Meat Puppets

Batgirl #20

Believing that she’s killed her psychotic brother by throwing a batarang through his eye, Barbara Gordon is all but ready to give up her Batgirl identity and actually cuts the Bat-logo off her costume. But she doesn’t get to enjoy a very long retirement — there’s a new Ventriloquist in the DCU, a young nutbag named Shauna Belzer. She’s got a little talent for ventriloquism, but she’s telekinetic — and she’s desperate to be a star. She tries out for an “America’s Got Talent”-style show, gets made fun of, murders one of the judges, and kidnaps another. And when Batgirl tries to stop her, she gets her butt whupped — by the puppet. That just can’t be a confidence-builder.

Verdict: Thumbs up. I’m not real sure we really needed a new Ventriloquist — has there ever been one better than Arnold Wesker? But Shauna Belzer is indeed pretty nutty, and the telekinesis bit is a nice twist on the formula. I would like to see some more done with the idea of Barbara giving up the Batgirl identity — after all, she spends most of this issue running around in her Batgirl costume…

FF #7

The Future Foundation has been pulled into the Negative Zone by the Wizard and his new Frightful Four — himself, Blastaar, a hypnotized Medusa, and Bentley-23, the Wizard’s young clone, who actually has absolutely no interest in being a part of his progenitor’s makeshift family. The entire Future Foundation, adults and kids, work together to face down the villains.

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s mostly a slugfest this issue, but it’s a very nice slugfest, and this series hasn’t been real heavy on the comic-style slugfests lately. Even then, we still get some great character moments — Bentley’s rejection of his father for his new family, Scott Lang’s attachment to the children and terror that they’ll be hurt, and Darla’s willingness to help her friends overcoming her lack of battle experience. Another great issue — y’all need to be reading this.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Allie Brosh is back, and she’s got an incredibly important new essay for you. This is really required reading for anyone who doesn’t suffer from depression — it’ll help you understand what may be going on with your friends and family who do have to deal with it.
• A guy who loves Nightwing fell in love with a girl who loves Batgirl, and they had the best wedding ever.
• Sometimes the best heroes are real heroes.
• Why didn’t they just close the doors and drive off? Who wouldn’t want a free otter?!
• I’m a terrible person, and this image made me laugh and laugh and laugh.