While the Bat-family is no stranger to magical beings, a dragon attack is a rare occurrence even in Gotham. But in Batgirl #44 by Cecil Castellucci, Cain Tormey, and Chris Sotomayor that is exactly what Barbara Gordon is up against—a fire-breathing, metal-scaled beast fueled by the fear of new love.
Taking up where the previous issue left off, Barbara is facing off against the Maker, a mildly successful high fantasy writer named Ernest Hinton. The Maker was previously introduced in Titans, gifted powers from excess Source Wall Energy. Long story short, he can bring his imaginary world (called the Unearth) to life.
In part one of “Graveyards Of Words And Bones” (the previous issue), Barbara is struggling to cope with her personal life all while trying to help rebuild Gotham and deal with the aftermath of her conflict with Oracle. Add in an eccentric, love-obsessed author with reality-bending superpowers and naturally the issue would inevitably end with Batgirl fighting a dragon in the name of love.
The Amoratius Dragon, a creature from the Unearth, is an unstoppable killing machine that gains strength from the fear of romantic rejection. Created by Hinton in the hopes of harnessing the power of love to save his old editor’s life, the lonely fantasy writer’s winged beast is meant to serve as a metaphor for the fears one must overcome in order to open themselves up to a new relationship.
In Batgirl #44, out February 26th, Barbara must slay her conflicting feelings over her old love Dick Grayson and her new love interest, Jason Bard… literally in the form of a medieval monster. Jason’s insecurities over his infatuation with Barbara Gordon actually make the Amoratius Dragon grow bigger and become more ferocious, making the battle all the more perilous.
The story, while a fun Princess Bride style adventure in regards to setting and plot, feels a bit rushed and clunky in its delivery at times. But to be fair, Batgirl #43 was originally going to be a completely different story, so that’s understandable. DC informed retailers back in December that the original story, involving Barbara traveling to Chicago where she confronts her estranged mother and a new villain named Opus, was scrapped for this new one.
Issue #44 was supposed to be a continuation of the originally solicited story, with a cover that depicted Batgirl atop the Gotham skyline with the question “who owns Gotham?” ominously blending into the background. Hopefully, when Batgirl is done slaying dragons in the magical realm of Unearth, readers will get to see some version of the shelved storyline, since the cover art and solicitation for it seem genuinely interesting.
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