A Page By Page Look At Batgirl #18

I haven't done one of these since the GrimJack: Manx Cat mini series wrapped up last year, but there were several thing I laughed at in this issue, so what the heck.

Page 1: The flowery script at the top for "Batgirl and Klarion the Witch-Boy in. . .", the border for the actual panel, with hearts and flowers drawn in. Teekl calmly licking blood off his paw, but I really like Steph's expression. The way she's looking sideways at Klarion, with not a frown exactly, but a somewhat unhappy expression, clearly unsure about this.

Page 3, panel 2: Steph asks Klarion if he'd like to make a red-handed quip, or should she? This as Klarion kneels there with a heart in his hand. I only mention it because it's referenced later.

Page 3, Panel 4: Is "Mijakk" a normal sound for Klarion's magic? I tried looking it up to see if there's a significance to the word, and the closest I got was that Mijak refers to a group of people who live in western Macedonia. Maybe it's an archaic pronunciation of "magic"?

Page 4: And Steph's shrunk inside a crystal ball thing.

Page 5, panel 2: Klarion's handkerchief is monogrammed "KWB". I think there's a "W", there's certainly a K and B.

Page 5, panel 3: Two things. One, the sound effects for Steph's grappling hook bouncing around inside the pink ball are "poot" and "pink". Pink is appropriate considering the color, and poot is just a funny word. Second, Steph deciding that if she's small she can fight lice with the Atom. She'd be so lucky.

Page 6, panel 3: Again, two things. First, I love how happy Klarion is at the prospect of an alliance. Two, Steph hates magic, which means she's more a member of the Bat-family every day.

Page 7, panel 1: The text box stating, 'A painstakingly long conversation later. . .' Hey, DC cut the page count down, there's no time for lengthy exposition!

Page 8, panel 3: Klarion's comment upon seeing Teekl (in were-cat form): 'Your hands are all red.' He's going to have to work on his quips. At least it was an accurate statement.

Page 11, panel 1: Klarion's sad face is so endearing. It almost makes one forget it's his fault Teekl was running around tearing out hearts.

Page 13, panel 2: They've arrived in Limbo Town. We have Steph dressed as a pilgrim {Edit: as Jim S. points out in the comments, she's dressed as a Puritan, not a pilgrim}, and the effect for her throwing up from teleporting is 'blarghlegurgle', which is lengthy. And possibly French, judging by the "le" in there.

Page 13, panels 3 and 4: Klarion -Familiars are born from the bonding tree, but there's no way we'd ever make it across the Grundy Fields. . . Steph - Not this time of year anyway. Klarion - How could you possibly know that?

Sarcasm that fails is funny to me, which is strange considering how much I enjoy using sarcasm, but there you go. Actually, it's even funny when it happens to me.

Page 14, panel 2: Hmm, "Non-witch trials"? Makes sense.

Page 15, panels 1 and 2: The exchange between Steph and the owner of the cat they're gonna steal. Steph - Excuse me for being forward, but I just have to ask where you got that bonnet! Limbo Towner - I made it. Are you questioning my craftsmanship? Steph - Yes? L.T. - Well, then I shall question yours! Steph - Good! So long as that takes at least another two minutes.

I love how literally the people of Limbo Town take everything. Then again, if they use magic, it's probably critical to say what they mean, so they don't accidentally burn their house down. Words having power and all.

Page 15, panel 4: I don't get the "Accio fist" comment. I'm guessing it's a Harry Potter reference? But I do like Steph simply winding up and decking the lady. Very Indy vs. the Sword guy from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Steph earns bonus points for doing it while dressed as a pilgrim.

Page 16, panel 2: "The Coupling has begun!" How can you not be happy when you see the smile on his face? Well, I guess it makes sense if you've been dragged along into this like Steph was, but as spectators like us, how can you not be happy when you see the smile on his face?

Page 16, panel 3: I'm concerned how much I'm reading into the dialogue from the cats in the crystal, especially considering the dialogue is 'Meow?' 'Meow.' I'm hearing that second one like a male version of how Catwoman might say it when she's flirting with Bats.

Page 16, panel 4: The sound effect for teleporting away from an angry mob? "Porrrrrtl". Effective. Also, 'Rest assured your cat shall return a man!' 'It's a girl.' 'A Wo-man!' Only took you two tries Klarion. Then again, how does Steph know for sure? They're magic cats.

Page 17. panel 4: This wasn't a funny bit, but it's cute how as Klarion looks into the globe on the two cats, their tails are forming a little heart. Awww. Had I not laughed so much up to this point, that might have made me 'blarghlegurgle'.

Page 18, panel 2: I know it isn't a nice word, but 'harlots' is one of those words I want to be able to use more often in conversation, along with 'poltroon' and 'blaggard'. Also, 'Cheese it, buckles'? Anyone that uses "Cheese it" as a phrase (a list that includes such luminaries as Bender Bending Rodriguez, Steph, and. . . me, sometimes?) is A-OK. What do the chevrons on Steph's shirt represent? I was thinking it might be military rank, but it's upside-down for that, isn't it? Too bad, it gave me this thought of Steph time-traveling (that's what she could do while teamed-up with the Atom! He used to time-travel, I've seen it in my dad's comics!) and teaming up with Sgt. Rock and Easy Company. That's a horrible idea. Might work better with Cassandra, actually.

Page 19, panel 1: Let's see. Klarion looks horrified, Steph's closing her eyes, Francisco looks stunned, and then there's the bald, shirtless guy with the bow and wings, and a towel around his waist cheering them on. At least someone enjoyed it.

Page 19, panels 2, 3, and 4: I wouldn't have expected Steph to taste like Christmas, whatever that means. It did keep Klarion from turning Jordanna into a frog. Ugh, not those chalky heart things! At least buy some cookies!

Page 20: They walk off arm in arm, happy and satisfied with their work. Then the last panel tells us 'And they lived happily ever after. . . for exactly five more minutes. . . at which point he turned Jordanna into a frog.' You could call that a lack of self-control on Klarion's part, but it's probably a valuable lesson for Jordana.