POBB December 12, 2021

Pick of the Brown Bag

December 12, 2021

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag.  In this column I, Ray Tate, look at the best and the worst of the week's comic book yield.  At least, I used to.  

Frankly, catching up has been something of a pipe dream.  Therefore, with the onset of year twenty-two, I will be once again reviewing the good and the bad of each week's load of comic books.  

This will mean skipping a helluva lot of reviews, but maybe I can add some specials on thin Wednesdays.  Besides, it's not like these titles are ancient.  The critiques should be fresh enough for those deciding upon the collected trades.

Anyway, back to our show.  For this missive, I examine the recent appearances of Batgirl.  If you're a regular reader of this column, you know two things about Batgirl.  She's Barbara Gordon, and she's got blue eyes.

Batgirl reappears at the conclusion to Nightwing eighty-four.  This issue should still be available on the racks at your local comic book store.

I know what you're thinking.  Sure.  Batgirl returns, but in that awful Black Cat mask rip-off.  Trust me.  I've hated every downgrade to Batgirl's costumes.  It just denigrates the character.  Turning her into a little girl who likes dress up.  Check this out.

Fan-tas-tic!  I really could not have asked for anything better than this depiction.  The illustration by Nightwing's Robbi Rodriguez and colorist Adriano Lucas alludes to the classic Batgirl look.  Purple bodysuit, full bat-eared helmet and gold lined bat-scalloped cape.  

In other words a sensible variation of Yvonne Craig's original with a blend of the darker gray and blue shades from Bronze Age comics.  Note, the artists also sidestep the whole conflict with editorial edict eye-color by giving her slits.  Brilliant.

Batgirl becomes involved in the Fear State of affairs, see what I did there, because Nightwing teams up with Batman to battle some Gundum Suit contractors.  

She feels she can do more out in the field.  

Fear State slapped Batgirl right back into her chair at the Clocktower.  Happily, they didn't cripple her this time.

I am not a fan of the Oracle persona, wheels or no wheels.  I feel and always felt this is a waste of Batgirl.  If you only use Barbara Gordon as a handler, despite having full mobility, I do not need to read your book.  It's not the only reason I ignored Fear State. 

Simon Saint, introduced in Infinite Frontier, exudes the threat level of a kidney bean.  His takeover of the city is preposterous.  "Hey, I want to put Dalek saucers in the air, over Gotham City.  Does anybody object? No? Oh, one objection from the man with the curly hair and all the teeth.  The bill is passed!" 

Batman saw.  He grunted.  He kicked ass.  Unfortunately, it didn't happen that quickly.

A lot of writers fail to comprehend just how much of an impediment Batman is to crime.  It's my common complaint.  Batman is the World's Greatest Detective, whom Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow gladly acknowledged as their rightful successor.  Batman cannot drag his feet.  Or slosh them, since we're traveling in the sewers again.

Awww...Dude.

Tom Taylor really gets Batman.  I knew this when he wrote a woefully brief run of Batman/Superman.  His Nightwing isn't too shabby either.  Very New 52, and you're likely to feel the frisson of a Dynamic Duo vibe from this issue of Dick Grayson's eponymous title.  Batman and Nightwing gel and fight like they've been doing this their entire lives side by side.  Which they have.

Of course, I bought this book for Batgirl.  She appears at the end, and the level of excitement in the return is not to be missed for any Batgirl fan.  Batgirl gets the spotlight in Nightwing eighty-five.  She even narrates.

Yes, Batgirl can beat up Gundum Suit contractors just as well as the boys.  And look spectacular doing it.  In fact these extras pose little threat to any of the Batman Family.  Well, of course not.

Taylor does this a lot in his books.  He creates entertaining stories that don't rely on traditional conflict.  Rather, he accepts that he's dealing with people who have superpowers and/or skills that make them nigh impossible to beat.  He furthermore accepts that the audience knows this facet.  So, he doesn't insult your intelligence.  He generates enjoyment another way.  Through our contentment of watching Batgirl and Nightwing beating the crap out of arrogant flunkies in exoskeletons.

Nightwing doesn't start out that way.  First, Taylor must pick up some threads left by other books.  This may be a little confusing.  I had to make certain I didn't miss an issue of Nightwing, but no.  

Eighty-five is the correct sequence.  It begins thusly.  Somebody compromised the Oracle persona.  Again.

This somebody looks a helluva lot more imaginative than the robot that corrupted Oracle's systems last year, or the miscreants that did it the previous year, and so on and so forth.  

As you can tell, I'm not impressed.  This isn't breaking new ground.   However, Taylor gets far more points.  He portrays Barbara Gordon's Oracle persona properly.

Barbara is the power behind Oracle.  The computers are tools.  Not intelligent.  Last year, I complained about a life form arising from her systems.  That's because she uses normal computers with cutting edge technology to hack her way into other systems.  

Unlike Harold Finch from Person of Interest, she's not creating intelligence in any way shape or form.  She's establishing back doors, setting up alarms to detect shady transactions.  Doing the normal things a white hat hacker does but on a grander scale.

Barbara furthermore uses her systems as a conveyance for the information in her photographic memory.  A database of crime like no other.  The systems exist to reach out all through the world, no matter where El Diablo or Supergirl may be, no matter the security of whatever system she hacks into.

What greenie, who is an avatar for a human hacker, did was orchestrate a giant brute force attack and identity theft scheme.  That makes sense.  A Pinocchio robot does not.

Batgirl's confrontation with the green lady lasts only four pages.  So, it's not really the focus.  Rather this issue of Nightwing explores the history between Batgirl and Dick Grayson.

Taylor includes a meet cute Batgirl/Robin flashback.  She's also impeccably dressed there.  Thank you again Rodriguez and Lucas.   She knows the Dynamic Duo's secret identity.  Thereby securing her place in the original Silver Age Batman Family.

Taylor segues this pleasant memory to nightmare induced by the fear gas of Jonathan Crane alias the Scarecrow.  This isn't a spoiler.  You'll know what's going on immediately because the gas is green, and you've read Batman books enough to know the ins and outs of the Scarecrow's villainy.  It's still a treat to see Batgirl in a rage beating the crap out of a friskier "Gundum."

Batgirl continues her guest status in Nightwing eighty-six, where the green lady vainly attempts to exterminate The Spoiler and Cassie Cain. 

There's a lot of emotion on display, but Taylor never loses the theme of all three issues.  Beating.  The.  Crap.  Out.  Of.  Gundums.  

The Batman Family, including third Robin Tim Drake,  gathers, beats the crap out of Simon Saint and his Gundum army.  They also knock out the Dalek Saucers.  With Babs and Nightwing in the centerpiece of the destruction, this run of Nightwing is quite satisfying in terms of writing and art.

Batgirl also cameos in Baman one-seventeen.  This one if for Batgirl completists due to Jorge Jimenez and Tomeu Morey's depiction of her.  It's almost as strong as Rodriquez and Lucas, but admittedly, she's only in it for a few pages.  I'll be issuing a full review "Same Bat-Channel.  Same Bat-Time."