Batman Confidential #20

After reading this issue, I know how this arc will end. Gordon will come home and walk into study. He will notice that his notebook is missing. With a tired and resigned, “Barbara”, his daughter will walk into the room. With a head hanging low in shame, she will start to mumble she lost the notebook. Before she can get the words out, Bruce Wayne will walk into the study to the applause of the live audience. He will hand the notebook to Gordon making some excuse like he took it and forgot to return it. Gordon will say “OK” and walk out. Beaming Barbara will turn to Bruce to thank him, and Bruce will give her a playful knock to the chin with a witty and clever one-liner. The canned laughter and applause will rise as the screen fades to black.

For an industry that complains about the need for female readership, and specifically a company that launched its own female oriented line of graphic novels, DC does a good job reducing women to stereotypes. This issue opens up with the quintessential “Let the boys clean up your mess” moment. Batman swings in to get the lowdown and save the ladies from themselves. Batgirl and Catwoman are just girls and can’t handle things themselves. Thank goodness the Man showed up to set things straight.

Batman gets them back on track, and the story moves forward. Stereotype #1, the Femme Fatale, gets her package, and betrays the others by leaving. The second stereotype, the precocious teenage girl who should know better but can’t help herself, Batgril, runs off to chase the lost notebook. At this point, I think they should change her name to “Gidget”, or Gidget the Batgirl, and be honest.

The art is passable. The colors are a bit too bright and cartoony. The artist must have felt the sitcom vibe and has colored up the page to match the necessary levity.

Gidget runs off and gets herself in another quandary (of course!). Hopefully Batman will be around to save her again. Aww shucks, if Gig wasn’t so cute, she might actually get a stern talking to one day.