Batgirl #21
A very emotional issue as Barbara deals with killing her brother James. The one thing that no one does as a part of the Bat Family is take another life. Gail Simone made sure that Barbara was no exception to this rule and put her in that kind of situation. Though of course Barbara wasn’t given much choice in the matter as to follow this rule. Now she faces the emotional trauma of this because not only did she take a life, but it was her own blood, and now her own father thinks of her as a villain even though he doesn’t know who Batgirl really is. It was one thing to survive what the Joker put her through, but this just adds to that weight which she has to carry while being Batgirl.
Though pinned to the wall with this grief, Gail Simone still manages to show the strength of Batgirl as this won’t be enough to keep her from finishing her fight with the Ventriloquist to save that hostage. Then turning to The Ventriloquist, just about every scene with her in it had a very sinister tone, captured well by the art which sold each moment. The dialogue between The Ventriloquist and her puppet was done quite brilliantly, it was natural yet creepy because they have a relationship.
Overall you felt the emotion not only from the pain that Barbara feels, but from the grim nature that she finds herself in when she confronts the Ventriloquist who shows how twisted she really is.