InsaneJournal

This is a week or so after the quake; Cataclysm and Aftershock are over, Gotham has been declared a No Man's Land, and the bridges over the river are going to be blown up at midnight, trapping anyone who can't leave in the ruined city. A random Gotham citizen named Jason Braun is wandering around the streets taking a last look at the city before he gets out (knowing that this is stupid but feeling compelled to linger nonetheless), when he hears a voice in his head.









handles on the chair Goddamnit This is odd. Babs is all skeptical of him and her dialog is totally flippant... but she knows exactly what he's talking about (even though there really isn't any way she could), gives him the right directions, and quite clearly, from that last panel, believes he's speaking for the city.

I love the hell out of the whole "spiritual senses" version of Oracle, there, though. She's not Batgirl, not in the least - she's a Bat, no question, dark and terrifying and arcane, but she's not in motion, not a teenager, and her most distinguishing feature is her inhuman vision. That image as Barbara's true self... just so gorgeous and right. And that last panel. It's heartbreaking because it's true, DC. She's a better character now, more powerful, more unique, of more benefit to more people. Listen to Gotham. Leave Babs alone.

Anyway, Jason goes running off to the cemetary, and has some random encounters with various Gotham baddies - Penguin chases him into Ivy's lap, Ivy attacks Penguin's goons and ignores him because he does what Gotham tells him to and doesn't look at her, he staggers off into the night and meets Two-Face.





Harvey's weird in this story too.





The bells toll midnight and the bridges blow, as Gotham urges Jason to hurry his ass up and tell the Guardian the message.







And that's that.

I like how very appropriately Batman-y this story is, it's got that sort of not-quite-committed-to-fantasy vibe that the mythos is so suited to - this might have been a supernatural communication between Gotham and her citizens, or then again, it might all have been a rabies-induced delusion. Maybe Scarface is just a doll; maybe the Scary Bat God is real. Both the reader and the characters are free to take it as they want.

Given the DCU, though, despite liking the ambiguity, I just tend to assume supernatural as a matter of course. So what really fascinates me here is... was the message delivered?

Only Harvey and Helena hear what Jason says; he seems to be saying it specifically to Helena, whom he perceives to be Batman, who would be the obvious choice for "Guardian Spirit of Gotham." And the message "you must not desert the city" seems most applicable to Bruce - Bruce, after all, is the one who left, an act Helena never even considered.

But Gotham tells Jason he's done his part. Harvey, too, tells Helena she needs to listen, as though he understands the message to be for her as well. And I kind of think maybe it is. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it here, but I've always been of the opinion that the heroes of No Man's Land are Babs and Helena, and certianly Helena came up with the tagging, which was the single most important thing anybody on the ground did all year (barring maybe Tim's accidental "poor little rich boy" publicity stunt). Her being there, her sticking it out despite having the ability and, as the year went on, more and more reasons to leave, was vital. And maybe that was what Gotham was trying to say, after all.

Or, y'know, maybe it was Harvey. His maintenance of his territory and his bargain with the Blue Boys... it may have been unpleasant for some (Montoya, for example), but it also provided a lot of very needed stability and probably saved a lot of lives. And wouldn't *that* be crazy? And make the whole "Face the Face" thing that much more of a waste.