"I've Thrilled Many a Woman, Batgirl,
But I've Never Sent One Completely Into Orbit Before!"

At first glance, this seems to be one of the simpler situations in which Batgirl was trapped. Look deeper, though, and there's a lotta different angles to it. Actually, I think it's a classic, right up there with the all time great damsel-in-distress perils, like: "tied to a railroad track" or "strapped to a log in a sawmill" (which was the basis of the Pattern Cutter.)

Let's start with a brief run-through of what happens: Batgirl gets caught coming in a window. The Joker decides to launch Batgirl into orbit before escaping in his flying saucer. After coming back from a scene involving Batman and Robin, we discover that Batgirl has been strapped to a rocket and the group is waiting as the fuse burns.

Batgirl, however, uses her Automatic Fuse Extinguisher in her Batgirl utility belt to douse the detonator. His plans for Batgirl thwarted, The Joker decides to take her along in the flying saucer.

Taken literally, it all looks a bit weak. First, with only two straps, Batgirl could probably have wriggled her arms out and freed herself. Second, it's not a very convincing rocket. Third, even if it was a fully-functioning rocket, the straps would probably not be strong enough to hold Batgirl against the G-forces as it took off and she would fall free . . .

. . . but don't let me spoil the fun! The Batman series was always "cartoon-like". Just as cartoons aren't often drawn in life-like realism, we shouldn't take the Bat-World as anything other than a larger-than-life sketch. So let's take The Joker's Rocket at face value.

We'll assume Batgirl is strapped firmly to a fully-functioning rocket. Part of the essence of Bat-perils is that our heroine is trapped and left to await her fate. There is a psychological torture element as she helplessly contemplates what lies in store. In this case, she is pinioned firmly against the rocket and has to watch as the fuse burns slowly towards her. As soon as it passes out of sight between her legs, she must know she only has a few seconds before blast off. So, what is in store for our Ballistic Babe then? It isn't made totally clear how her predicament would prove fatal. There seem to be three possibilities:

1. The rocket could, indeed, be like a giant firework, which would explode at the top of its trajectory. Batgirl would experience incredible noise and acceleration as it blasted off - and probably some pretty uncomfortable heat. Let's assume that her Bat-suit protects her from the heat and the straps hold her to the rocket. She is strapped in an upright position, which means the G-forces would cause a rush of blood away from her head. Any normal person would pass out at this point and her ordeal would be over - she would be unconscious when the end came. Given that Batgirl is superfit and clings to consciousness, she would have a terrifying ride as the ground receded beneath her. Even as she struggled fruitlessly against her bonds, she would know she was in double peril. Strapped to the rocket she would have less than a minute before being blown to smithereens in an instant - which would at least be over before she knew it. If she broke free she'd probably have a fatal free-fall (unless of course she had a Bat-chute in that belt!)

2. If the rocket does not explode, it could fail to reach orbit and fall back to Earth. All the previous considerations about heat and G-forces apply exactly the same as with the exploding rocket. This time, however, her choices are rather limited - free-fall attached to the rocket or (if she can escape) free-fall on her own. Now, there are recorded cases of people surviving incredible free-falls - either after parachutes failed or when they fell from crashing planes. Generally, these involved landings on water, snow covered slopes or layers of undergrowth. My assessment is that strapped to the rocket - she's doomed. Falling free - our girl might just make it!

3. The third possibility is that the rocket is indeed capable of reaching orbit - as the Joker claims. This raises the possibility of a more gruesome end. If she made it that far and did not pass out on the ascent, Batgirl would succumb to the bends. The nitrogen in her bloodstream would begin to bubble - a truly horrible way to go.
   Even if somehow Batgirl survives the decompression (and the cold), she would certainly suffocate in the vacuum of space. Already helpless and unable to move, she would slowly find it more and more difficult to breathe. She would become completely disorientated (if being strapped to a rocket and blasted off wasn't enough to do that anyway) and she would probably begin to hallucinate before finally passing out.
   The only way out of this scenario that I can think of is to have a spacesuit built into the Bat-suit somehow. Then, of course, there is the question of how would she slow the rocket for re-entry? Wearing a pressure suit, Captain Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., made a successful parachute jump out of a balloon from more than 19 miles up. Practical orbit, however, requires a height of some 200 miles! If Batgirl and the rocket truly achieved orbit, she would need a heat shield for re-entry. Where would she get one?!
   I like to think she'll always get out of it, somehow. Personally, I'd like to be the astronaut on the passing space shuttle who rescues her! A grateful Batgirl in zero-G - now there's a fantasy!

There's one last thing that fascinated me about the rocket scene. It's The Joker's "henchbabe" Emerald (played by Corinne Calvert). There's something about girls who are sexy AND bad. I love the idea of adding to the helpless female fantasy by having a woman on the dominant side as well. I guess this has something to do with the same sort of reasons why a lot of guys find lesbian scenes erotic. In the show, we don't see who lights the fuse, but I love the idea of Emerald doing it - particularly the thought of her tormenting Batgirl by going about it slowly and teasingly. I like the contrast between soft femininity and hard cruelty - Emerald's femininity implies a certain gentleness in comparison to a male villain (especially a psycho like The Joker). Yet the one member of The Joker's team that Batgirl might look to for mercy is the one who deliberately springs the trap. The "henchbabe" is simultaneously a dominant and a submissive character. She dominates the captive, but is subservient to the mastermind. If I was a mad villain, I would definitely want to recruit a few babes to my team!

On the ratings, I'd give the following:

Sensuality (how did you feel the trap presented Batgirl or your overall response to the trap)- here you've got me - I've got a soft spot for seeing Yvonne Craig restrained with straps (as opposed to tied) - so that's an . . . 8

Here we see Batgirl firmly strapped to the rocket, without her utility belt . . . and therefore without her Automatic Fuse Extinguisher!

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