Batgirl, Vol. 7: Oracle Rising

Batgirl (2016)

by Cecil Castellucci

Eager to prove himself as a guardian for the criminals of Gotham City, Killer Moth has set his sights on taking out one of Gotham's finest heroes...Batgirl! But Lex Luthor has already beaten him to it-he's brought Oracle back online. Oracle makes her move to confront the creator who abandoned her...Batgirl! With Oracle calling the shots in Burnside, Batgirl must figure out how to survive her nightmare opponent. Collects Batgirl #37-44.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2020

About the author

Cecil Castellucci is an author of young adult novels and comic books. Titles include Boy Proof, The Year of the Beasts (illustrated by Nate Powell), First Day on Earth, Rose Sees Red, Beige, The Queen of Cool The Plain Janes and Janes in Love (illustrated by Jim Rugg), Tin Star Stone in the Sky, Odd Duck (illustrated by Sara Varon) and Star Wars: Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure.

Her short stories have been published in various places including Black Clock, The Rattling Wall, Tor.com, Strange Horizons, Apex Magazine and can be found in such anthologies such as After, Teeth, Truth & Dare, The Eternal Kiss, Sideshow and Interfictions 2 and the anthology, which she co-edited, Geektastic.

She is the recipient of the California Book Award Gold Medal for her picture book Grandma's Gloves, illustrated by Julia Denos, the Shuster Award for Best Canadian Comic Book Writer for The Plain Janes and the Sunburst Award for Tin Star. The Year of the Beasts was a finalist for the PEN USA literary award and Odd Duck was Eisner nominated.

She splits her time between the heart and the head and lives north and south of everything. Her hands are small. And she likes you very much.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new creative team comes aboard and instantly makes their mark with a great Year of the Villain tie in story. Barbara's Oracle software becomes sentient and wants revenge on Batgirl for abandoning her. Cecil Castellucci smartly ties in a lot of characters and plots from previous creative teams coming full circle back to Burnside as Oracle threatens the people of the neighborhood.

Carmine Di Giandomenico handles all of this long arc and this is the best his art has looked. His facial features are less angular now, especially his cheekbones and it all looks great.

There's also a two part story bringing back the Unearth characters from a Titans story. It's well, just as terrible as the arc in Titans, Vol. 6: Into the Bleed. The Unearth world is about an author whose fantasy realm becomes real. It sounds interesting but it's definitely not.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Year Of The Villain crashes headfirst into Batgirl's world, along with new series writer Cecil Castelluci, as Barbara finds Burnside aflame, and a mysterious figure from her past responsible...

I like the slow burn of the story here; Castellucci leans into the Year Of The Villain, allowing it to act as both an A and B plot as Barbara tries to work out what's going on, all the while completely oblivious to the fact that the true threat is rising in the background. When the plots eventually converge, it takes everything Barbara has to deal with them, and serves as a well earned confrontation between the pair.

I also really like that Castellucci doesn't immediately jettison everything that Mairghread Scott built up around Babs after Hope Larson left the series - all of her supporting cast is here, as is Babs' new job, and there are even some villains held over from the previous volume as well. It shows respect for what came before, rather than an eagerness to make her own mark on the book; that comes naturally.

On art is Carmine Di Giandomenico, an artist I never expected to see on a title like Batgirl, and yet it works spectacularly well. Di Giandomenico's kinetic style is a great fit, and his visuals for Oracle are just about perfect. The chaos of Burnside as it descends into madness in the last two issues or so is a stand-out.

A new writer, artist, and direction all threaten to derail Batgirl's solo book, and yet all of them land on their feet and keep the train running. Superb.

[— nova · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let’s not talk about how long it took me to finish this.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stories in this collection that are unfortunately marred by the horrible art of my least favorite artist, Carmine Di Giandomenico. I really dislike his art more than any other artist.

