Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Batgirl #50 by Cecil Castellucci, Emanuela Lupacchino, Wade Von Grawbadger, Mick Gray, Scott Hanna, and Jordie Bellaire, on sale now.
Batman has always been emotionally unavailable, but he might have finally pushed Barbara Gordon too far. She was already reeling after the Joker recently attacked her in her own home, revealing he knew she was Batgirl, and from the death of her brother James.
Her personal relationships with loved ones are growing strained, while her Gotham is in ruins after the events of "Joker War" and the series wraps up by forcing Barbara to confront all of these issues at once in Batgirl #50.
When Batman summons her, Robin, and Nightwing to the Batcave, he unintentionally deals her another additional blow. Having had much of his fortune taken away, Bruce Wayne is no longer a billionaire. Now reduced to a mere millionaire, Wayne has to cut the allowances he was giving Robin and Nightwing, who insists his allowance was a stipend.
However, Barbara is the only one in the room who never received any such allowance. The money itself is less important than the revelation that Batman never even considered her, which illustrates the problems Barbara has with how Bruce's misuse of money led directly to countless people being hurt. When Joker stole the Wayne fortune and all of Batman's arsenal, he attacked the city, devastating the poorest neighborhoods. Now, Bruce's rich friends are buying up damaged properties, forcing people out while gentrifying these low-income neighborhoods. When Bruce claims there is nothing he can do with his mere millions, Barbara points out that he still has influence with his billionaire friends and could talk to them. She also observes that none of the charities he previously donated to actually help the needy.
On top of this, Barbara's family relationships are in ruins. Her brother James Jr. was a sociopath, and while he was medicating, he still could not stop himself from killing people. James developed a second personality that began serial killing redheads (after dressing them up like Batgirl) and to keep from hurting his sister, he committed suicide. Even before this tragedy, Barbara and her father were growing distant. Jim Gordon has failed to manage his own trauma after a recent encounter with the Batman Who Laughs, becoming increasingly belligerent and obsessive. Now that his son is dead, Jim is channeling his grief into hateful close-minded tirades. He blames Batgirl for his son's death, completely unaware that his daughter Barbara is Batgirl, and that he is hurting her by essentially accusing her of murdering her own brother.
In the wreckage of Gotham's poorest neighborhoods, the police her father once worked for are beating unarmed protestors. Meanwhile, the people who lost their homes no longer even have permanent addresses needed to allow them to vote for change. This story shows how political power impacts people's personal lives. Bruce neglected to consider her when doling out allowances, just as he neglected to consider the people of Gotham when he spent billions on the military hardware for his vigilante crusade while the city's poorest residents were suffering.
Barbara has been through hell. Batman, her father and the Gotham police -- once constant fixtures in her life have all been personally responsible for hurting her or the people of Gotham. And now, Batgirl is moving beyond these challenges into a new dawn.