The Oracle Code: 06/18/20

The Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp is a mystery / adventure set during the early days of Barbara's physio after being paralyzed. The book actually opens before the accident and alludes to it without connecting it to Batman. In this version it's left up to the reader to decide if she was ever Batgirl.

Instead, the book focuses on Barbara's skills as a hacker and on her friendships before and after the fall. Like the other YA standalone graphic novels, this one serves as an origin story of sorts, for Oracle.

Through a friendship with a girl named Jena, Barbara becomes aware of shading doings at the rehab facility. According to Jena, residents go missing. The most recent person to go missing is her twin brother. According the staff, her brother died in the fire that killed Jena's parents.

Observant readers will know if brother is actually missing or is dead. There are other clues to the goings on at the facility that are presented as side stories and visual clues.

At first, the similarity of some of these tales to Thornhill by Pam Smy annoyed me but they are actually substantial clues that are tightly woven into the mystery. Similarities between the two graphic novels are coincidental, borne out of shared tropes.

Five stars

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