Comics! Batgirl #4

Batgirl #4

Gail Simone: writer
Ardian Syaf: penciller
Vicente Cifuentes: inker

The Comic
So was Barbara ever Oracle? I really can't tell from this book. This question comes from a moment when the villains talk about having an App for detecting Batman in Gotham. Wouldn't that be something that Oracle would have access to and put a stop to?

And the Batgirl has a House, MD moment while rescuing some people and figures out how to take down the Mirror. And does so in an old, abandoned circus. In the house of mirrors part. By doing to the villain what he does to his victims.

We got the dance around the elephant again this issue. This was done in a throwaway line that the miracle for her walking took place in South Africa. Then we dance away. In the same discovery we also learn that Batgirl's roommate is a total stranger to her.

Which again begs the question, was she even Oracle in this new universe? Oracle, the computer hacker. Oracle, the smart, calculating persona of Barbara. From this issue, I am really beginning to doubt it.

Barbara does get a big resolution to one plot line - trying to overcome her fear of being Batgirl again. But now I don't get why this didn't happen the last issue. The villain literally had a few panels last issue and then we focus on other situations and new plot lines, and then this issue resolves some of the major ones that could have been taken care of last issue.

There just seem to be some off things going on with this book. The comic reminds me a little of the TV show Lost. You get this sense that something much bigger is going on, but it will only drop hints about characters and hints about the story line and there is this whole air of mystery about everything with a million questions but almost no definitive answers. Throw that feeling in with that cliffhanger of an ending with a character appearance that comes out of left field. Mix it all up. Then try and decide what to feel for this comic.

I wish there was an app for that like the find Batman app the villains had in this issue.

Grades
Words: 6/10
Pictures: 7/10
Recommend: Blah. Blah blah. Not really.
Buy Next Issue: Trending downward, but I gotta see if anything happens with that cliffhanger. The carrot is being dangled in front of my face, but I am beginning to see that it might not be as fresh as I thought it was going to be.

Previous Issues
Three Issue Trial
Batgirl #3
Batgirl #2
Batgirl #1