Batgirl #48

Issue Details

Synopsis

GORDONS NEVER GIVE UP, PART 1 Barbara Gordon was assaulted by the Joker in her apartment. She had to manually unplug her spinal cord device that gives her the ability to walk and move autonomously. This resulted in a shock that made her lose her senses: she was hospitalized. When she wakes up, she is surprised in seeing the man standing by her side, in her hospital room: her brother, James Gordon Jr. James tells her their father was stuck in court, and could not reach the hospital. He told James that Barbara was in danger and hospitalized, so he reached out: he's following a serious therapy and taking pills. They seem to be working. He wants go get back at being a family with Babs and the old man.   Of course, Barbara does not believe James: he tricked her far too often to allow him to be taken seriously. Still, as James knows she's Batgirl, Barbara decides to tell her what happened with the Joker. Soon after, James Gordon Sr. arrives at the hospital, in apprehension for his daughter. As he sees Barbara is all right, he starts to argue with his son: he had no right to come here. He's not part of the family anymore, period. Barbara does not like how the discussion is going, especially regarding her role in it, and so tells both of them to go away. She can take care of herself.  Babs gets back to her apartment: she must find a way to repair her implant and to put it back to work. Even if she's a genius, she does not possess the skill to repair the micro-electronic parts of the device. Thankfully, she knows who just came back in town: her former boyfriend and fellow genius Lucas Fox. He comes over right away, hearing the tension in Barbara's voice: he offers her a shoulder to cry upon, giving her an opportunity to talk about her feeling towards the Joker. He then repairs the device, plugging it back into Barbara's spine with an healthy dose of pain for Batgirl. Back on her feet, Barbara has to tell Lucas she is seeing another man, as Mr. Fox clearly wanted to restart a relationship. But the two agree on one thing: their friendship and trust will last forever. Putting on her costume then, Batgirl heads out to fight the war against Joker.   While out in the streets, Barbara intercepts a call of the police about a rather interesting and macabre case. Reaching the spot, she overhears Commissioner Bullock saying that in this case, and only this, he will allow to contact James Gordon for assistance, even after what he did as part of the Infected. Barbara leans over, trying to understand why Harvey is allowing this, and she discovers a frightening fact: the body on the ground is of a young woman, with red hair, dressed with a Batgirl costume. A perfect copy of Barbara herself.