Batgirls #6 // Review
There was an artist Barbara Gordon was attracted to. He turned out to be a Gotham City-style super-villain. It’s not the worst thing that’s ever happened to her, but it’s not like she isn’t in danger. She’s forced to spring into action in Batgirls #6. Writers Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad close out their opening story arc in style with the aid of artist Jorge Corona and colorist Sarah Stern. The story brings the action of the trio of Batgirls into sharp focus and does a remarkably good job of defining the distinct fingerprint of this particular group of heroes.
Babs is tied to a chair. She’s been kidnapped by a guy in a wickedly stylish mask. (Seriously. Even for Gotham City, this thing is really, really theatrical. He’s even given himself a name: Spellbinder.) She had been interested in the guy before she’d seen the mask and found out that he was a sociopath working with those who had been committed to Arkham Asylum. Meanwhile, the other two Batgirls have to find their way through the strange maze of the Tutor’s operation without the aid of one of the sharpest detective minds in all of Gotham. With the two of them preoccupied, Babs is going to need to work alone if she’s to escape the clutches of Spellbinder.
Cloonan and Conrad dive right into the weird edges 0f Gotham City to pull out a truly interesting take on the criminal psychosis that rides through the dark shadows of the city. Spellbinder is a novel mutation of the traditional Bat-villain nutcase. His distinct madness brings out a very sharp and nuanced kind of heroism in Babs...who had been through a hell of a lot in the decades that blur together into her current evolution working alongside two others who have worn similar masks. It’s a sparklingly fun dive into darkness and heroism.
Corona has a unique perspective on the shadowy darkness of Gotham City’s madness. His design for the costume of the artist-villain Spellbinder is incredibly sharp. Babs manages to tread a clever path between looking gorgeous and looking disheveled in a heroic stand against a criminal psycho. She’s sternly heroic, squaring off against the arch-villain in a very swift action sequence. Stern breathes striking color into the darkness that Corona brings to the page. This is particularly prominent in the action between the two Batgirls who continue to carve their way into the sinister world of Tutor--a twisted graffiti artist who is building his own empire with fear gas.
In the first six issues of the series, Cloonan and Conrad have firmly established a fresh perspective on Bat-based heroism that should have a nice, long run. Cloonan, Conrad, and Corona make for a really good team that makes a firm and appealing impression on Gotham City. It’s been fun so far. If Cloonan, Conrad, and company can continue to allow the team to evolve in their own corner of Gotham, Batgirls has a good future.
