Batgirl is published by DC Comics. It is written by Mairghread Scott with art by Elena Casagrande and Scott Godlewski.
Well, if you can’t tell by the cover, James Gordon Jr., the sociopathic brother of Barbara, has been released. Not only has Batgirl been working on the Cormorant case, but Barbara has had an entire electoral campaign she’s been working hard on, and now to top it off, she has to hunt James down before he has the chance to hurt anyone. But the claim from not only the warden, but Commissioner Gordon as well, is that James has changed. He isn’t going to hurt anyone anymore – so they say.
The subject of her brother has always been complicated for Barbara. He’s a psycho. He has murdered people, he’s put the lives of their family and her friends in jeopardy, but he’s also the same blood running through her veins. Not only that, but pretty much all of the Bat Family follows a “no killing” rule. So she can’t just kill him, but she also isn’t going to easily believe he’s been rehabilitated like everyone else either. And that’s the question we are posed: has he really been changed?
Let’s talk about that. It does SEEM he’s changed, but as you see in this issue, there’s something really…strange about it. The way he describes why he can’t hurt people. It doesn’t seem like his overall mentality has changed, he’s just plagued by a new kind of terrible thoughts – ones that torment him in a way that keep him from hurting others. I don’t fully understand it yet, I think that’s the point, seeing as the ending dropped a pretty big tie-in indicator to The Batman Who Laughs. While this is really cool and quite the unexpected twist, I was a little disappointed since the cover makes it look like there’s going to be another epic Babs vs. James who-will-die-next-mind-game, but then it’s just James being…normal? As normal as James can be, at least.
Although Elena Casagrande and Scott Godlewski are new to illustrating this series, they do an amazing job. And John Kalisz’s colors are fantastic, I especially loved the reds and blues during the argument between Barbara and Commissioner Gordon. I also just have to say that I really love the direction Batgirl is going following the creative team change. She looks and seems more mature, more Barbara Gordon, to me.
OVERALL SCORE: 8.5 / 10
Make sure you pick up Batgirl #33 from your local comic shop!
Happy reading!
