Batgirl #7 And Batwoman #7 Review

Spoilers for Both Issues Will Follow

Batgirl #7

:  I'm not gonna lie…I am a giant fan of female superheroes (and villains).  Jean Gray, Kitty Pryde, Batwoman, Catwoman and lately, Batgirl Barbara Gordon.  It's this last one that has been through quite a lot of changes since her debut in the classic Batman live-action series.  Originally created for the show, she made the transition into the cannon comics and hasn't left since.  Barbara's character has gone through a lot since first donning the mask.  An adept student of Batman she became a hero in her own right.   But then, in probably one of the darkest moment in Batman history, the Joker ended that with a single bullet.  Luckily, that bullet didn't kill her but it definitely put her out of commission as it left it severed her spine, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. But even that didn't stop our heroine.  She then became the all knowing Oracle and from her headquarters in Watchtower she assisted many a hero in their daily adventures.  But then the reboot happened and we find ourselves watching a newly healed Barbara once again swinging through the city of Gotham. And so far I have thoroughly enjoyed Barbara's return.  Her first run with the mysterious Mirror was something spectacular.  And though her story with Gretel left a little to be desired, this next one seems ready to confront the issue that's been plaguing our heroine.  Mainly, her rehabilitation and what put her in the chair to begin with. Since the run began, Barbara has been struggling with her newly found legs.  Some of being guilt as to why she was chosen.  Some of it in the way she can't seem to be in the same condition she was before she was put in her chair.  Luckily for us, she makes a visit to Dinah who literally slaps some sense into her, telling her that she didn't complain or get down on herself while she was wheelchair bound so she shouldn't start now after getting what she, and others, could only dream of. And as for the rest of the issue?  They not only set up an interesting masked villain that is apparently a meta-human but at the very end, she comes face-to-face with an echo of her past that shakes her to her core and brings up even more questions, not only for us, but for our caped hero has well.  I can't wait to find out where she'll be going next. Rating:  ABatwoman #7:

And now we're at my other favorite bat-female.  I wasn't a follower of Batwoman before but became instantly hooked when a fellow comic book geek introduced me to her and instantly I felt myself drawn into her story.  As a discharged, lesbian soldier with many an issue from her past, Batwoman is the perfect trouble counterpoint to our very own Batman without being close to a copy-and-paste version.  She decidedly darker than most female superheroes and has a disturbing event in her past, both as a child and a champion of Gotham, that has definitely shaped her. In this issue, we leave off where left off:  with her facing off with the monster that brutalized her cousin Betty, otherwise known as Flamebird, and left her in a coma.    Seemingly just another nut job, Batwoman fights and, eventually, rips off his hook only to find that hook apparently has a consciousness all its own, able to talk and feel.  Add on the fact the guy suddenly transforms from an ugly brute to a young man acquainted with her, things definitely have gotten strange. And on the other side of the curtain we have the mysterious new cult in town that seems to recruiting the urban legends of Gotham ranging from the deranged Killer Croc, the Drowning Woman from the earlier arc, and the famous Bloody Mary herself.  What this all means is yet to be known but we know for sure that they're after one thing:  the revival of their "mother" and Batwoman's heart.  And it ends with Batwoman accepting that threat. The one thing I feel that sets Batwoman apart from most other heroes is how dark and gruesome some of these stories are.  Either dealing with Batwoman's long lost and presumed dead sister returning in the guise of a deranged Alice bent on killing her or a cult that had actually managed to kill her.  They don't shy away from the darkness and I love any story that doesn't seem to be afraid. But it's not just that.  Seeing Kate struggle with her alter-ego and her personal life is just as engaging as it seems genuinely real (aside from the cape thing).  Having to deal with her new girlfriend (who she now has to betray as Batwoman) to her estranged father, Kate seems to constantly have to compartmentalize to get her job done.  What toll this takes on her has yet to be seen but I think it's only a matter time before something breaks. Rating:  A+