[Vinicius · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um encadernado que me enganou com a primeira história que compõe o gibi, devido ao aparecimento do Mariposa Assassina, que me remeteu a Batgirl Ano Um, que é uma história bem legal, ao contrário desse encadernado em questão.

Como eu mencionei, eu acreditei que seria uma boa história, pois até que começou bem com o antagonista e principalmente com a Bárbara lidando com os dilemas de sua vida pessoal.

Continuando esse run da Batgirl, e citando o Fábio da Caverna do Morcego, toda a construção para a ascensão da Bárbara enquanto uma empresária de sucesso, até sua falência e dilemas que a escassez de capital traz consigo, remete muito a Queda de Murdock (com a devida proporção). E isso é muito interessante, porem é abordado apenas no início da história, deixando de lado toda a vida pessoal da Bárbara nesse sentido, focando em criar uma vilã desinteressante e na vida amorosa da Babs.

A vilã e toda a saga que a envolve, tem muita ligação com o evento Ano dos Vilões que estava acontecendo nas revistas da DC, o que influenciou diretamente na revista da Batgirl. Todo esse embate entre a Batgirl e a vilã eu achei bem tosco e sem aquela importância que o vilão traz para a trama, desafiando o leitor e o herói. Os diálogos também achei bem ruins, junto com os desenhos que ficam a desejar.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
This Volume was sort of drawn out as far as the story goes, but considering how long Babs was Oracle, it might have been more respectful for it to go longer... Maybe we'll see the villain again....
The story is basic: Three mobsters ("The Terrible Trio" - Shark, Fox, and Vulture - animal heads on human bodies) discover a closed vault area while doing a heist. In this vault is a dormant android body which we find out was made by Barbara when she was Oracle. After being healed and resuming her Batgirl title, she locked "Oracle" up in a warehouse in Burnside. The 3 criminals wake Oracle up, and she begins to try to get revenge on Batgirl for abandoning her. The whole time that Barbara is fighting on again-off again with Oracle, her friends get involved at various states, but none more so than Jason Bard. Ex-police chief and opposer of Batgirl, he likes Barbara, but she is unsure what to think about him. Near the end of the Oracle story, they kiss and decide to date a bit.
There is a two issue story at the end of the Volume involving Babs and Jason getting pulled into a fictional world made real, Unearth, written by Earnest Hinton for Margaret Lew (two characters we've seen in Titans and the earlier Burnside arcs) There, Babs is forced to defeat a dragon and the love Jason has for her get brought up. She doesn't feel the same for him...

Overall, a good Volume, very fast paced, but nothing crazy important. Merely the Batgirl tie-in to Year of the Villain.
Still... recommend.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 🌟

Batgirl fights Oracle and also goes to Unearth.

