if she has something, you

know, a little something cute to wear. Like you

do. Because she's going on a date with her physical

therapist. Oh god. Can we just skip this part

because there's nothing really that interesting

here. Wait a minute, okay. Yes, we can skip it,

but we acknowledge that this is a very healthy

thing to do for her. There's a lot going on.

She should probably just rest for a while, but

she's reaching out and connecting with someone.

Now, it's her physical therapist. Probably not

the person you want to have a relationship with

but but I think it's a nice touch She's never

been one to follow the rules I know no, but I'm

more excited about what's gonna happen in the

next issue than I am Dealing with the you know

the blind date with the physical therapist She

finds mirrors apartment There's I don't know

if this is live or if it's a pre -programmed

message, I think it is live He says you've been

You've made yourself a part of this You'll be

a witness. I know who you are. Mr. Mills. I know

what your family you do. Do you know about my

family? And it goes to tell how you know his

family died in a car crash in a fire and he should

have burned up with them and basically his whole

shtick is he doesn't believe in miracles anymore.

Yeah. That's pretty much what his whole deal

is. His whole thing is he feels that people cheated

death and need to be killed. In order to make

things right Right, but but bad girl figures

out my god. This guy doesn't want to kill he

wants to die Yeah, you know who he kind of reminds

me of and this is just my pop culture You know

at work a bit the he kind of reminds me of did

either of you ever watch the quantum leap? Oh,

yeah, he's the evil leaper And and even the Jason

Priest a character in true was it true calling

true calling oh yeah like he's he's the antithesis

of what the hero is where you know we've got

sam sam becket saving people's lives and then

you got the evil leaper going through time trying

to make sure that that person is killed because

that's how it's supposed to be yeah absolutely

And this issue ends with a good man would have

burned to death in that car in the snow just

south of the Gotham Bay Bridge with his family

You will learn through fire and explosions You

will And an end to all miracles you will learn

so basically he's setting up the fact that he

has set up a bomb on a train where someone was

saved and the Good Samaritan who saved that person,

they're both gonna die. And that's how this one

ends. And the next cover is probably one of the

two covers that I absolutely love from these

seven issues. It's basically Bet Girl, Swing

Kicking Nightwing. Oh boy. But it looks, the

art here, it looks a bit rotoscope -ish to me.

On the cover you know term right yes in the sense

that it looks like there could have been models

Yeah, like illustrated from actual yeah people

Potentially So again we pick up where we left

off where she's got to go stop this train Bombing

and This reminds me so much of die hard with

a vengeance Where he's like, don't worry New

York City place just need to find some just need

to look at something. Yeah And we see a beautiful

splash page of Batgirl riding the train More

doubts Yep, or birds pigeons pigeons something

like that so throughout this she's basically

conversing with with mirror who apparently gave

her and you know left her an earpiece so they

could keep track of each other um he says do

you understand now bad girl forever rupert ansel

saved by a stranger from certain death there

are thousands who died needlessly thousands This

is just So in other words no no one person Deserves

to be saved any more than any of those thousands

of people Yep Absolutely So she figures out okay,

well if I can't stop the bomb I'm gonna grab

the guy and she figures out. Okay, well which

one of you is Rupert Ansell and it turns out

that not only does she she saves him but she

doesn't save the other person because what happened

was Rupert Ansell rides the train one way the

Good Samaritan rides it the opposite direction

so the train explode the other train explodes

carrying the Good Samaritan so the Good Samaritan

dies yeah That's not a good thing. I think later

we find out that five five people died in this

accident Mm -hmm Yep We go back to McKenna's

place two hours after the train explosion She

is we go there and we also go back to The police

precinct I believe yeah police precincts because

she's on the phone with gordon and uh... she's

at home she's not allowed to work yeah she's

at home she's not allowed to work but i like

how they show each of them on the phone instead

of just having her on the phone to him i like

the way that the artist did that and then barbara's

waiting in the background in his office and she's

uh... McKenna is determined to find out whatever

happened to Batgirl. Yeah. And she has really,

really old people text on her monitor. It is

very large font. Yes, all I can think of is that

newfangled keyboard that infomercials at 3 a

.m. Advertise were super giant large keys so

you can see them It's kind of like those old

old phones in the early early 90s super giant

button phones It's gonna take her forever to

read that article yeah, it's zoomed over 9000

So we get more with Commissioner Gordon and Barbara.

