Batgirl #34 Review

Title: Batgirl #34
Story: Crash and Burn
Characters: Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Black Canary (Dinah Drake), Huntress (Helena Wayne)
Creators: Gail Simone (writer), Fernando Pasarin (artist)
Publication Date: August 2014
Available In: Print | Digital

Summary: The epic finale of Deadline (and Gail Simone's run) begins with a yacht in the middle of Gotham Harbour, just as Charise Carnes prepares to set into motion her ultimatum on Gotham's criminal underworld. Also cruising through Gotham Harbour is Batgirl and two allies: her best friend, the Black Canary, and Earth-2 refugee, the Huntress. Together these three ladies are about to put up a fight for the rights of Gotham's citizens, including the ones Charise intends to kill.

Batgirl #33 Review

Title: Batgirl #33
Story: Deadline, Part 2
Characters: Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Black Canary (Dinah Drake), Huntress (Helena Wayne)
Creators: Gail Simone (writer), Fernando Pasarin (artist)
Publication Date: July 2014
Available In: Print | Digital

Summary: Batgirl #32 saw the protagonist, Barbara Gordon, on the edge of her limits as a superhero after her arch nemesis, Charise Carnes (aka Knightfall), returned to Gotham bigger, badder, and more powerful than ever before. While Charise essentially shares the same goals as Barbara in that she wants to look out for Gotham's best interests, she also has an extreme and ultimately totalitarian idea of justice comparable to that of a dictator. Barbara is especially weary of her persistent use of violence as a way of getting her message across. The final straw for her was the amputating of Ricky Gutierrez' brother's hand to force the former into dropping his lawsuit against Barbara's father, James Gordon, for a shooting incident involving the GCPD. 

Knowing that she has to take things a step further if she is to take down Charise once and for all, Barbara recruits the help of her oldest and closet friend, Dinah Drake-Lance, who operates as Black Canary and the current leader of the Birds of Prey. Barbara fills her in on her case with Knightfall, and Dinah feels that she is embarking on a suicide mission, but agrees to help her out regardless. At the end of this conversation, they gain the support of one more individual, Helena Wayne, who chanced upon their meeting in one of her rare visits to Gotham.