Barbara Gordon and the duo of Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain go into the Hills to take back the Oracle systems from the Seer! The status quo in Gotham City is broken with the takeover by the Magistrate started in Batman #112 with Fear State. In the chaos was the rise of the Anti-Oracle who contacts Babs. These were back-up stories by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, and artist Jorge Corona. The villain has taken control of the Oracle Network and made the comms for the Batman allies unreliable. Babs sent her Batgirls to the Clock Tower while she worked with Nightwing to stop the Seer. The tower is evacuated in Batman #116. The Anti-Oracle is revealed as the Seer in Batman #117.
Batgirls #1 follows their adventures by the same creative team in “One Way or Another Part 1.” The regular cover has Babs standing by a billboard as Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown leap off a rootop with a night background. Cass was introduced in Batman #567 (1999) and took the mangle of Batgirl in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120 (1999). She later took the identity of Orphan. Stephanie Brown has the distinction of being the fourth Robin and the fourth Batgirl! Steph first appeared in Detective Comics #647, she became Spoiler, then Robin, and lastly Batgirl in Batgirl #1 (2009). Spoiler and Orphan were part of the Bat group, The Team?, I thought they were the Gotham Knights. The Rise of the Batmen, Detective Comics #934 (2006) was their introduction.
Barbara Gordon was the Oracle, and first appeared as her in Suicide Squad #23 (1989). She was part of the trio, Birds of Prey, introduced in Showcase `96 #3 (1996). The Seer is seen at the opening with red screens and a messy room. She has large, green glasses and fur collared coat. Her narration mentions the physics concept of the Observer Theory as she scans for the three Batgirls. There is narration in purple. They head to their new apartment and Babs reminds the duo to keep a low profile. Steph is excited that their room has a bunk bed, but their neighbor doesn’t seem excited to see them. There is a fun enthusiasm with Steph in contast to the low key Cass. Corona’s artwork is like a crazy blend of Jim Mahfood and Denys Cowan. Steph is also excited about an art gallery in the neighborhod which also looking for models.
Babara Gordon looks at the nearly empty fridge and has a grocery list for both Batgirls. Babs wants to know how Cass got injured. The young Batgirl explains she was taking the last box from the van when she was confronted by a gang. Keeping a low profile, she ended up beaten and with her favorite robe stolen. Cass goes to take a shower. Steph remarks about the old television screen, possibly cathode ray tube, which Babs is to keep them from being noticed by the Seer. Steph sees Cass finished with her shower and wearing her favorite robe. She looks outside to see the bullies collapsed in the street. The narrator calls the three heroes, “Hills Angels”, a nod to the British comedy show, Benny Hill, which featured Hill’s Angels. Steph wonders how Cass got her robe back and she replies that she was anonymous wearing a bag on her head!
Babs has bought some walkie talkies, burner phones, and is off to buy grogeries. She wants the duo to set up her encrypted grid. Babs takes them to the garage to show them “carbon fiber reinforced, red, mopeds, “sad trombone” sound effect, very funny! Great tone by the writers, Cloonan and Conrad! Flashback to the two heroes in their bat costumes riding their car wildly through the Gotham streets. They try to come up with a name for their super vehicle and both agree on Bondo! We find out later that they have scaled a building to set up the new Oracle network. Steph has seen a colorful graffiti display by Tutor. Excellent, crazy colors by Sarah Stern! Cass notices that several of the men she beat up are now trying to rob some construction workers.
The Batgirls mix it up with them and then find the workers are under some kind of control. Manipulated by the Tutor? The Batgirls throw batarangs that take out four of the tough guys. The next page has panels of Cass and Steph bashing the men until they are just a heap. The construction workers say they want to be guided. Steph throws two gas pellets and they escape. The Batgirls are caught in a dangerous world, having fun, but there is still the Magistrate! Who is the Tutor? It has the frantic action and comedy of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2003), but without Harley! I would like to see Harley Quinn thrown in for a guest appearance in Batgirls. It is a welcome, fun twist to the dark Batman world with Batgirls #1!
Four Batarangs out of Five!
#Batgirls, #BeckyCloonan, #MichaelWConrad, #JorgeCorona, #SarahStern, #BarbaraGordon, #StephanieBrown, #CassandraCain, #Seer, #Tutor
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