By the way, you know what I love about these

two pages? It's just nothing but redheads. Just

lots of orange chairs all over. Well, it's funny.

You say that, but a lot of times in Batgirl,

we see Barbara and Commissioner Gordon have these

kinds of exchanges. And it's really pretty. I

mean, there's an opportunity to have all this

very brightly. Colored a couple of pages because

most of the rest of this, you know a lot of dark

so it's kind of cool Yeah, and we we then get

to the police impound because that's where she

figured they took her bite to I'm not sure if

that was Batman, he would never allow that. He

would have said shields or something. And that

just shows the difference between the two of

them. Right, exactly. I absolutely love this

because by this point in the book, I had already

been reading Nightwing. I actually read Batgirl

backwards. I started at issue 13 and went forward

and then came back to this. Oh, that's interesting.

Yeah, well. So it's okay if you read zero. Yeah,

kind of. But my main complaint with zero is how

it should have been in this first trade, not

the second one. That's my main complaint with

it. But that's how DC does things. So Barbara

breaks into the police impound She's you know

calling out to her baby or bike and well, and

she finds dick That's what she said Actually

what what happens is stealing from the cops now

are we and this is what I love about certain

you know certain comics and certain characters

is how they can Do a line on a page like that

and then you have to turn the page to reveal

Who the character is he says also isn't a little

weird to be talking to your bike how embarrassing

for her But she she recovers, but that depends

maybe I wasn't talking to the bike There's all

kinds of hidden messages there And you know we

we really get the sense of these two in there

and their chemistry in there and their friction

together He says okay, but how do we get out

of here smarty pants? I have a skeleton key actually

and all she does is break through the fence Yeah

And we get more monologue from her about their

you know relationship and how this moment right

now with with dick wrapped around her and You

know that this moment is painfully nice considering

what she's been through the last few months and

days and years. Not that I think she's worried

about him, but she asks him, you okay? I've been

shot out of Cannon's back, girl. I'm okay. I

just love the interaction between these two.

Yeah, it's great. Absolutely. And they talk about

this game of tag that they always used to play,

and she tags him, and you're it, bird boy. Looks

like she flies off, and I actually, I had this

image of Nightwing as a profile picture on Facebook.

Huh, redheads. What is it about redheads? So

let's see, where do we go from here? We get kind

of a backstory between the two of them a little

bit. Yeah, that is... Yeah, that is dick because

that's what confused me about the stupid physical

therapist at first I was like, hey, wait a second.

Isn't that dick? No, that's not Dick Grayson

It's going on here because the designs are kind

of similar. Yeah Look, there's a lot of dark

haired young Bruce looking boys around Gotham.

Just you know and it seems to be that you know

after after we get this flashback of the two

of them um you know it seems as if she's lost

him and she's like nightwing and he's right behind

her and taps on the shoulder ahem tag she screams

i win right i think that's a win i'll ahem you

And the whole thing with the two of them here

is he's looking in on her But You know, he's

not really looking in on her but he and Batman

are worried about where she's going. Sure Well,

he even he even comments something about Do you

want to be back in the chair again? I think he

has a good reason to be worried about her and

and And so, you know, it makes sense Yep And

we go to You know, he says He says bad girl bab

stop Batman and I are word. Yes. It's not because

we doubt you It's because we love you. You do

not really see that and She her monologue says

and there's the heart of it. Damn I love the

image that the artist does of her eye because

it looks like it's his emblem in her iris. In

her pupil. That is very awesome. She goes, you're

a mess, you know. Yeah, I fought this tough redhead

chick. She beat the crap out of me. She sounds

wonderful. And this one pretty much ends with

her wanting to be alone and he leaves her alone.

