The Movement #9

Written by Gail Simone
Drawn by Freddie Williams II
Published by DC Comics

It’s crossover time! Batgirl has come to Coral City. And this is the original Batgirl, Barbara Gordan. It’s a natural crossover, due to the fact that Gail Simone was writing a solo Batgirl series at the time. The story is that there is a young super-powered vigilante, a guy named Reese, who calls himself Horizon, he has some kind of solar powers to project heat. He “accidentally” killed some muggers in Gotham and ran off to Coral City. Batgirl has tracked him there, and wants to bring him back to justice. Having done her research on this city before arriving, Batgirl tries to contact The Movement for help. At the local church Batgirl meets Virtue, Vengeance Moth, Mouse, and Katharsis. The meeting does initially go so well, as Katharsis and Batgirl have some kind of previous history, and it’s safe to say that there’s no love lost between them. After a brutal but swift fight, Virtue separates them, and calls a temporary true. The ladies all go to the diner for ice cream and donuts while they talk it over. Batgirl explains the situation to them, but after hearing the story of Horizon, The Movement ladies think he should be treated like hero, so they tell Batgirl to back off. Off course Batgirl isn’t going to do that, and warns them that she’s not leaving until she’s taken Horizon into custody, and that they can either help her out our get out of the day. And that leaves us with a cliffhanger…

Once again I’m impressed with Gail Simone’s skills in characterization, which shines through in the interaction between Batgirl and the Movement. You can feel the antagonism between Katharsis, the ex-cop who now hates cops, and Batgirl, the daughter of a cop. There’s also a moment between Batgirl and Vengeance Moth, which recalls Barbara’s own past in a wheelchair. One subplot in this issue is Mouse’s continued romantic pursuit of Tremor, which Virtue and Kartharsis try to help by literally bathing him against his will, to make him more presentable to her. And there is also Captain Meers’ continued investigation into Virtue’s true identity, which uncovers a significant connection between her and him.

And the best thing about this issue is that it is completely self-contained. You don’t need to have read any of the Batgirl series (which I hadn’t) in order to follow along, where given all the information we need for this story. Very well-done.