Review: First off, this was a flashback issue, so keep that in mind. This issue starts with Zatanna waking up with a start, and realizing that she had places to be. Z heads to WW and tells her that she wanted to have a girl's night out, which seems to surprise WW. Next the two women head to Gotham City, where they find Batgirl(this was back when Barbara Gordon wore the cape and cowl)and after some arm twisting, they convince her to come along with them. The women get dressed up and head out to a few clubs, where the dance the night away. Everything seems to be going well until Babs walks into the ladies restroom and discovers Z and WW in an embrace, which leaves her somewhat confused. WW and Z emerge from the restroom with Z seemingly wiping away a tear... Hmm... From there the three women head to several other clubs and sing and dance for several more hours before heading to a quiet little diner. WW begins to cryptically talk to Babs about the Oracles of the ancient Greeks, and how an Oracle of information was a high honor amongst her people. After talking some more, the women decide to call it a night, and WW and Z see Babs into a cab, where Babs tells them that this was one of the best nights of her life before pulling away. After Babs is gone, WW and Z look sadly at each other with Z breaking down. We then go back in the past and learn why Z decided to have this night, as she tells WW that she had a vision of Babs being paralyzed by the Joker sometime in the near future. Z's vision doesn't tell her when the awful event was going to happen, and Z knows from past experience that if she tries to step in and help it could make matters worse, so that's why she decided to take Babs out for one final night of fun and revelry. From there we head to the home of Commissioner Gordon and Babs, and after a knock at the door, Babs opens it to find the Joker standing there with a gun and a camera... This issue concludes in the present with Babs waking up and dragging herself out of her bed and into her wheelchair to start her day as Oracle. After getting on her computer, Babs tells the person on the other end that she was having her favorite dream, the one where she was dancing.
What I Thought: Woo, what a powerful story this was! I figured out what was going on about halfway through this issue, when Babs discovered the other women in the restroom, but even knowing what was going to happen didn't lessen the emotional impact of those final few scenes. The pacing of the Joker scene was just so perfectly done, as was most of this issue. What more can I say? When a comic leaves me feeling misty eyed, I know the story was something special.
Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.
Still chilling after all these years...
Glad I recommended it buddy? Great story, I also figured it out halfway through when they were crying but it was excellently done, just a greatly written story...And it updated the whole Babs getting shot thing so it doesn't seem like it's been thirty years.
ReplyDeleteWas I the ONLY one who didn't catch on to what was going to happen halfway through? Lol, I kind of caught on when Diana was doing her speech at the diner table.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit this issue brought tears to the eyes, I was just in awe. It was damn good writing, all comics should be written this well. Lol.
After I put this comic down, the first thing I thought was, "THAT'S why JT recommended this comic!". Yeah, I def am JT, 'cause this was a hell of a good issue.(btw, the writer from this comic is taking over the Superman title... I think)
ReplyDeleteYeah, the bathroom scene got me thinking, but once they sat down at the diner, there was NO doubt left in my mind as to what was going to happen. And the way the comic was paced, with the way the final, climatic scene played out(with WW and Z slowly revealing what was going to happen in flashbacks, as Babs slowly began to make her way towards the door), was truly perfect.
The ONLY reason I didn't go with a 10 was because I hated that WW crushed that guy's IPhone in the dance club. When Babs was Batgirl there WAS no IPhones! Even updating the story, that would have meant that Babs was Batgirl like what, 2 years ago, and even by DC time, that's just impossible. If not for that one little thing, this comic would have been perfect to me, hands down.
Whenever a comic can give me goosebumps and get me misty eyed, you KNOW it was an awesome story!
He is, actually he's taking over Supes and Wonder Woman after Gail leaves. ANd yeah, Falisha gets the credit because I read her issue but it was a great comic.
ReplyDeleteYep the same for me X, and when she mentioned Oracles I knew for sure. Lmao I also hated the timeline being screwy, I liked they brought it up but Iphone's and Beyonce singing single ladies... it just made it seem like everything since then has been compressed into like two years, which would mean Tim's WHOLE Robin run and everything...
Supes and WW? If only he'd complete the Trinity and take over Bats as well...
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU JT! More then anything the IPhone ref hurt the story for me because it made me start thinking about DC's timeline, and not the story. If you do some simple math, you know Babs was shot before Tim became Robin. Tim became Robin when he was what, 12/13ish?, and if Babs was Batgirl only 2 or 3 years ago(DC time)that would make Tim 14/15... And that REALLY doesn't work... That's more on the editor then the writer if you ask me, 'cause the editor should have realized that was a major gaff and pulled it before it saw print. Sure it's nit-picky, but we run comic book blogs, so of course we're gonna be nit-picky!! :P
Maybe they were just trying to save themselves the trouble of having to update continuity again a few years down the road? Who knows.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think I've mentioned this before but I've read one issue from this series - the one with Flash and the Blackhawks. I loved that issue and I'll definitely be getting the trades for this series.
I'm a real stickler when it comes to continuity, which is why those little slip-ups drove me so crazy. Who knows, maybe you're right Marc. Or maybe it was just an editorial slip-up... Whatever it was, it bugged me!
ReplyDeleteSame here! This was probably only the third or forth issue of this series I've picked up, but I'll def be trying to secure the rest of the series soon.