[Batgirl_ALT_21 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was intriguing, I'll give it that. This new version of Batgirl that attempts to reconcile the past (Pre-New 52/ New 52/ Rebirth) with the present threat of an AI-driven physical representation of Orcale is defiantly an interesting plot device. I also appreciate the inclusion of fan-fav characters like Frankie and Dr. Thompkins 😁👍. The only problem was the climax, I was expecting some long-spoken monologue between Oracle & Batgirl to occur; Whereby, the robot confesses that all it ever wanted to do was help Batgirl, Burnside, & Gotham, and have Batgirl either return that sentiment by simply saying..."You have and you saved me Oracle when I was in a deep dark place". Something about the lack of resolution made this whole story fall short and didn't give the misguided robot any real-life purpose or fulfillment. In addition, the 'Terrible Trio' was just kinda stupid and didn't add any real texture to the story 😒. Finally, the romance between Jason Bard and Barbara feels kinda forced and misplaced. I don't think Barbara would really be capable of feeling a sense of love for a man who framed her father for mass murder (in Batman Eternals). Forgive? Sure in time, she could learn to forgive Jason Bard. Befriend? Yeah, there is a certain comradery or common goal between them to protect Gotham. Love? No F-ing way 😡. Barbara is not some lovesick girl/woman who needs to love every guy who has ever attempted to pursue her 🙄. That just makes her come off as weak when she is a strong, reserved, independent, and capable young woman. Dick Grayson really gets that and this is why he will always be her soulmate. I don't know why they did this but the overall story is pretty interesting barring a few plot holes 😒. Vol 7 is better than Vol 6 but there is still much to be desired. Looking forward to the final installment of Vol 8👍.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of this volume is taken up with a bloated, six issue Year of the Villain tie in. It's a really slow, dull story with repetitive character beats. As long as this story is, there could've been some more context for Oracle, instead of throwing a fully bodied AI character at the reader. For some reason, Casatellucci is all in on pairing up Babs with Jason Brand, a relationship that is both unconvincing and futile. Babs and Dick Grayson will always circle back around to each other, we all know it. And if she's going to have a lasting relationship with anybody else, it needs to be on much stronger footing than with a guy that she hates, until suddenly she doesn't. And the notion of anybody in the core Batfamily having to deal with anything even remotely adjacent to poverty is ludicrous. Not quite as silly as Dick Grayson, oldest son of Bruce Wayne, but the idea that Babs wouldn't be perfectly comfortable between what she should have gotten from her former company and the stipend Alfred would surely convince her to take from Bruce is nonsense. At any rate, once the Oracle storyline is finally over, there's a two part fantasy story, apparently connected to both City of Bane and a Titans story. I'm not generally a fan of throwing Bats into fantasy settings, and this didn't change my mind, especially because it's largely focused on a relationship I don't care for.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I’ve read a lot more than I’ve reviewed... so one sentence takeaways! (Roughly.)*

A blast from Batgirl's past comes back in a dangerous way--and what's worse, it's a threat that she created! Some nice introspection coupled with classic comic book action, plus I'm excited to see Batgirl opening herself up to a relationship. It's rather sweet, and, let's be real, Batgirl needs some good news in her life.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic plot: Oracle awakens and seeks revenge on Batgirl for abandoning her creation, then there's a short adventure with Jason in a fantasy world.

Both story arcs were well executed, bringing Batgirl's history and future together. They had emotional weight as well as action. They were paced well and had real tension. The art is quality. Overall, this was great. I'm loving this series.

[Ming · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main arc was kind of okay, though didn't make much sense. The short one that followed was pretty much a mess though.

[Adam Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book collects Issues 37-44, the first eight of Cecil Castellucci's run on Batgirl.

The first six issues pick up with the Terrible Trio (fresh off having been defeated by Batgirl in Mairghread Scott's last issue) stumbling upon the Artificial Intelligence for Oracle, Barbara Gordon' hacker identity back when she was in a wheelchair.

This plot was frustrating. At six issues, this feels bloated and padded. There's a lot of Oracle whining and plotting revenge and just being overly dramatic. I also think the author, in writing about Barbara's financial state after she was pushed out of Gordon Clean Energy, doesn't really understand how corporations and stocks and such actually work. He's decided he needs Barbara to be broke even though she'd still be a millionaire at this point, but the story demands it.

The art is not pleasant to look at. It's not awful, but just kind of meh. I do think she does have some nice developments towards the end of the arc, but it's a slog to get through.

Next up Issue 43 and 44, which is, a tie-in to City of Bane. What I did find impressive is that you didn't really need to know anything about that event to understand this story. Essentially, we learn Bane took over the city and it ruined some real estate. Seems believable enough. At any rate, a Fantasy writer has found a way to actually create the world of his imagination, and wants to take his love, and his best editor there. However, Batgirl and Jason Bard get in the way and end up involved in a fantasy fight. It's interesting and I think the writing does some things to forward the relationship, as well as leaving us with a big question about Jason for the next volume.

Overall, the main arc is a bit annoying at times, even though it does have some good points. The last two issues are surprisingly fun and do some clever things, even though they're by no means masterpieces. So I'd rate the book somewhere between 2.5 and 2.75 stars, we'll round it up to three stars and call it okay.

