In every installment of I Love Ya But You’re Strange I spotlight strange but ultimately endearing comic stories. Feel free to e-mail me at brianc@cbr.com if you have a suggestion for a future installment!
I continue a month's worth of I Love Ya but You're Strange's (as a sort of "April Fool's" month) with a spotlight on a bizarre Batgirl story arc from Detective Comics #514-517 by Cary Burkett, Jose Delbo and Joe Giella, as recommended by my buddy, Bill Walko.
As Batgirl swings by a carnival, she doesn't see that the barker in charge of the "Snake woman" is irked at the low demand for the act, so even though he's been stealing most of the money, he's still not doing that well...
But he is shocked to see that the "snake woman" is now LITERALLY a snake woman and she knows about the money that he has been skimming off of her!
We see that the snake woman can still transform into a fully human being...
However, when Batgirl discovers the dead body of the barker, she heads to the carnival and she is attacked!
In the next part, Lady Viper provides her origin...
She then BITES Batgirl!
Batgirl escapes, but she is feeling terrible. She is rescued by some homeless people, who give her shelter for the night. Batgirl has terrible dreams...
but soon finds that her reality is even worse!
Yes, Batgirl is now a half-human/half-snake creature!!
Luckily, she discovers that she turn herself back to human. However, she needs an antidote and for that, she's going to need some more venom from Lady VIper.
Batgirl is slowly devolving as she continues searching for Lady Viper...
She ultimately has to go back to her half-snake form to defeat Lady Viper!
One the villain is knocked out, Batgirl takes the venom from Viper and it is used to fully cure Batgirl of the crazy illness. She goes back to Lady Viper, who had been tied up, but it is too late, as Lady Viper becomes a snake!
That is one twisted story, but it is a well-written twisted story.
Thanks to Bill for the suggestion!
If anyone else has a suggestion for a future I Love Ya But You're Strange, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com! Again, we're going to have a whole month of these, so, well, more suggestions would be great!