This is the final issue of Oracle's "Battle for the Cowl" mini-series. You know, I have NO idea why this even has the "Battle" banner on it... It has nothing to do with the whole "Battle" storyline. Anyway, this issue is written by Kevin Vanhook.
-Picking up from last issue, Babs kills the power at the home of her hackers to prevent Calculator from attacking them through the computer. From there Babs traces Calculator's location back to Gotham and heads back home.
-Back in Gotham, Babs meets with the guy who created the online world Calculator is abusing. Babs has the guy write some new code in the game that would give her an edge for when she confronts the Calculator online.
-While Babs was doing all this, the Calculator was creating crystals that were supposed to serve as the deliverer of the Anti-Life Equation. Calculator heads to his daughter Wendy's hospital and goes online in order to program(?)the crystals with the last of the Anti-Life Equation, which Calculator hopes will bring his daughter out of her coma.
-While Calculator was finalizing the code, Babs attacks his online avatar, causing him to feel the effects of the attack in the real world. Calculator shuts down the computer and rushes to Wendy's hospital room with the hopes of using crystals to wake Wendy. Upon reaching Wendy's room, Calculator is surprised to find Babs there already... I'm kind of surprised as well. For a woman in a wheelchair Babs sure can hustle!
-Babs and Calculator argue a bit and Wendy wakes up even though Calculator never used the crystals on her... Huh??? The cops arrive and Babs tells them Calculator is a murderer, which throws Calculator into a rage. Calculator tries to attack Babs with the crystals(?!?)but she simply smashes them with her staves. The cops then decide to step in(gee, thanks guys)and tackle Calculator to the ground. This mini-series ends with Babs taunting Calculator by telling him she infected him with some sort of virus(I guess)that will alert her whenever he goes online. While Babs is taunting Calculator, Wendy is screaming and crying in the background about not being able to feel her legs... OOOOK...
What the flying hell was THAT?!?!? I'm at a loss... Hmm, where to start... I guess I'll start by saying that it was totally ridiculous that DC put the "Battle for the Cowl" banner on this mini-series. This series had absolutely NOTHING to do with the events of the "Battle" story. Literally nothing. On top of that, wasn't Calculator able to merge himself with Kilg%re near the end of the "Birds of Prey" series? What ever happened to that? I guess it was forgotten, because Calculator sure didn't seem to remember he could do that!
I truly didn't like the story, and to be honest, I have to say I didn't like the any of the characters in this mini. I was a fan of Babs in the "Birds" series, but I really didn't like her at all here. She was really nasty and demeaning to everyone she worked with. Even people who were working with/helping her wound up facing her wrath. Jeez Babs, chill out!
Finally there was the ending... Wendy suddenly wakes up out of the blue while Calculator and Babs are arguing in her room??? WTF??? That just made NO sense on so many different levels. If she could wake up whenever, I guess this whole mini-series was for nothing, since the whole idea was that Calculator was trying to wake his comatose daughter up. On top of that, where exactly did Calculator get the idea to wake Wendy up by using the Anti-Life Equation? It's called the ANTI-LIFE Equation, not the Restore-Life Equation!!! Ugh... For a score, I'll give this issue a 2 out of 10. I have NO idea why I even bothered to read this mini. It didn't add anything to "Battle for the Cowl" or to the characters of Barbara Gordon and the Calculator. My advice? Avoid this mini like the plague!
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So Babs wasn't cured of her paralysis by clown? I thought thats how'd they want to go because of the whole 'iconic character' crap that Didio won't stop with...
ReplyDeleteYeah GL, I was thinking the exact same thing. There were SO many opportunities to fix Babs during this mini too. I thought for sure when Calculator tried to attack her with the crystals that would have done it... I guess not.
ReplyDeleteThere was also the whole Calculator/Kilg%re thing from the end of the Birds of Prey book that also could have fixed Babs up. Before this mini even got under way I totally figured Babs would merge with Kilg%re in the same fashion Calc did to regain her mobility.
The only thing I can figure is that there was a last minute change of heart or something, because all signs were pointing towards Babs reentering the super-hero game. I personally thought she was going to be replacing Kathy Kane and taking over the Batwoman identity. That would have made a lot more sense then having a character who is practically unknown taking over Detective Comics.