Batgirl Vol 3 13

"Trust"
Batgirl #13
August 11, 2010
Written by	Bryan Q. Miller
Cover by	Stanley "Artgerm" Lau
Interior Art by	Pere Perez
Colored by	Guy Major
Lettering by	Travis Lanham
Edited by	Harvey Richards, Michael Siglain, Sean Ryan
Previous Issue	Batgirl #12
Next Issue	Batgirl #14

Clayface infiltrates Gotham City Bank & Trust looking to make a sizable withdrawal. There’s just one problem: waiting in line at the bank is Stephanie Brown – Batgirl! But when Clayface begins morphing into different people, Batgirl must hold the entire bank hostage until she can uncover and stop him!

Summary of Stephness: Steph is in her second semester at Gotham University, playing ping-pong against another student during her off time. She is contacted by Wendy Harris, now under the name “Proxy,”, who has been appointed to replace Oracle when she isn’t around to help out Steph. Wendy alerts Stephanie that a man is being chased downtown- the Financial District- in suspicion of murdering his wife.

Down in the Financial District, Detective Nick Gage is attempting to coax the man out of hiding who is shooting up the block. The man retaliates by throwing a can of gasoline, causing an explosion, then sets off running on foot, Gage goes after him but the man immediately becomes Clayface and shoves him off the side of a building, right as Batgirl swoops in to save him.

Proxy immediately contacts Batgirl, and alerts her that Clayface is on the move, now at Gotham Bank & Trust. Steph arrives, and sets the building in ‘Lockdown’ mode, causing everyone to think that she is attempting to rob the bank. Despite her attempts to convince them that she is not robbing the bank, and after searching for Clayface via X-Ray vision from mask, the civilians insist on her talking to the manger- Mrs. Griswald, who is the woman that Clayface murdered.

Steph rushes down to the vault where “Mrs. Griswald” is at and comes across Clayface, who obviously wants something in the vault. Steph halts this endeavor, however and they fight and Steph is succeeding until Clayface morphs into an identical version of Batgirl. Nick Gage shows up and must decide which to shoot. He chooses correctly after the real Batgirl's clever prompt ("Shoot me...I'll bleed."), disarming Clayface.

Both Batgirl and Gage are unsure of what to do next (“I’m all out. What do ya got?” “A utility belt full of crap and a positive outlook?”) until Proxy suggests to ‘use your surroundings,’ Steph sees the rushing water falling on Clayface from the fire sprinklers and uses one of her freezing Batarangs to demobilize him for good.

Later, Gage tells Steph what Clayface’s motives were. A man named Basil Karlo, before he was Clayface, had a photograph of his late wife in Mrs. Griswald’s safe deposit box, and he needed her clearance to get in and see his wife again, one last time. Steph comments on the absurdity, obviously wounding Gage (“Romantic, but supremely messed up.” “Not as messed up as you think, Batgirl.”) as he walks off down the street, leaving Steph confused and concerned.

Other Formats/Collected In:
Digital Comic Book
Batgirl: The Flood TPB
Batgirl: A Celebration of 50 Years HC

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