Art By: Fernando Pasarin
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: February 12, 2014
Vampires, The Hell You Say.
Last issue we saw Batgirl's tie-in to Gothtopia, but that's done now. Even though you might want to see to Blue Bell swinging over the peaceful streets of Gotham, you're going to have to finish that off with Detective Comics. So for us that means we're back to normal, and beginning a new Batgirl story, and if last issues dark and powerful tale was any indication how Gail Simone is going to be writing her stories in the future then we have another powerful story ahead of us. So I'll stop wasting time and jump right into it.
Explain It!:
So right off the bat..... ha ha. Seriously right off I'll begin with Gail Simone's new villain Silver. Silver seems to be a wealthy eccentric with vampires on the brain. When I say on the brain, I literally mean that in the fact that he see's certain people as vampires, and even believes the Bat Family is a coven of vampires set on keeping the people of Gotham under their thumb. But that's just first impressions, I'm sure the more we learn about it, the more I'll be proven wrong about something. Hell to add to that wealthy eccentric thing, Silver even seems to have his own style Mercy Graves. Remember her from the Superman Animated Series? She was Lex's chauffeur/bodyguard. Silver's is a woman named Miss Targa, and I can't tell yet if she suffers the same vampire paranoia, that Silver does, or if she's feeding into it. Either way Batgirl's going to have a bad day now that Silver, and Miss Targa are in town.
So now that I have Silver out of the way let me get to the meat of the story, so I can satiate your hunger. Batgirl is on regular patrol, but knows she's being followed, and as she puts it, it's by someone who's really good. Batgirl swoops down to take out some thugs but by the time she goes from the rooftops to the streets, the thugs are already taken care of. That's some fast work, and I don't think the Flash is in town. Someone comes up behind her and Batgirl swings and we find out her tail was actually Strix, the former Talon, and now teammate in the Birds of Prey. Batgirl apologizes, and through Strix's bad spelling she finds out why Strix had been following her. Apparently a young girl has been kidnapped, and it really bothered Strix because like her, the young girl can't talk. Batgirl agrees to help, and against her better judgement she calls Knightfall for her contacts to help her find this little girl, and the two go off to do some undercover detective work. After the two leave, we see that Silver had been tracking them, and believes the thugs the two tied up have been turned into vampires. So what do you do with vampires? Well you pull out your shiny case of stakes, and you stab them in the heart with them. Holy Shit. I can kind of relate to Silver though, I've been telling my friends for years that if I stab someone in the heart with a stake, and they die, then they must have been a vampire. Makes sense to me.
Back to the girls. Barbara using a detective badge she found in the locker room of the GCPD goes to the abducted girls house to talk to the mother. Just like Supernatural. There Barbara and Strix find out that the girl's father went missing a year ago, and that there has to be a connection. But after interviewing the mother, and before they can put the clues together Silver confronts Barbara Gordon, and Strix on the street claiming he knows they are apart of the Bat Family. So the foursome tussles, yes just like Mercy Graves apparently Miss Targa can kick some ass too. The fight carries on long enough for the GCPD to show up, and when they are forced to raise their hands in surrender Silver claims he has won. He calls the abducted young girl the vampire queen, and tells Batgirl how he has a bomb strapped to her. But without her Bat suit, and surrounded by the GCPD how is Barbara Gordon supposed to save the girl in time? Join me here next month so we can shed some light on this vampire story. Get it? I love puns.
Drink It!:
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| POOR STRIX |
Now I've never done this before, but I want to take some time out of the story to just talk about the characters a bit. This issue really had me feeling sorry for Strix, and what she must go through on a day to day basis. Between her need to save this little girl who suffers the same affliction she does, to when her and Barbara had to dress in street clothes to go undercover. She obviously didn't have any street clothes, and loved everything she saw in Barbara's closet, especially a frilly pink dress which pulls at your heart strings more, because you now that for the most part Strix is still a child on the inside, and was never given a chance to be that child, and probably never will. Hell even in the beginning of the issue I felt bad for Silver. I'm still not sure if Miss Targa has the same delusions that Silver has, or if she's just fueling his fire in murdering people he sees as vampires. Definitely a emotional issue with all these things tugging at your heart, and then add a kidnapped little girl to the mix, and it just makes this a powerful story of flawed characters.
Bits and Pieces:
Like last month we're given another tremendously dark, and moving story. Emotions run high in this issue dealing with a new villain, and a little psychology into the character Strix, and what she must endure emotionally. Simone, and Pasarin have given us a beautiful book filled with dark flawed characters, and I can't wait for more on this story. Batgirl has taken a turn, and it's a turn for the better, where she just might become my most anticipated book each month. Keep making me feel Gail.
9.5/10
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