”And this concludes our programming day.” Most might be too young to remember when local TV stations signed off at night, but that’s okay. It has little to do with the current issue of Mother Panic Gotham AD. Violet Page confronts Jason Todd. And Mr. Freeze. And her brother. And herself – or, herself in this other reality in which she has found herself.

But mysteriously, all the conflict by which she has been challenged in recent months calms, and she prepares to continue the fight as she sees it. I actually find it a little disconcerting, that the series creators have had to re-make the Bat-universe, as if says, “The previous 12-issue series was a dry run. THIS is the story we want to tell.” Why not tell that from the get-go?

Perhaps they needed a universe without Batman. Easy enough. Set the story somewhere other than Gotham City, and never their paths shall cross. Or maybe even with the addition of Batwoman, DC still needed another woman crime fighter in the Bat-office. I’m hoping future issue will rationalize why Mother Panic needs to exist, because it reads to me as if DC is trying desperately hard to reach every niche audience that might remotely be interested in Batman. Not the best strategy, in my opinion.

Future issues (assuming this isn’t the end of the series, which it easily could be) should accelerate the action and lead Violet Paige in her quest for vengeance against Gather House and it represents. I’d appreciate seeing a balls-out, no-holds-barred assault on the villains Violet despises. There is no need to draw it out, even to make the six-issue trade. Just let the war last that long, until Vi is the only one standing.