[Ben Truong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batgirl: Oracle Rising picks up where the previous volume left off, collecting the next eight issues (Batgirl #37–44) of the 2016 on-going series. It collects the following stories: "Oracle Rising", "Graveyard of Words and Bones", and "Dragons begets Dragons".

"Oracle Rising" is a five-issue storyline with a conclusion (Batgirl #37–42) which has Barbara Gordon as Batgirl going against the Terrible Trio and their boss – Oracle. Apparently, Lex Luthor has managed to bring Oracle back online and now the computer program makes her move to confront the creator who abandoned her – Batgirl. This story serves as a Year of the Villain tie-in.

"Graveyard of Words and Bones" and "Dragons beget Dragons" is two interconnecting one-issue storyline (Batgirl #43–44), which has Barbara Gordon as Batgirl with Jason Bard taking on the imagination of Ernest Hilton – a retired writer who gained superhuman powers after the crack of the Source Wall, whose imagination become real.

Cecil Castellucci penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it was written rather well. Castellucci manages to re-introduce Oracle – the program that Barbara Gordon created and abandoned – into the mainstream continuity. It was, however, a tad shoehorned in with the Year of the Villain, but enjoyable nevertheless. The two-part story about Ernest Hilton is a tad wacky, but it does introduce Jason Bard back into Barbara Gordon and Batgirl’s lives.

Carmine Di Giandomenico (Batgirl #37–42) and Cain Tormey (Batgirl #43–44) penciled the trade paperback. For the most part the penciling styles complement rather well, while remaining distinctive. Introducing a new penciler for a new story and keeping the penciler for the entirety of the story was smart and a good place to disrupt the artistic flow.

All in all, Batgirl: Oracle Rising is a good continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Year of the Villain event hits Batgirl's world - with an old villain returning.

Cecil Castellucci takes over writing duties ont he title, and he picks up where the last creative team left off. But what was cool about this volume, is that he doesn't just dump everything and start all over, he incorporates what has came before and gives us something new and exciting. There is a tone that Castellucci evokes for Batgirl, and I'm really digging it. I think its the juxtaposition of Batgirl's happy go lucky attitude against the reality of things getting worse and worse. The way he handle's Barbara's slow realization that this is much more dangerous than she expected - was paced really well and felt natural.

Basically three gangsters awaken Oracle, an old backup copy that Barbara had created, who quickly becomes sentient. Unfortunately Oracle believes Barbara has abandoned her and is out for revenge. She then starts taking Burnside hostage in an effort to lure Batgirl out and dispose of her. The story felt personal and at the same time grandiose, thanks to Castellucci's writing.

I also thought the art was great by Carmine Di Giandomenico. I wouldn't expect him to see him on this book, but man he knocks it out of the park. He was a great fit not only for Batgirl but even more so for Oracle, with her angles and cybernetic components, the art was a great match for the story.

I very much enjoyed how easily the Year of the Villain stuff folded in nicely into the story. Castellucci presents a really good first volume and hits the ground running. Recommended for fans of Batgirl.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Castellucci takes over as the new writer in a collection that features two stories. The main one is by far the better, continuing on from the previous run without much of a blip - there's far less of a jolt than there usually is when a new writer takes over an ongoing series. But here, we keep many of the same characters, and the plot pretty carries on where it left off, despite the "Year of the Villain" arc intruding here and there. The actual villain in this very much works as an idea, and there's good use of the supporting cast, too, as Batgirl faces a foe who knows entirely too much about her and her methods.

Unfortunately, we then get the second story, which runs for just a couple of issues but is nowhere near as good. It's a fantasy story, something that never seems to work in these types of comics - it may just be a genre that Castellucci isn't as good at as he thinks, or the fact that it's deliberately supposed to be hackneyed may be overwhelming whatever else he's trying to do. There's a lot of guff about love that may or may not actually go somewhere in the end... and, yeah, it all drags the average down after quite a good main story.