Yeah. Well, it's important to her because He

doesn't know the whole story, of course, but

she communicates to him that she needs to independently

take care of this one because she needs to feel

empowered. She needs to feel like she can be

Batgirl again. Did we lose signal? No. Sorry.

So the next one is basically more of her hunting

down mirror Absolutely love that cover Of her

basically putting her foot in his mirrored face.

Oh, yeah That's awesome And the first page of

this one is Batgirl in a wheelchair. That was

something I was not expecting Yeah, getting a

getting a glimpse of That oh, yeah, that was

something I was most definitely not expecting

whatsoever But what and this is I think Do we

find out this is a this is a nightmare. She's

having a belief. Yeah. Yeah Yeah, this is a nightmare

that she's having she's she says another one

every night lately. Mm -hmm And we're back to

the breathe Barbara breathe Now she says in her

monologue after the breathe Barbara breathe she

says survivors guilt or something like it I know

that's all it is but it still Stings down to

the bone. So is it survived? Is it survivors

guilt, Drea? Well, it's a couple of things because

What what is survivors guilt survivors guilt

happens when? You feel as though You should have

been the one the victim or the one to die if

you witness a colleague, a friend, someone else

die. So that did happen to her in the sense that

she was responsible for possibly a couple of

deaths in the first issue. So there could be

survivor's guilt in the sense that. But also

it's the question of why did she survive the

jokers? You know gunshot when thousands of others

don't on a daily basis. I mean, that's true That's

true, but I don't know that I would have chosen

that what we see is she's She's having nightmares

about being back in the chair interestingly in

the in the back girl suit which is kind of an

interesting image and She's having nightmares.

I think routinely which is a classic symptom

of PTSD. So Yeah, we could call a survivor's

guilt. I would call it PTSD or I would call it

re -experiencing symptoms. And that's probably

better capturing what's happening to her psychologically.

So she figures out this whole thing with Mills

and she figures out what he's attempting to do

and trying to do. And she actually uses his one

Achilles heel against him, which is his family.

and she leaves a note at their graves to have

him meet her at the circus. And she ironically,

I wouldn't say it's irony really, but she basically

uses the Hall of Mirrors against him. I love

this page where she says hello agent Mills and

she clicks and turns on the turns on the mirrors

the bat at the top welcome to your dark night

of the soul absolutely love that that image it's

so chilling it's interesting how she doesn't

normally like in every media I've seen she I

really don't want to compare it to Spider -Man,

but she's kind of the more quippy superhero.

She doesn't really use the bat symbol like Batman

would. She doesn't use it to strike fear in the

hearts of the criminals like he does. But I thought

it was really interesting that she's doing that

here with that overarching shadow of the bat.

Absolutely love that. Yeah, well, she acknowledges.

I feel like she's always saying, okay, I'm not

going to beat this guy in the traditional sense.

I can't. He's bigger. He's stronger. That seems

to be her MO. But I'm smarter. I can trick him.

I can outwit him. And she does. I mean, that's

her MO, as I said. Absolutely. and the uh...

so she wraps it up with mirrors she basically

stops him and pretty much makes him realize not

necessarily the error of his ways but uh... she

basically tells him uh... we live in gotham city

mirrors sometimes the extraordinary things happen

to very the very worst people and the best people

suffer and sometimes people get their miracles

whether they deserve them or not Whether they

deserve them or not. Believe me. I know We never

really see what happens to him At least not by

the end of the page of this issue, right? Because

it goes to later that night because the whole

time during that this issue it's Christmas time.

