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Matt Fraction’s Batman series has been busy establishing a new status quo for the Dark Knight and his city, and we’ve already seen some massive changes (including a radical reinvention of the Batman/Joker dynamic). But issue #9 is easily the most important chapter yet. This story completely changes Batgirl’s place in the DC Universe and drops another huge bombshell of a twist.
Read on to find out what happens in this issue, but beware of spoilers for Batman #9 ahead!
Issue #9 builds on recent events in the series, with GCPD Commissioner Vandal Savage intensifying his war against Batman and the city’s other costumed vigilantes. Savage sends his forces to raid various Bat-bunkers across the city, forcing our heroes into a race against the clock to remove sensitive data and technology before it can be confiscated.
Heroes like Signal and Spoiler face close calls in their respective missions, even as Oracle guides them from her perch in the Clocktower. Finally, Oracle realizes that she has no choice left but to surrender herself to GCPD custody and take the heat off her friends.
Meanwhile, across town, Batman and Robin are carrying out a vital mission of their own. Batman pays one last visit to his family’s ancestral home at Wayne Manor (which had previously fallen into the hands of Commissioner Savage) before detonating a series of explosives he planted throughout the building. Wayne Manor is no more. Good thing Bruce and his family have their new home at Pennyworth Manor.
The explosion is barely a blip on the evening news, however, as everyone is too distracted by the biggest news of the day. The GCPD has arrested one of Batman’s closest allies, and she’s none other than Barbara Gordon, the daughter of former Commissioner Jim Gordon.
This is obviously a huge change for the once and future Batgirl, and it’s one that directly sets the stage for a new series called Barbara Gordon: Breakout. In breakout, Barbara is sent to Savage’s new supermax prison, where she’ll be forced to fight for her survival while being locked up with many of the criminals she helped put away.
What do you think of the big changes introduced in Batman #9? Is this the right move for Oracle? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
For more, check out our new look at Marvel Creator Collection No. 1: Barry Windsor-Smith and X-Men ’97: Season Two #1.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
