Barbara Gordon: Breakout #2: Despite All My Rage, I Am Still Just a Bat in a Cage

Barbara is in pretty rough shape after the last issue, finding herself under medical supervision. This character, Sparrow, who Oracle needs to trust in order to survive here is a mystery. A name used by various other DC characters but none that seem relevant here.

The trippy visuals call to mind Zurr-En-Arrh and A Serious House on Serious Earth. A big, demonic Batman with curled scallops on his cape like the most intimidating Tim Sale piece. It almost seems like the psychedelics are being used to mask exactly where Barbara is being taken by her new ally. The art so far has been exceptionally strong, with great action and cinematic paneling from Nahuelpan.

We see Jim Gordon and Nightwing discussing Barbara’s choice to work out of the prison, both of them know there’s nothing they can do to stop her mission, the strong woman that she is. However we learn that Jim is the one who, presumably, sent Sparrow in to assist Barbara and keep her safe. However while she is in the dark about this, her paranoia begins to grow. In her dreams, the reaper approaches. Whether this is from the drugs or not is up to interpretation, but either way, the fear is real. The mystery assailant took another victim last night, but this time seemed to effectively take their life.

Barbara dreams, or hallucinates, the Joker, the man who paralyzed her, encouraging her to take her pills in an eerie manner. I really question whether or not Sparrow and the person Jim sent to help Barbara are the same, as this may be a misdirect. The ending of this issue presents her in a negative light, with shadowed eyes and a stoic expression, the direction she walks down the corridor matching up with that of the reaper on the final page.

I really enjoy the concept of this series, Barbara taking the risk to solve murders that society overlooks, the incarcerated, treated as less than human, still deserve justice regardless of what they did in the outside world. The rest of the Bat Family know that these people need help, but Barbara is the one who is willing to throw herself, almost self destructively, into this brutal environment. I think that’s special and speaks to the greatness of her character, and to the love being put in by Tamaki for this book.

As mentioned by my colleague in the issue 1 review, this series is taking a slower approach than mainline Batman, this second issue continuing to peel back the layers and really let us breathe in the setting, the grit and the grime of Supermax. The mystery is compelling, though perhaps Barbara has been put in a more passive position compared to issue 1, being forced to go along with the machinations of Sparrow, rather than carving her own path. The reader’s mileage may vary on that front.