There’s two stories within Barbara Gordon: Breakout #3. The first is the growing mystery surrounding Barbara, as she tries to piece together who assaulted her in Supermax. The second is a case she undertook years ago, which set her on the path of the Joker but took an unexpected turn. You’d think the past case would connect to the present, setting up the reveal of Barbara’s assailant. You’d be wrong. Breakout #3 feels extremely disjointed from start to finish, and what’s worse, it doesn’t move the story further.
Let’s start with the past section. Apart from the fact that it’s visually confusing – though this case is depicted as taking place “years ago,” Barbara is wearing her current Batgirl suit instead of an old one – it more or less boils down to a red herring. There are some connections to Barbara’s current situation; she ends up in a trap, and she’s dealing with someone who’s ten steps ahead of her (which is no easy feat, given how smart she is), it doesn’t really go anywhere. If Mariko Tamaki is setting up for future storylines, it feels more oblique than ominous.
The present section isn’t much better, as it’s just rehashing things that we know. Barbara is suffering from a head injury. She’s in a prison where most people want her dead. And it’s glaringly obvious that fellow inmate Sparrow is making things worse by slipping her pills that are causing immense hallucinations rather than actually helping her heal. Tamaki chooses to only reveal in the final pages that a myterious figure is watching Barbara, which was more or less implied by the flashbacks. So when it boils down to it, this is a comic that went around in circles storywise.
DC
The one positive that Barbara Gordon: Breakout #3 has going for it is its art. Amacay Nahuelpan brings his A-game to every page, whether it’s the past or present. In the past sections, it’s full of all the caped and cowled action you’d expect from a Batman book, and Nahuelpan even gets the chance to draw other members of the Bat-family, including Cassandra Cain and Huntress. Not only am I happy a DC book remembers that Huntress exists, but her dynamic with Barbara is incredible. The present sections continue to put Barbara through the wringer, especially when she gets pushed into the electric fence; Tamra Bonvillain literally lights up the page with bluish-white electricity to remind readers that Supermax is no joke.
Throughout the issue, Nahuelpan returns to the ominous Grim Reaper-esque figure that’s been tormenting Barbara in her hallucinations. He doesn’t shy away from the fact that it’s terrifying, with its skull like face and rattling voice, and neither does Bonvillain as she wraps the figure in robes of purple so deep they’re almost black. This is what the comic needed more of, as it’s in these moments where it actually feels like things are moving forward.
Barbara Gordon: Breakout #3 feels stuck in place narratively, though it still excels when it comes to its visuals. The next issue needs to move things forward, otherwise it risks being stuck in a prison of its own.
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