Batgirl #30: Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot

It has been a month since the surgery to fix Barbara’s implant. Batgirl decides to test if she is back up to full strength by swinging through the Gotham rooftops. She is very happy to be back in costume, but she is worried about her father. The GCPD is being investigated for corruption after Grotesque turned out to be a detective. Luciana Alejo, who is running for congress, is using this to her advantage. She has made fixing GPCD corruption part of her platform. Batgirl is conflicted because she agrees with much of what Alejo is trying to accomplish.

Batgirl heads to a local Alejo rally where protesters are squaring off with the GCPD. Jason Bard is there as well. He was the man who framed Commissioner Gordon a few years ago to take his job. He and his cronies help start violence at the rally to make Alejo look bad. Bard is upset because his cronies get physical and they were supposed to just incite protesters to violence. Batgirl tries to help calm down the crowd, but this upsets Commissioner Gordon. He thinks that she should stay out of it, because it may give the protesters legitimacy. They have a heated argument before they are interrupted by an explosion. She sees Bard and his cronies trying to escape (although she doesn’t know it is Bard). Batgirl gives chase and catches Bard. She is surprised to find out who her opponent is, he hits her with pepper spray and he then escapes.

The next morning, Barbara figures that Bard must be working for Alejo’s opponent, Moore. She decides to volunteer for Alejo, which infuriates her father and they have a fight. She goes to Alejo’s headquarters and meets a young volunteer named Izzy. Izzy takes her to Alejo’s office where she is surprised to see the candidate talking to Jason Bard. Bard is offering to help the prospective congresswoman by protecting her from Moore and to help clean up the GCPD. When Alejo says that she is not frightened of Moore, Bard asks her if she is afraid of Cormorant who is an assassin that is after her.