Comic Book / Terror in the Third Dimension

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Terror in the Third Dimension is a Batgirl/Supergirl crossover story published in Batgirl (2009) #14 (November, 2010). It was written by Bryan Q. Miller and pencilled by Lee Garbett and Pere Pérez. It was one of the last team-ups between those versions of both characters prior to the Flashpoint reboot.

Stephanie Brown is "enjoying" a "family game night" with her mother when her friend and sister-in-arms Kara Zor-El knocks on their door. Steph leaps at the chance to go out, and starts showing Kara around Gotham U. After discussing several possible pastimes, both girls settle on watching a cheesy horror movie named "Vampyres Bryde Revival" in a campus theater.

Meanwhile, in a nearby obligatory super-collider lab, a science student called Newton is incensed at the college cutting funding for his project, so that he switches his machine on, shouting they cannot kill his research if he shows them results. Predictably, his machine suffers a malfunction and a blinding white light spreads out of the lab.

Steph and Kara are still watching the vampire movie when a blinding white light washes over the cinema, and twenty four Draculas leap out of the screen and begin spreading havoc across the campus. