Two Times the Goofy
Writer: Sean Aldridge
Artist: Scott Godlewski
Colors: John Rauch
Letters: Deron Bennett
Main Cover: Dan Mora
Variant Cover: Joshua Middleton
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: June 27. 2018
**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**
It’s the first issue since Rebirth that Batgirl’s being written by someone other than Hope Larson! Except for that one two-parter, way back. I know I had my criticisms, and wasn’t very generous with the scoring, but I’d like Hope to know that I did have fun with the run, after I came to accept the character as presented instead of as expected, and I thank her for it. But now, a new challenger enters the Bat-Arena! Let’s find out how he did in my review for Batgirl #24, commencing now!
Explain It!
So one thing you should know is that I love fake drugs in fictional stories. I was enthralled by “Nuke” in Robocop 2. The phony medicine Ephemerol in Scanners was a stark allegory for Thalidomide. Heck, I even thought the mind-warping effect of the earworms in Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan were kind of cool. So when I saw that this story partially revolved around…what are they calling this stuff? “Easy-A,” an “improved” version of the ADHD medicine Adderall. AND it’s being sold by a gang called the Speed Demonz. AND, they’re motorcycle-riding hipsters. It’s like this was a story specially crafted for me.
Unfortunately, that tantalizing story line is abandoned so Batgirl can swing into Gotham City and save an old college computer science buddy, and fellow offspring of a Gotham City police officer, Jason, from doing some illicit hacking work of an undefined nature. After following him into a well-guarded compound, it’s learned that he’s working for Two-Face! A fella we haven’t seen for a while, by my count. When Batgirl turns her back on Jason to face Two-Face (in both his faces), Jason wallops her with a club and knocks her cold. Two-Face is glad to see this loyalty, but then Jason whaps him one too and trusses up the both of them!
When they come to, we find out that Jason’s dad was killed by Two-Face—two shots to the chest—and now he’s going to get his revenge by…executing the full extent of Two-Face’s plan? See, besides stealing a bunch of money, Two-Fer planned on blowing up a bunch of bombs on Gotham City’s East Side, thereby “scarring” the Big Pear akin to Harvey’s disfigured pan. So now, Jason’s going to blow ‘em up anyway—but he’s going to do them every 28 minutes along, instead of 22, having something to do with his dad’s badge number. This change is irrelevant, since Babs is able to out-code Jason (after knocking him out with a straight kick, incidentally) and save the city, culminating in another awkward but sweet exchange between Batgirl and her seemingly clueless dad, Commisioner Gordon.
And that’s that, I suppose. You know, I’ve been so trained to expect a drawn-out story arc, when I see these one-off issues I don’t know how to react. But this was a nice story, in and of itself. It carries along pretty well and is explained plainly, and where a cornball typing montage might have been inserted in lesser comics, we don’t see one here. The stories themselves are really nothing spectacular. I have a personal affinity for “Easy-A” but it isn’t anything brilliant. The second story was alright too. I don’t know what the long-term future for this series hold, but here’s a time I read Batgirl and didn’t feel ripped off. That counts for something.
Bits and Pieces:
A one-off story about Batgirl fighting crime and bumbling a bit while righting wrongs. If I didn't know any better, I'd think this was the character I remember from the Before Time–the Long, Long Ago.
7/10
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