Batgirl #5

The first four-issue story featuring the villain "Mirror" was a pretty decent start to the new Batgirl series. While maybe a little obvious, it was thematically relevant as Barbara's main issues are the ones she sees when she looks in the mirror, metaphorically that is. So far, the most difficult challenges for Babs have been insular, dealing with her recovery from paralysis, conflicted feelings about Dick Grayson/Nightwing, and now -- Mommy issues!

Although Gordon family history is somewhat convoluted (Babs is the niece/adopted daughter/possible biological daughter of Jim Gordon), what one needs to know is that the Barbara Gordon who has shown up mysteriously is Jim Gordon's ex-wife, the former adopted mother of Babs. Make sense? Good. Now I can actually talk about the story.
From what is revealed in the issue, Babs considers Barbara her mom (she calls her mom, biological details aren't fully revealed), and that like in the pre-Flashpoint DCU, she left during her childhood, pretty much never to be heard from again. Now she wants back into her life -- the reason though is not exactly clear. Babs is reluctant and surprised, she clearly despises her Mom, resenting her for walking out on her years earlier.

Sketchy....

This comic begins by introducing our new adversary "Gretel" (I wanted to look up the story "Hansel and Gretel" as possibly having a literary significance, but of course Wikipedia's doing the whole blackout to protest S.O.P.A. thing today) who has a brainwashing ability and pulling a Ramona Flowers routine with ever-changing hair colors. Her drones once under her control don't feel pain, but Batgirl still manages to take them down without causing them too much harm. (They also routinely recite the number "338" -- Google Search turned up nothing on the significance of the number). After Gretel escapes, Babs decides to relax before her mother shows up unexpectedly at her door. She reveals that she's moving back to Gotham and wants to be friends. Yeah....right. Maybe she is genuine, but generally parents who walk out on you and break off communication for most of your life aren't the most trustworthy individuals. Immediately I question "is this really Barbara's mom, or someone playing mind-games with her? Also, why is she really back in Gotham?

338?

Up until here, I'm pretty kosher with everything that happens until we have the return of Detectice McKenna from the early issues of this series. She seems to have developed some sort of obsession with Batgirl. This makes very little sense. I know we have learned very little about her, but writer Gail Simone needs to give us more about her as McKenna's clearly going to be playing a big part in this comic going forward.

The issue concludes with Barbara running off to save Bruce Wayne as he speaks to quell an "Occupy Gotham" movement. Of course, in an expected twist, Bruce has also become a drone (really? isn't Bruce impervious to simple mental attacks like this?) and as the comic ends, he's about to square-off against Batgirl. So at least we can all look forward tot hat next week.

This issue is the continuing evolution of Babs' abilities as a crime-fighter. She's becoming a better fighter, more confident, and quicker to act. She's still not on the level of Bruce, Dick, or maybe even Tim, but she's well on her way to becoming the elite once again.

What I liked: Again, super-strong characterization of Babs by Gail Simone, strong visuals by Ardian Syaf, and many interesting subplots popping up.

What I didn't: I want to learn more about Babs' roommate, she's being underutilized I feel. Also, the Detective McKenna situation needs to be rounded out so we understand a true reason why she's obsessed with Batgirl. Simone has created depth with many little pieces building this bigger storyline, but they don't' quite fit yet as well as I'd like.

Conclusion: Pretty decent issue, enjoyable read, it's just flawed as a complete story -- it opens a lot of doors without really closing any of them. Some sort of resolution somewhere really would have been nice. 7.8/10 (C+).