The BATGIRL ANNUAL #2 is coming this Wednesday, and ComicsVerse has an exclusive preview!

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Talent

Art by: Elena Casagrande

Cover by: Emanuela Lupacchino

Written by: Mairghread Scott

Specs

Series: BATGIRL 2016

U.S. Price: 4.99

On Sale Date: Aug 29, 2018

Volume/Issue #:2

Color/B&W: Color

Trim Size: Comic

Page Count: 48 [/one_half_last]

Coming off an over-sized anniversary issue, Batgirl is swinging into a new mystery involving a serial killer who is suspiciously like her brother, James Jr. In the exclusive preview below, Babs talks with Detective Khatri about the crimes. She then begins to see the parallels between her brother, who is locked away for murder, and this new killer.

Also below, find an interview with writer Mairghread Scott, who began her run with the character in BATGIRL #25.

ComicsVerse: What parts of Babs’ personality did you want to bring out for BATGIRL ANNUAL #2?

Mairghread Scott: I really love annual issues because you have extra page space to tell a different kind of story. With this annual, I wanted to tell a slow burn, suspenseful story where Barbara really has to use her detective skills and stop a serial killer. To complicate matters, she realizes that much of the murderer’s modus operandi matches that of her brother, James Gordon Jr. This forces Barbara to enter into a 1-on-1 battle of wits with her brother, who may be locked away in prison but is still finding ways to terrorize Gotham.

CV: Can you briefly discuss her relationship with the different members of her family?

MS: So I really wanted to explore the relationships in the Gordon family with my run. My main story running in Batgirl 26-29 explores Barbara’s relationship with Jim Gordon as circumstances force her to move back in with her father after she becomes injured. We really get to see how much they care about each other and how much they try to protect each other even while keeping things from one another. Babs’ and Jim’s empathy are a positive trait here that helps them heal some old wounds.

The major relationship in the Annual is James Jr. and Barbara. These two are surprisingly similar to one another: both very smart and analytical, both risk-takers, both people who challenge the status quo, but they have taken very different paths. Barbara has become this beacon of hope and light in the darkness and James has become a murderer who thinks he needs to help people discover and release the darkness within them. James really challenges Barbara to her core because he knows her well enough to turn some of her greatest strengths (like her empathy) into liabilities. I really think James may be Batgirl and Barbara’s greatest villain, but what is amazing is that he is also her brother and for most of her life was her best friend.

CV: In the past, Batgirl stories have been on the lighter side of DC stories. They’ve dealt with technical schemes and typical street crime. It’s not completely out of character, but can you discuss why you chose to pit her against an apparent serial killer?

MS: To me, Barbara is a very hopeful person. In recent stories, she has really built up that hope and that light of hers while traveling the world and protecting Burnside, but I really believe Gotham is the Black Mirror (Scott) Snyder talked about. Gotham is a force that seems to naturally pull people into darkness. I wanted to make Barbara face that darkness and I wanted to challenge her to see if her light would shine through. So she is going to be dealing with killers who not only challenge her to use her wits and skills to stop them quickly, but also challenge her ideology, challenge her beliefs in the inherent good of people, and her ability to save them and save Gotham.

CV: What can you tell us about Detective Khatri? She seems like a fascinating character. Will we see more of her?

MS: I actually created Khatri for a friend who is a brilliant, really blunt woman of color. She told me once she never sees characters like her in comics and it drives her nuts. And she was right. It’s not about just prejudice (though, it is about prejudice), it’s about lazy writing, too. It’s easy to write a ‘Law & Order’- style, generic white guy cop who has no personality. I’ve done it. But I don’t want generic any more.

I want Barbara’s world to feel full of real, memorable people actually look like the people I meet every day, even if they appear for just a few panels. Detective Khatri is a homicide detective who is whip-smart, funny, and clearly has some kind of beef with one of the members of her team. I wrote her as a one-off character but if people like her, I am sure there are always going to be a need for Batgirl to interact with detectives.

Drop me a tweet, people. If you like Khatri maybe she’ll get a transfer. 😉