By Cat Wyatt

Issue number 19 is the start of a new Batgirl heavy plot; Full Circle. This plot is building off of one started earlier, involving Calculator and his business (you know, the one where he helps criminals plan their heists by getting over blueprints and all the other relevant information?). The real question for this issue is whether or not Barbara can resist picking up the Oracle’s mantle again, and what would happen if she lets temptation win.

While the girls had hoped that the threat his family went through would be enough to make him go clean, the fact is he’ll never change. So naturally that means his business is still booming, unfortunately. I still find the idea behind his business structure interesting, even if he’s a total scumbag (and obviously the business itself isn’t exactly ethical either).

Remember Gus, the kid that took up Oracle’s mantle because he was so obsessed with her? (That and he got in a bit of trouble with Calculator…). Well he left a backdoor into Calculator’s system, and he left all of that intel with Barbara. I can certainly understand the temptation to take advantage of something like that, but I’d personally be more concerned about the ramifications of it all once Calculator figured out what was happening (and I have no doubt he’d figure it out – the guys a crook, not an idiot).

Sadly Barbara doesn’t listen to the little voice in the mind telling her it’s a bad idea, and she goes ahead with the plan. How do I know she had doubts about using the backdoor to capture criminals? She didn’t tell the rest of the team what she was doing. Sure, she gave them the locations and times to catch the criminals, but she wasn’t divulging how she got it. It makes sense that Canary and Huntress just assumed she was doing her Oracle thing (she does pick it up from time to time), and gathering intel through her normal means.

I can really understand why Barbara liked the idea for this; she can intercept potential clients for Calculator, arrange a meet, and have the girls do their thing. It sounds perfect right? Perhaps a little too perfect? I feel like Huntress and Canary would have been better prepared to deal with any potential fallout from this if they were, you know, actually given a heads up? I think at least one of them (if not both) would have been okay with the idea, at least in the short term. What kept this whole situation from being okay was all of the secrecy behind it (well, that’s part of the reason why at least).

But as you know, all good things must come to an end. Calculator figured out what was happening (and I imagine he did so fairly quickly – it is his reputation on the line after all) and while he doesn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle yet, he’s working on it; which is exactly why he sent out his terrifying bot, Burnate (horrible name) after the Birds of Prey. Now, I don’t think he had any clue that Batgirl was behind this. I do think he believed Oracle was behind it (which is true) and he knew that the Birds of Prey knew Oracle’s identity. Therefore the best way to get to Oracle is to go through them. That would explain why Burnate keep screaming “who is Oracle?”

While I knew from the start that this plan of Barbara’s was going to go poorly, I honestly didn’t expect it to get quite so…lethal. I’ll confess I was a bit blindsided by Burnate’s actions. It’s so easy to forget sometimes that Batgirl (and the Birds of Prey) can get just as dark as the Batman series, because they so infrequently dip down. But when they do, man do they hit you in the feels. I’m still reeling from that one.

This was a shockingly heavy and well written issue (the heavy part was the surprise that is, not necessarily the writing). I thought I had an idea of what was going to happen, and while the creators allowed me to be partially right (I suspect this actually was intentional) they threw a curveball into the mix, completely taking me by surprise. While I’m pretty upset about what actually happened, I have to admit it was good writing and well planned.

The artwork for this issue was pretty solid on the whole. I didn’t really like Burnate’s design (or his name), though he was certainly dangerous. I love how much raw emotion the artists were able to capture, especially towards the end. Seeing Barbara’s breakdown…it was heartbreaking, and the artwork fully supported it.

Score: 4/5

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #19
DC Comics