Posted in: Comics | Tagged: barbara gordon, batgirl, Comics, dc, gail simone, wheelchair

Barbara Gordon Back In The Wheelchair In Batgirl #4

Some books, some characters, having to deal with a changing universe try to ignore it. Work around it. Find reasons not to address it.

But with DC's Batgirl-out-of-the-wheelchair, this comic seems to revel in rubbing the reader's nose in it. To bring the issue up at every opportunity. And to tease, repeatedly tease that Barbara gained the use of her legs by a "miracle" – and then only giving us the most meager of details, even as we're up against a villain obsessed with such miracles and trying to restore the balance. Such as portraying Barbara Gordon back in the wheelchair on page one.

Rather than ignoring or dismissing it, this book has become a direct sequel to The Killing Joke, returning to the scene of the crime, using the same theme of madness as a reaction to trauma, the same multiplicity of effect and even the same setting.

And then teasing us with South Africa. Something tells me this will be to Barbara Gordon what Newcastle was to John Constantine…

Before dividing her psyche for the mother of all showdowns.

There's even a hidden voice of the reader, that nagging suspicion we've had since the beginning of the series gives voice.

This is a very clever book. Are you reading Batgirl? Any knowledge of the character will also give you a richly deserved cliffhanger…

Comics courtesy of Orbital Comics, London.

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