Yay And Just waiting for certain toxins to enter

the air You know, so oh I've always wanted one

of these Guys it's a no freaking way. It's a

Joey ceramic cooking knife So they're back at

their apartment Alyssa and Barbara have you know

a few Christmas moments and um it's just my father

and my well my brother dad's working tonight

i'll see him in the morning i'm used to it it's

okay and then ding dong i god you have no idea

i didn't even really pay attention to the panel

next to the ding dong because i wasn't um wasn't

really wanting to pay attention to it but um

she's like i'll get it may i barbara and uh Does

she recognize me, Barbara? I'm your mother. Dun

dun dun. And you in about 20 years. Yep. The

rest of the trade, the rest of the issues, the

final kind of story here is dealing with Barbara

and her mother. And we have this other plot with

Bruce. And these other people with the 338s I

think this is where the nightfall stuff kind

of starts a little bit right because we have

disciples of nightfall I will say my other faith

my two favorite covers out of this entire thing

out of these seven issues are the Nightwing cover

and Then the Batman cover for the I believe it's

the final issue I think it's issue seven. That's

that cover with it's basically her and Batman

with snow all around them. I absolutely love

that cover. Oh, right. I absolutely love it.

That's the one with Gretel, right? Yeah, yeah,

Gretel, yeah. That's the one with Gretel. And

then the seventh issue is basically Barbara Gordon,

or it's basically Batgirl versus Bruce Wayne,

because they've turned Bruce into a 338. And

that gets resolved fairly quickly. There's not

these two issues with the the issues with Gretel

the fun issue six and seven There's not not until

the end almost the end of issue seven. Is there

a lot of psychological stuff at least for me,

right? I could be wrong, you know Drake and correct

me I mean sure that there's interweavings with

her mother, but the Gretel storyline takes center

stage here and then by almost the end of the

end of the issue we have the stuff with her mother

I will say I will say about the the final couple

pages on on issue seven I absolutely love McKenna

you and McKenna look I'm sorry about your partner

I couldn't help him but you've got to let me

stop that woman on the crane Let the professionals

do that, girl. Stand back, Batman. She's an accessory.

You can arrest us both then, but later. I absolutely

love that. Absolutely love that. Oh, God. I can

so hear Kevin Conrad saying that line. Oh, God.

Well, it's interesting, too. Like, isn't... Now,

we're looking at the individual issues and not

the trade, but, like, isn't grotesque in the

first trade? Yeah, so it's so you get that cool.

There was a great moment where she realizes that

one of the henchmen Is the henchman that stands

over the shoulder of the Joker during during

the infamous killing joke scene Yeah, and she's

got to come face to face with him again. Like

she instantly recognizes him, right? Oh, yeah

Absolutely. It basically ends with Gretel obviously

getting arrested. They'll put me away, I'll be

powerless, please let me go. Batgirl's monologue

is, I had people who loved me, who helped guide

me away from the abyss. I could have been Gretel,

but revenge heals what's broken. We know about

that, don't we, Batman? And we see Batgirl on

the street and Batman basically looking over

her. The trade also has a few sketches of the

new 52 Batgirl. It has, I believe, a sketch of

Grotesque. And, you know, they're really all

very nice designs. It has... I'm trying to see

what kind of cover is this. $299. It has a weird...

Oh, it's the the sketch version of the of the

mirror cover where she's she's sitting at the

the gravesite So it has a sketch version of that

Overall these these first seven issues absolutely

amazing Yeah, absolutely Absolutely Once you

read this ladies and gentlemen, you're going

to be sucked into Batgirl's world A lot of people

have said, after I recommended it, a lot of people

said they weren't interested in the character

Batgirl, they didn't read Batgirl comics, and

it was this iteration of Batgirl that introduced

them to her, but also brought them back to reading

superhero comics again. I think just the general

comic reader... who was reading Batgirl maybe,

maybe it might have been somebody stuck on, oh,

Stephanie Brown is my Batgirl and they got rid

of her to bring Barbara back and all this and

all that and everything else. And I realized

that, you know, Gail even said that that to bring

Barbara back was not her decision. That was something

that DC Comics wanted to do. And she actually

thought it was a bad idea at first. But to be

perfectly honest, I think it's the best decision

they could have made because it forced or it

forced Gale to come up with a good story that

allowed Barbara to come back. And I think that

the magic that came out of that is gold. Absolutely.

