This review contains spoilers.
Who would ever guess that bad stuff would be going down in a hidden, abandoned bunker beneath the city?
Batgirl #48 is written by Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher with art by Babs Tarr and colors by Serge Lapointe and Lee Loughridge. In this issue, Batgirl has to face the man of her nightmares.
Previously in Batgirl, Barbara Gordon has been suffering severe memory loss as well as having severe recurring nightmares while attempting to date Luke Fox, the former Batwing.
The cover by Tarr is fantastic. Batgirl and Black Canary are two of my favorite characters so it is always a treat to see them fighting side by side. And Tarr gives it a style and energy worthy of these two. It’s just a dynamite cover.
The comic begins with Batgirl and Batwing having a date on the rooftop of the building they just bought for Barbara’s project when Frankie calls in with a crime so the two superheroes swing into action.
The above image of the two is a great indicator of how great of an artist Tarr is. Every page is wonderfully stylized and looks fantastic. I want the above image on my wall as a poster.
A criminal duo known as Console, Player One and Player Two separately, are robbing an arcade and Batgirl and Batwing swoop in to stop them. Player One and Player Two claim that they want revenge on Batgirl for their last encounter but Barbara has no memory of ever fighting them. Frankie informs Batgirl that she put these two away months ago. The two heroes defeat the video game themed villains after a creative fight with more great art in which Lapointe’s colors really shine.
Frankie starts tests on Barbara and discovers that someone or something has been tampering with Barbara’s brain. They decide to go home where they discover Dinah Drake attacking Greg, the obvious bad guy, who was looking through more of Barbara’s stuff. He has a lame excuse that they buy for no reason.
This is my only complaint about this issue and the previous one. Greg is so obviously the villain. He does nothing but act shady and come up with lame excuses to cover it up. It’s just irritating to watch Black Canary fall for this crap. I understand that Greg is messing with Barbara’s mind so he is, in a way, making her trust him but Dinah should be smarter than this.
After an hilarious encounter with fans of the Black Canary band, Batgirl and Black Canary are able to track down the villain who has been messing with Barbara. The villain refers to himself as the Fugue who is the man Barbara has been seeing in her nightmares. It is quickly revealed to no shock that Greg is the Fugue. He has been erasing Barbara’s memories or replacing them to his liking for unknown reasons. He attacks Batgirl before escaping. The issue ends with Black Canary trying to wake a comatose Batgirl.
Verdict
This is a fantastic issue. Memory loss is a phenomenon that is truly scary. People freak out when they can’t find their keys; imagine not being able to remember key decisions that you have made in your life. She has no control over her life. It is a terrifying situation because we rely so much on our memories even though they’re not reliable all of the time. It’s violating and creates a sympathetic situation for Barbara since her mind is her superpower. Additionally, adding Black Canary to the mix is always welcome. I love the friendship these two have and the best moments of the book come from them. On top of that is incredible artwork from Tarr with wonderful colors by Lapointe and Loughridge. My only issue, as stated above, is how obvious Greg is as the villain. Despite that, this is a great read and you should definitely check it out.
