DCAU #351: Minute Differences

IN THIS ONE... Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon team up!

CREDITS: Written by Scott Peterson; art by Tim Levins and Terry Beatty.

REVIEW: The two Gordons respond to the same call about a prison riot and the next thing you know, they're following clues and breaking heads together. For the older-looking Commissioner, the latter sometimes seems a little out of character, but it's fun to see, and Levins always draws nice butt-kicking sequences.

Like a Fast/Furious movie, this is about family. Though officially, Gordon isn't supposed to know Barbara is Batgirl, it's clear from his body language and veiled comments that he does know. There's a very nice exchange in the car where she questions why a woman would throw her life away to help her felonious brothers escape prison (but if you look closely, she also prevents them from killing someone else), and how you tend to look the other way when it comes to family, both avoiding each other's eyes at that point. Subtext is everything. And as it turns out, the villains are trying to visit their sick mother before she dies, which plays into Babs spending this time with her father, and then again the next morning in her other identity. She makes an active choice not to let her crazy life interfere with their relationship, as does he. Contrast that to the crooks who are angry at the police that they couldn't be granted a final moment with their mom, and Gordon pointing out that had they not committed murders, they could have had all the time in the world with her. It's a powerful statement, and one that quickly dissolves whatever sympathy the scene otherwise generated. Nice hero moment for Gordon there.
REREADABILITY: High - My review is short, but that's because the story has such a clear thrust. A great one that's about one of the Bat Family's key relationships.

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