COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Batgirl # 23 (Do It Wrong)

Batgirl is trapped inside her own mind. Can she break free before she dies in the real world?

Batgirl #23
Writer: Hope Larson
Artist: Minkyu Jung
Colorist: Mat Lopes
Cover Artists: Dan Mora, Joshua Middleton (variant)
Publisher: DC Comics

What You Need to Know:

Batgirl tried to save a woman and her kids from her abusive husband. He used a device on her that trapped her in her own mind. She did not realize that she was stuck in the mind loop until an old mentor, Fruit Bat, told her that if she didn’t break out she would die.

What You Will Find Out:

Batgirl tries to break free of the mind loop after Fruit Bat warns her. It sends her back to the MMA fighting ring, where she is confronted by May and another large woman. She realizes that since this is in her mind that she should be able to make anything happen. She quickly wins the fight by using tranquilizer darts and then effortlessly carries the women to the hospital. She muses to herself that while even trapped in her brain, she cannot stop trying to help people.

She goes home to her apartment and tries to break free of the loop by meditating. She sees the real world in slow motion. She tries to slow her mind down to match her body. She manages to make her finger twitch, but then reality shatters and she is back in her mind. Right afterward, she receives a phone call. It’s her father. He is in trouble.

Batgirl arrives to save her father who has been kidnapped. She encounters a young girl who says that she is Martina Falcone of the Falcone crime family. Martina knows that Barbara is Batgirl and has kidnapped her father to force Babs to train her to replace her as Batgirl. She realizes that this is a manufactured threat to pull her further into her own mind. Against her own impulses, she leaves her father in danger.

Batgirl realizes that she has to not follow her instincts as a hero and has to act things out differently to get out. She visits Kai and admits to him that she is Batgirl and that she wants to just be Barbara. She starts to see the real world appear, but it’s not enough. She needs to push it further. She kisses Kai. By acting out of character and letting herself have a bit of a life, she shatters the barrier holding her back from the real world.

In the real world, Batgirl fights the angry husband and destroys his tech that he used on her. His wife takes him down by smashing a guitar over his head. She takes him to the police station and thinks that she needs to bust out of her patterns and choose a different path.

What Just Happened:

Larson weaves a nice tale with this two-part story. The book ends with Barbara ready to head down a new path. Larson wraps up her run and sets Batgirl up for the next chapter in her life. Jung did a great job on the art this issue. The art is simple and gorgeous at the same time. I thought the last page was particularly nice.