Posted in: Comics | Tagged: batgirl, dc comcis, joker war, nightwing, oracle, three jokers

Will Batgirl Be Oracle Again? The Continuity Of Joker War (Spoilers)

Published Tue, 25 Aug 2020 14:50:16 -0500

Last updated Tue, 08 Sep 2020 09:28:05 -0500

Given that DC Comics continuity regarding Batgirl seems to be a bit up in the air in The Joker War with multiple meetings between Barbara Gordon and the Joker that don't seem to have any regard for the other. However there are more editorial continuity captions in today's Batbooks than for quite a while – so they are trying to carve out some kind of continuity, while possibly ignoring anything that doesn't quite fit yet.

Last month in Batgirl, Barbara Gordon fought the Joker by removing the implant that allows her to walk and that the Joker had hacked, only to be rescued by her sociopathic brother James Gordon Jr. With James Gordon Senior on hand to scowl at his psycho son.

And also to drop some continuity captions from Jessica Chen, making sure that this happened after the Batman Who Laughs series and the Infected series that followed it.

But steadfastly avoiding how it related to Nightwing.

But for some reason Selina Kyle appears to be driving Luke Fox as a chauffer in the upcoming Catwoman #25…

She gets a quick implant repair job courtesy of Luke Fox, who she romantically rebuffs. Seriously Luke, there's a time and a place – and that will be when you are the new Batman, from John Ridley. So technically Nightwing could now take place after this… even if it would have Barbara making no mention of these events.

Red Hood also drops a continuity bomb from the past. Well, it is Scott Lobdell's final few issues, so why not bring back Duala Dent, the Joker's Daughter, and preserver of the Joker's old face – which must be rotting away now.

And which also throws in a link (with no caption box) to the events of Nightwing #73, which saw all the Batfamily contacted with a fake call made by Punchline pretending to be Batgirl.

Just like that. Except in Nightwing we saw that from Punchline's perspective, with the clown henchmen.

A call made while Nightwing was busy manipulating Batgirl in Nightwing #73. The exact same call, to the detail.

But in Red Hood: Outlaw, the call is made when Nightwing is with Punchline and the heavy gang.

He can't be in both places at once… not unless we will be following The Three Jokers with The Two Nightwings. Talking of which…

Man, it's a rough month for Batgirl and The Joker. No wonder that today's Detective Comics #1025 has a Joker War crossover that is all about ignoring whatever is happening with the Joker War and using editorial caption boxes to recall an earlier, more simple, and totally cancelled time…

Screw you guys, Killer Croc's going home. And remember, while in Batman #99, Batgirl is walking, in Batman #100 she appeared back in the chair. Of course Death Metal, meant to be set after The Joker War, has a walking Batgirl too…

Because, also, in Batman #100 Barbara appears to be back as Oracle, in the chair. But which way did the Joker get her there?

Barbara Gordon as Oracle in Four Pages From Batman #100 (Preview)

I picked up Red Hood: Outlaw #48, Batgirl #48, The Three Jokers #1 and Detective Comics #1026 today from DC Comics. I bought mine from Piranha Comics in Kingston-Upon-Thames. Piranha Comics is a small south London comic store chain with a small south-east store in Kingston-Upon Thames's market centre, which runs Magic The Gathering nights on Fridays, and a larger south-west store in Bromley, which also runs Magic nights and has an extensive back issue collection and online store. If you are in the neighbourhood, check them out.