Revealed in difficulty #13 of the “Batman Past” comedian, “Commissioner of Worry” was penned by Hilary J. Bader and drawn by Min S. Ku. Bader had beforehand written on “New Batman Adventures,” and although “Over The Edge” wasn’t considered one of hers (Paul Dini wrote it), her expertise nonetheless explains why she selected to comply with up the episode.
Within the story, Barbara is engaged on a kidnapping case. Whereas chasing a suspect throughout rooftops (bear in mind, she was Batgirl), she’s overcome with a worry of falling, remembering how she “died” within the Scarecrow’s nightmare. It seems that Scarecrow’s Worry Toxin by no means fully left her system, and each 4 or 5 years, she suffers a relapse of hallucinations and panic.
So, Barbara turns to Terry (who she often does not belief), filling him in on the occasions of “Over The Edge” and asking for his assist in rescuing the kidnapped little woman. They finally monitor the abductors to a development web site, however the peak triggers Barbara’s worry. When Terry tries to reassure her that Batman is defending her, her dismissing perspective in the direction of him comes out: “You are not him, you understand. You may by no means be him.”
However when the kidnapper Sweeney Thompson makes Barbara’s worry come true and kicks her off the constructing, Terry swoops in and saves her.
The episode ends rather a lot like “Over The Edge” did, with Barbara awakening within the Batcave with Batman (however this time Terry, not Bruce) by her facet.
“Commissioner of Worry” is an efficient learn for “Batman Past” and DC Animated Universe followers. “Over The Edge” is certainly an episode these followers bear in mind, so it having a long-lasting influence on Barbara is smart; it is an episode that is necessary and beloved sufficient to get a sequel.
Barbara accepting Terry as Batman, as she does on the finish of this story, can be an necessary beat for his or her characters. However whereas “Commissioner of Worry” is powerful sufficient that it might’ve been a real “Batman Past” episode, it’s kind of too just like the episode “Eyewitness.” In that story, the villain Spellbinder locations Barbara in a hallucination and makes her consider Batman murdered a felony. Her mistrust of McGinnis seemingly confirmed, she places Batman on the high of Gotham’s Most Wished.
“Commissioner of Worry” is a literal sequel to “Over The Edge,” however “Eyewitness” is a non secular one, inserting Babara within the function she as soon as feared her father would play.