Barbara Gordon: Breakout #1 – Mariko Tamaki, Writer; Amancay Nahuelpan, Artist; Tamra Bonvillain, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Picking up only one week after the release of the issue of Batman where Barbara Gordon was captured and arrested as an ally of the Bat-family, this neatly throws us into her new life in prison – with a big twist. This was her plan all along. She wasn’t the sacrifice, she wasn’t an unfortunate casualty. She set herself up – to be thrown into a charade posing as justice, to investigate a case no one else could. Savage and Ivy have essentially hollowed out the justice system in Gotham. Barbara is very quickly convicted as an accessory to murder, and sent to Savage’s new private supermax prison – where many of his enemies leave in body bags. Savage has been targeting his political enemies, having them convicted on shady charges and then having them killed in prison. She’s likely the next target – and she’s counting on it, ordering the Bat-family not to plan on a rescue.
Barbara is without the Oracle network now, but she’s still one of the most capable detectives in the DCU. However, she’s now in an ecosystem where everyone is out to hunt her. The guards are corrupt cops her father drummed out of the force, and the inmates are very excited to get their hands on a cop’s daughter. Leading the charge is Die, a mentally ill young woman who is convinced Two-Face is her father. This issue has a lot of common DNA with the current season of Daredevil: Born Again, and both unfortunately have way too much common DNA with real life, but what makes this issue stand out is its strong first-person perspective. This is Barbara’s story in every way, from her plan to get in to her realizing she’s more than a little out of her depths now. It’s the strongest spotlight as a solo hero she’s had in a long time, and one of the best looks at how this new Gotham actually functions that we’ve gotten yet.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