[Jon Huff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the art in this volume. I thought the story was better than the last volume I read before Castellucci took over. But, it feels like a pretty slight premise to stretch over six issues. It gets a little repetitive, and I'm not sure Oracle as a villain is as interesting a villain as the writer thinks she is. Partly because Oracle's pathos, such as it is, seems to be rooted in a criticism of Batgirl that doesn't really fit what we know of the character. I don't know every single bit of the character's backstory, so I don't really understand why there is a robot body version of Oracle to start with. But that it's main beef seems to be that Batgirl "abandoned" it, but in this volume we're not really told how/why that actually happened, feels odd. But even if you just roll with that, Oracle doesn't really evolve as a villain , and her seeing herself as somehow "helping" feels kind of half-baked. Also, I have to note... maybe it's just by chance that the last few stories I'm reading right now seem obsessed with Batgirl getting shot/her implant and I really dislike that it's become such a focus with every other villain zapping her implant.

[J.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

First: obligatory comment about the overuse of the word "Rising" in a book title. Enough already!

Anyway...I enjoyed the Year of the Villain tie-in. A new villain that actually makes sense with the overarching story, plus the terrible trio are fun henchmen, especially since they don't actually WANT to be henchmen. The whole story probably could have been told in fewer issues, and without the silly "Babs is broke" angle which made absolutely no sense. But overall, enjoyable. Oracle is creepy.

The two issue fairy tale story was just meh. I like Jason as a character, but why Babs is falling for him in the least is beyond me.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This used to be the best of the currently running Batbooks of the time because it was actually good. Now it is just the best book because most of the others out there are AWFUL I mean, it seems to being doing crossover tie-ins where you don't actually have to read the main event to understand it. Which is plus. But the story's promise that Barbara would win by doing trying things she's never done before... really means... win by repeating things she did 15-25 years ago.

The stories themselves aren't bad. But are sort of redundant.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a mess. Disjointed, confusing, repetitive and actually stupid in the last issue. One more collected volume to go, and then Batgirl’s run is over. Maybe it’s for the best. This series reboot, following the Gale Simone run, has been uneven throughout. Mairghred Scott probably did the best job, and maybe at times Hope Larson came in at a close second, but I’m sick of Batgirl’s lame love interests, lame villains and recycled storylines.

[Joel Kirk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Overall, this was a big slog to read.

Very boring.

The entire book is about the criminal trio from the last book: Vulture, Fox, and Shark helping the Oracle take over Gotham. (I thought they were dead).

They also became less exciting, less intimidating—more like bumbling.

A major step down from the last collection.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a really clever idea to tie in Oracle as a terminator-like enemy for Batgirl to face. All in all it was a solid story, but it kind of just played itself out in a less than climactic way. It didn't deliver a great pay off or resolution, but it was enjoyable.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I liked the Oracle story, the two issue add-on was not good. I'm also not so sure about this romantic angle with Jason Bard. It feels forced, disingenuous. I like Babs well enough, but I'm not entirely sold on the series yet. This was the first storyline I've read in this series.

[Miyagami Noriko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I have to say I do not approve of the whole Jason Baird and Batgirl dynamic. It is insulting that she would respond to him the way she has in this GN considering their history.
Otherwise I do think the story has been engaging and at least gets 3 stars.

[Logan Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Highland G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really dragging its heals on the Jason relationship stuff and I’m so bored of the oracle being used against batgirl trope at this point. She needs to claim back that mantle alongside batgirl.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well-written and the story in this one was particularly good. Glad to see this run is still going strong!

[Kris Ritchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't care much for the outfit changes (again), the plot, the fact that Jim is off in Year of the Villain, Oracle the villain, the dick cop character.

Just meh. I miss Cameron Stewart.

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOW CAN IT END LIKE THAT

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda long, but overall a good story about Oracle finding consciousness and feeling abandoned by Batgirl.