Warning! Contains spoilers for Birds of Prey #9!
The Birds of Prey are currently on a universe hopping journey to find and rescue Batgirl Barbara Gordon. This journey takes them to a dark world full of shadow creatures, and while that seems terrifying enough, they soon come face to face with a Barbara Gordon who seems to have a terrifying inner darkness.
As the Birds of Prey are searching for Barbara Gordon in Birds of Prey #9 by Kelly Thompson, Jonathan Case, and Gavin Guidry, they enter into an even more Gothic version of Gotham than the normal one. In this version of Gotham, literal shadow creatures stalk the streets, and after rescuing who they believe to be Barbara Gordon, the Birds of Prey find themselves face to face with a true monster.
As this monstrous version of Barbara transforms into a giant bat creature, this Babs says something of note. Monster Babs claims that this entire world was created by Barbara Gordon. While it’s not clear what she means, it certainly has troubling implications.
Barbara Gordon has always been one of the more complicated members of the Bat-Family. Despite being the daughter of a cop, she’s always been more willing to break the law and use morally gray methods than others, especially in her Oracle role. At one point in her life, she was even the leader of the Suicide Squad. Barbara Gordon has also been through a huge amount of tragedy in her life. She had to deal with a serial killer brother and her career as Batgirl ending due to the Joker’s attack. It’s no surprise that there’s some darkness in Barbara Gordon after these tragic events, and that seems to be taking physical form.
Monster Babs mentions that this world was created by Barbara Gordon. This could be how Babs truly sees Gotham: a dark and miserable place where hostile shadows are around every corner. Considering everything she’s gone through as a vigilante and everything she’s seen as a cop’s daughter, it’s not shocking that she’d see Gotham this way. This is the same city where her father was shot in the back, several times, by a corrupt police officer.
There are still tons of answers that readers don’t have yet. Who exactly this monster Babs is or why she hates the real Barbara Gordon is unclear. How this world came to be made or what influence Barbara has over it is also unclear. The only thing readers currently know is that there’s a dark and nightmarish version of Gotham City, in which a giant bat monster version of Barbara lives, which was all apparently created by the original Batgirl. Even without the answers to the majority of these questions, this still paints a pretty horrific picture of this iconic Birds of Prey member.
Birds of Prey #9 is available now from DC Comics!