The Batmom

1-2-3 Punch

3 comics. 300 words. GO!

(For backstory on each, see WHO THE HELL and WHAT THE HELL guides at bottom; not included in word count.)

Batgirl #6

COVERGIRL: Batgirl & Batman perform heroic ballet. Simple, lovely. Batgirl’s red, purple, gold provide spots of color, giving her narrative primacy.

INSIDE STORY: Bad Gretel of the vibrant locks was a reporter entrapping sleaze. Sleaze shot her. Bullet worked evil brain-miracle, giving her hypnotic power over men, possibly even strong-minded Bruce Wayne. Batgirl and Batman bond, battle Gretel. He affirms her greatness. She captures Gretel. Barbara’s mother seeks rapprochement via muffins.

RAMBLE: I want a villain I don’t have to pity. Happy to see Batman kind and Batgirl mighty.           

 

Batwoman #6

COVERGIRL: Love the closeup. Bold, like Batwoman. Agitated hands on temples efficiently express 1) extreme angst; 2) intense focus; 3) bad hangover; or 4) Slurpee headache.

INSIDE STORY: Detective Sawyer gets chewed out by a grief-stricken parent, who claims Sawyer doesn’t understand loving a child because she’s gay. Jake Kane reads to unconscious Flamebird. Llorona myth is revisited. Kate refuses to share personal info. with her new GF Sawyer. Batwoman and Agent Chase kick ass, seeking Llorona’s young victims.

RAMBLE: Divvying up the book into character-focused sections (e.g. “Kate’s Story,” “Chase’s Story”) makes for streamlined consumption of gross quantity of narrative information.

 

SUPERGIRL #6

COVERGIRL: Is that shaft sticking into her? Ouch. Like the purples, as if Supergirl red is draining away.

INSIDE STORY: Kara accepts that her previous life is over and earth is where it’s at. Reign prepares to wreak havoc on NYC when Supergirl shows up full of raw emotion and ready to rumble. Until Reign reveals she has an angry host of Worldkillers at her beck and call.

RAMBLE: I often imagine Supergirl on the big screen, something I never do with the Bats. I still prefer the Bats, though loving the Reign storyline, which brings up creation issues similar to Battlestar (Cylons).

 

 

BATGIRL: WHO THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE?

Barbara Gordon: Batgirl.

Batgirl: Former Batman trainee, along with Robin (now Nightwing). Shot by the Joker and left paralyzed. Regained use of legs after radical neural surgery. Now struggling to return to her former powerful self. Self-deprecating, clever.

Gretel: New baddie. She keeps her hands and white catsuit pristine but seems to control those around her, who perform bad deeds while chanting 338.

Batman: Batman.

Bruce Wayne: Batman’s wealthy alter-ego.

Mama Gordon: A recent returnee to Barbara’s life, to Barbara’s discomfort.

BATGIRL: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

Batgirl is persuing Gretel, a slick villain who exerts mind control over men. Gretel seems to have Bruce Wayne under her sway, and last issue ended with him about to strike Batgirl with a tire iron. Barbara Gordon’s mother has returned to Gotham many years after deserting Barbara, her father, and her brother. Barbara doesn’t want to see her, but mama is intent upon a relationship.

BATWOMAN: WHO THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE?

Kate Kane: Survived a brutal kidnapping by terrorists that killed her mother and turned her sister into a crazy villain. West Point student, expelled under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Dating Agent Chase.

Batwoman: Kate’s awesome superhero alter-ego. Currently working with the Agent Chase and the DEO, who will arrest her dad if she doesn’t.

DEO: Department of Extranormal Operations

Jake Kane: Kate’s dad and military big-wig. Kate won’t talk to him, though he’ll talk to her.

Bette Kane/Flamebird: Kate’s cousin/Batwoman’s mentee, member of Teen Titans/tennis star. Currently unconscious.

Agent Cameron Chase: DEO agent. Currently working with Batwoman.

Detective Sawyer: Police detective on the Llorona case. Kate’s love interest.

Llorona, aka the Weeping Woman, aka Maria Salvaje: Demon spirit who sucks children’s breath. Born when Maria Salvaje, alcoholic mother, drowned herself after the drowning deaths of her neglected children. Probable tool of Medusa.

Medusa: Mysterious, evil organization.

Batman: Batman.