You know, I think the other thing is, I think

I've said this in several of my reviews, because

I think I started writing reviews for this series

at issue 19, maybe. I could be wrong. I have

to go back on the site and look. I've said it

several times in my written reviews. This is

not just a superhero book. This is a superhero

book that has psychological ramifications throughout

its entire run. I totally agree. Every arc that

Gale has set up to this point. Okay, the lately

like the some of the there have been pretty much

two one -shot issues, which is the 25 issue written

by Marguerite Bennett, which is the zero -year

issue, and the issue 30, which really doesn't

tie into what Gayle's... I mean, it ties in,

but it doesn't because it's the Midnight Man

story. It's pretty much... it's a self -contained

story since it's not Gayle's writing, but everything

else that she's done is absolutely amazing. I

think that's going to do it for us. We've been

here for a while. I know these guys have to get

to doing their own show. Oh, this is great. Yeah.

Thank you for having us. This is an opportunity

to really get into the details of a great story

and we had a blast doing it. Thank you. Absolutely.

Next time that hopefully Brian and Dr. Dre will

return is in June when we will be covering volume

two. Because I play as long as you guys are willing

to do this I plan on having you on all the volumes

There might be a couple issues I would want to

talk about oh, yeah, yeah most definitely Most

definitely so I think that's gonna do it for

us here on the pull bag for this part of Batman

75th anniversary month Coming up next, what do

we have? Ah, yes. A death in the family is coming

up next, where America decided to kill Jason

Todd. Yay. Brian, where can people find you on

social media? You can find me on Twitter. I'm

bward028. What about you, Drea? I am at Arkham

Asylum Doc on Twitter, and my website is underthemaskonline

.com. Awesome. You guys want to pimp out the

show? Absolutely. You can listen to the podcast,

The Arkham Sessions. We are on iTunes. And you

can find all the episodes at UnderTheMaskOnline

.com. You can also follow us on Twitter. We are

at Arkham Sessions. Awesome. Awesome. And they're

also on Facebook, The Arkham Sessions as well.

True. Absolutely. One of the best podcasts I've

ever listened to. And we appreciate your support.

Yeah, thank you for listening and for commenting

and chatting about it. Yeah, it's such a unique

way to approach a review show. It's just amazing.

All right, so I have been TFG and Mike. They

are Brian and Andrea from the Arkham Sessions.

Make your great escape into comics and we will

catch you next time. Just a minute. Dick? What's

wrong? I didn't know where else to go. I've had

it. I can't do this anymore. Do what? I've gotta

get away. Away from him. I don't understand.

How could you? How could anybody? Well, sit down

and tell me about it. I... I can't. You can tell

me. It's not that. It's just... Oh, forget it!

I shouldn't have come here, I'm sorry. Gotta

work this out on my own. I'll call you later.

You've just heard the latest episode of The Pullback,

the GCRN's comic review and discussion podcast.

There are several ways to get in touch with us

and leave feedback for the show. You can visit

the website, keycastradio .com, where you can

comment on the episode and all of our different

podcasts. You can rate our show on iTunes. Be

sure to leave us feedback. Call the voicemail

line 502 -526 -5821. Please remember to tell

us the show you're leaving the message for and

your name. Become a fan of us on Facebook by

searching Geekcast Radio Network. Send us an

email feedback at geekcastradio .com. Follow

us on Twitter at Geekcast Radio. So until next

time. Make your great escape into comics and

unleash the geek in you.