Overview: Batgirl goes to Unearth, and everything is not what it seems.
Synopsis (spoilers ahead): In Unearth, the Maker is unsatisfied with the women at the castle, for they are not his true love. He decides to find his lost love, Margaret Lew, his former editor. The barriers between Unearth and Earth were weakened by the Titans, so there is a possibility to travel to Earth and bring Margaret to Unearth.
Batgirl swings by Gotham Central Park and sees an older lady being attacked by two purple monsters. Batgirl is easily able to keep them away from the lady, although she has never seen creatures like these before in her life. These creatures run into a portal and escape, and the older lady runs when she is free from the creatures’ grasp. Thus, Batgirl is left alone to ponder these creatures, and she realizes that the older woman dropped all of her belongings. She knew that as Batgirl she could not return this stuff to this lady, but as Barbara Gordon she can. She takes the lady’s stuff and goes rest for the night.
Later that night, Babs is relaxing in her bathtub reading the book that the old lady dropped. She is happy to relax from all the stuff with Oracle. She can relax in a world outside herself. The writing is not the best, but the world the author created is addictive. Addicted, she goes to the library and checks out the other books in the series.
The Maker uses magic to find Margaret’s scarf, but instead of finding Margaret, he finds Babs sitting on a bench. He uses magic to distract her while they sneak past her. She dreams of Jason and Dick dueling over her love. With rapier swords in each hand, both men make over-the-top cases for why they are better for Babs than the other. She wakes up from her dream, dazed and confused with what she had just seen.
Elsewhere, the Maker searches for Margaret and finds her. She is surprised to see him since she told him she never wanted to see him again. He uses his powers to bring the castle from Unearth to Gotham.
Jason sees this castle and heads in that direction. Babs changes into her costume and checks out that area as well. The Maker and Margaret head back to Unearth and Batgirl follows. Jason gets caught and is taken prisoner. Jason is put in knight armor and is forced to fight the dragon in the lair. He is forced to get a dragon’s scale or Margaret will die. With Jason unsure of his next move, Batgirl readies herself to save Jason.
Analysis: I dislike this plot. Sometimes when people say they do not like the plot, they also mean they do not like the dialogue. However, I think the dialogue was fine. I just find Unearth so uninteresting. I was okay with it during the Titans series, but it has lost its appeal to me. I get what Castellucci was going for: a story that contrasted the maker’s search for his love with Babs’ search for love. I do not mind stories that employ this contrast between protagonist and antagonist, but I do not find this interesting. To me, the art by Tormey, Sotomayor, and Andworld Design were the highlights of this issue. I was very disappointed with the script.
Final Thoughts: I am not a fan of a Batgirl story having magic and magical realms. Hopefully, the story becomes more engaging, but I am not liking this direction.
