Batgirl #33 Review and **SPOILERS**

Brother, Brother, O Brother of Mine

Writer: Mairghread Scott

Artists: Elena Casagrande, Scott Godlewski

Colorist: John Kalisz

Letterer: Andworld Design

Main Cover: Emanuela Lupacchino, Mick Gray & Dave McCaig

Variant Cover: Yasmine Putri

Editor: Brittany Holzherr

Group Editor: Jamie S. Rich

Cover Price: $3.99

On Sale Date: March 27, 2019

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Two story arcs in, and this has been a pretty solid run of Batgirlso far. Well-written, nicely planned out, and respective of previous continuity in a way that many modern comics are not. I dare say that I am looking forward to this next issue! So let’s not tarry, and dive right into my review of Batgirl #33, huh?

Explain It!

It’s Election Day in Gotham City…and elsewhere in America, we presume, since this is when folks will cast their ballots for Congressperson Luciana Alejo or…the other person. An incumbent, I presume. I don’t know that we ever caught their name. Volunteer Barbara Gordon should be manning Alejo’s social media, but having gotten word that her sociopathic brother James is missing from Arkham, she suits up as the Bat and visits some of his regular haunts. She applies some decidedly Batman-esque tactics to find out where James is, and all she learns is that he is part of a program where he is let out to live and work in the world, provided he regularly visits the clinic and stays along a prescribed route. He’s stepped off that route, which is why alarms went off.

Afraid that James will kill everyone she knows, Batgirl heads to Alejo’s campaign office, and what do you know? Jason Bard is there holding the ballcap-wearing nerd at gunpoint. It’s not clear that James even did anything to warrant being threatened, but Jason has never been one for restraint. And then begins this back-and-forth between Barabra and James…god, it just goes on forever. Then their dad shows up, and it comes to light that he knew James was in this experimental program, and then it’s two pages of back-and-forth between Barbara and him. And that’s pretty much it. James is free to go to his shitty job as a bag boy, and Barbara splits. At the end, we see that James is being tormented by the Batman Who Laughs, but that is relevant in another series entirely.

And uh, that’s all she wrote, folks. I’m not sure if this is the beginning of a new story arc, or just a one-off to tie-in with Batman Who Laughs, but it’s pretty thin. I liked a lot of the storytelling, and Barbara’s initial violent, panicked reaction to her brother’s escape is a good counterpoint to the dull reality of his life, but half of this issue can be chalked up to a couple of conversations. I guess that’s probably closer to how this would go in real life. But for my money, I want to see more exploding space gorillas in my comics.

Bits and Pieces:

Barbara’s brother is on the loose, and it’s time he got what’s coming to him: a stern lecture! And there’s more where that came from for the Commissioner, too! When Batgirl scolds, you know you’ve messed up.

6.5/10