Batgirls #4 - DC Comics

BATGIRLS No.4, May 2022

Firmly focusing upon Oracle’s protégés bringing the facially-disfigured Tutor to justice at his secret headquarters, Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad’s storyline for Issue Four of “Batgirls” certainly seems to bound along at an enjoyable pace. Sure, this comic’s readers arguably have to endure a few mundane moments at its start, whilst Stephanie and Cassandra take the day off from crime-fighting to obtain a book from the local second-hand store. But this dialogue-driven scene helps develop the intriguing relationship blossoming between Cain and the ever-amiable Mister Dhaliwal; “No, No. Absolutely not. The first read is on me. I only ask that you come back to tell me how you liked it.”

Furthermore, once the action does start it does so with plenty of palpable energy, due to Brown (once again) falling under the mesmeric influence of her Fear Gas-utilising opponent. This sudden shift in the battle’s flow against the social revolutionary genuinely gives the fisticuffs an added edge, especially once Cody Kline instructs his latest follower to fight against her fellow caped crusader. Indeed, what initially appears to be a ‘play-by-numbers’ skirmish where the titular characters hold all the game-winning cards, is suddenly transformed into a tense tussle, courtesy of Cassandra having to both dodge her friend’s jaw-breaking punches, as well as evade the rest of the Gotham artist’s zombie-like minions.

Perhaps however, this book’s biggest thrill comes towards the very end when the two masked vigilantes drop a successfully apprehended Tutor off at the home of Charles Dante in order for their prisoner to receive some much needed psychiatric care. Barbara Gordon’s ex-boyfriend has always been depicted as having an air of untrustworthiness about him, and this well-penned subplot is finally brought to the fore when it’s revealed he’s actually the hypnotic super-villain Spellbinder.

Ably aiding and abetting the Batgirls in their war upon crime is Venezuelan sequential illustrator Jorge Corona, whose artwork really helps this publication’s writing team tell an engaging adventure. The almost ungainly quirkiness of Cain’s character is especially well-sketched by the Russ Manning Award-winner, with the black-clad, semi-stitched heroine debatably capturing all the attention in any well-pencilled panel in which she appears – most notably those when she is either soaring across a night-time skyline or dodging the blows of her entranced team-mate.

Story: Becky Cloonan & Michael Conrad, Art: Jorge Corona, and Colors: Sarah Stern