Batgirl #46 // Review
The road to becoming a sociopathic mass-murdering homicidal maniac can be paved with good intentions. Anyone who has hung out around Gotham City on this side of the comics panel or video screen is well aware of this. Barbara Gordon is all too aware of this as well as she finds herself in a showdown with a well-intentioned genius in Batgirl #46. Writer. Cecil Castellucci writes an issue brought to the page by artist Carmine DiGiandomenico. An early resolution to the issue’s central conflict gives Babs plenty of time to wander into further complexities outside the mask in an enjoyable issue.
Dasha really wants to help people. She’s haunted by the loss of those who have passed on. That much she shares with everyone. What makes Dasha different is the way she’s dealing with her inner drives. She’s created an exotic piece of tech that involves semi-dead human bodies, metal and massive, massive amounts of energy. Batgirl is working to stop her from doing any more harm than she’s already done. Thankfully, Batwoman is there to help her out. It’s dangerous and unsettling work for the two heroes. If Babs can make it through the life-and-death struggle, she’s going have to deal with a great deal outside of the mask as well.
Castellucci’s framing feels more than a little weird. The big climax to the central conflict arrives five pages before the end of the issue. Then there’s an extended moment of restless rumination on for Babs as she decides what to do with feelings she has for a relationship with a profoundly complex guy. Far from chronicling a triumphant moment for Batgirl, Castellucci captures a few uneasy moments of rest before things launch into a kind of inevitable darkness that awaits on the right side of the last panel. It’s a very intimate walk with Babs with lots of messy loose ends circling around her from every direction. As uneasy as it all is, it’s a strikingly sophisticated look at a young hero.
DiGiandomenico brings extraordinary life to the flurry of action, opening the issue. A lot of energy ricochets around panel and page as Batgirl and Batwoman encounter crazy arcs of energy, molten metal, and general chaos. DiGiandomenico shifts gears swiftly when Babs takes off the mask and deals with more emotional matters. The exhausted silence echoing through Gotham is resonant and atmospheric in DiGiandomenico’s impressively detailed architectural renderings. It may feel a bit messy in places, but the mood is carried with crushingly beautiful moments of emotional connection for Babs and the world around her.
It’s nice to see Batgirl and Batwoman hanging out together, but it’s not like they get a lot of time together. The messiness of the overall composition of the issue echoes the complexity of Babs’ life. It all comes along quite well. It’s a satisfying chapter in the life of Batgirl. There’s an emotional connection from reader to character.
