Batman Confidential #19

Good Grief, I've been doing a lot of reviews! And yet, this one is just so good, that I can't resist. As you all know, I'm not too much of a Bat enthusiast (although I MUST say, that he's actually been tolerable this week) I do like a lot of the Bat supporting cast however. And I LOVE Kevin Maguire, so I've been gobbling up this book like crazy.

When last we left our doughty heroines, Catwoman had stolen Commissioner Gordon's notebook from Barbara. Barbara, as Batgirl has done her level best to retrieve it. Catwoman had to admit that the reason she stole it was to save a life, which of course makes Barbara (to her chagrin) just HAVE to help her now. They are also pinned down by sniper fire at the junk yard, and Catwoman is falling to her death. Good thing that she has that tail. Batgirl manages to snag her just before she hits the ground, and they end up in a dumpster. Poor Catwoman. She's practically beside herself with disgust at having to be rescued...and rescued by an obvious "newbie" at that.

Batgirl manages to find a broken mirror and takes a peek at it. With disdain practically dripping in her voice, Catwoman assures her that "...no really, you look great." Batgirl really needs to mirror to try and see if she can discover who it is that is shooting at them. It turns out to be a very large VERY large Russian gentleman, and the two of them take turns pummelling him, which turns out to be mostly futile, since he seems to be enjoying it.

He does take off, and they manage to track him to a nice abandoned warehouse, which is of course the Bad Guy's Lair. Catwoman negotiates with the offer of a translation of the notebook in order to save her friend, while Batgirl turns out the lights. Things actually go according to plan except that their VERY large Russian friend is back, and he just Won't Go Down.

Then the Bad Guys blow up their lair.

Obviously, the two ladies are getting just a tad fed up about this point. But that's ok, it's about to get worse.

Oh, so much worse.



Again, Kevin Maguire is a genius when it comes to expressions. But his action just flows so smoothly, and his panels just go so beautifully together, you barely even need the narration or the dialogue...the art is just that good. Which is why I almost swallowed my tongue when I read a different review and some bozos were whining because Batgirl and Catwoman weren't "sexy" enough.

It's moments like this when I just want to beat my head against the desk.