BATWOMAN: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

Llorona, the spirit of an alcoholic mother whose children drowned while she was drunk, has stolen many children. Before dissipating, she told Batwoman Medusa put her up to it. Batwoman/Kate Kane was prepared to seek Medusa and the missing children alone, but is now working with Agent Chase of the DEO. Police Detective Sawyer is also on the case, and is dating Kate. Kate’s cousin Bette, aka Teen Titan Flamebird, has been knocked unconscious by a bad guy with a hook.

SUPERGIRL: WHO THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE?

Supergirl/Kara Zor-El: Recently arrived to earth from her home planet, Krypton. Older cousin of Superman on Krypton; younger cousin of Superman on earth

Reign: One of an unknown number of Worldkillers, sentient weapons, created by Kryptonian scientists; now adrift, confused about their origins, ripped and pissed

SUPERGIRL: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

Supergirl’s home planet, Krypton, has been destroyed, along with most of its inhabitants. She and an unknown number of other Kryptonians, including her cousin Superman, are on earth. Supergirl has arrived far later in earth-time than Superman; while he was much younger than her on Krypton, he’s older than her on earth. Supergirl is reluctant to accept the total destruction of her planet. Reign tries to convince Supergirl to help her take over earth, but Supergirl says no.

CBV Reads Batgirl #5

(For character guide, see bottom of post.)

COVERGIRL: As she did on the cover of Batgirl #2, Batgirl looks cowed. Her pose bespeaks fear, but again like cover #2, her face also signals doggedness. This pose – persistent and afraid – reflects Batgirl’s and Barbara Gordon’s psychological position.

She’s regained the use of her legs and her place in the superhero universe, but she’s rusty. Her eyes and her crouching stance signal her knowledge of her own weaknesses, but her straight-on stare and upheld head signal determination.

That clenched fist, which must belong to perpetrator of her bloody nose, looks equally determined.

INSIDE STORY: Wow, I must have taken my last post to heart, because I never noticed the words on the cover: Introducing Gretel, She’s Sickly Sweet and Sadistic! Obviously, the fist belongs to Gretel.

Gretel sits at the heart of a bevy of strange things going down in Gotham: A crimelord kills his beloved sons, muttering the numbers 338. Bruce Wayne’s chauffeur turns on him, also crying out 338. Finally, Bruce Wayne turns on Batgirl while she’s trying to protect him. As he raises a tire iron to strike her, he cries out, “338!”

 338 is the number of an historic, decrepit building Bruce Wayne is tearing down in the name of urban renewal. It’s also become a rallying cry for a crew of disparate folks – the crimelords, the chauffeur, Bruce Wayne — that have been changed, by some unknown force, into violent robots fighting towards an as-yet-mysterious purpose.

Gretel appears every time the 338-ers wreak havoc. Though she stands back, never dirtying her hands or snow-white catsuit, she’s very obviously controlling this motley army. To what end remains to be discovered; presumably something to do with Wayne’s urban renewal project.

Also, right after the crimelord blasts his sons into oblivion, Gretel experience an odd moment of … ecstasy? Euphoria? Batgirl is befuddled, as are we the readers.

Also, Barbara Gordon’s mother announces she’s back in town for a while, sending Barbara into a stress-induced carb-frenzy (muffins!).

RAMBLE: Gretel-in-form-fitting-white, with hair colored in various electric hues, presents a sharp contrast to Batgirl’s last nemesis, the cape-clad Mirror, though it's unclear what form her villainy takes, or where her motivations lie. Jury's out pending further knowledge.

The most gripping thing about this issue is the solidifying of Barbara’s voice: She’s clever, self-deprecating, and self-aware; the kind of girl who’d make a great friend. She’d never make you feel inferior, and she’d write great status updates:

“Some people do yoga when they’re stressed. I eat muffins.”

WHO THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE?

Barbara Gordon: Batgirl.

Batgirl: Former Batman trainee, along with Robin (now Nightwing). Shot by the Joker and left paralyzed. Regained use of legs after radical neural surgery. Now struggling to return to her former powerful self. Self-deprecating, clever.

Commissioner Gordon: Babs’ dad, Gotham PD commish.

Alysia: BG’s roommate.

Gretel: New baddie. She keeps her hands and white catsuit pristine but seems to control those around her, who perform bad deeds while chanting 338.

Batman: Batman.

Bruce Wayne: Batman’s wealthy alter-ego.

Mama Gordon: A recent returnee to Barbara’s life, to Barbara’s discomfort.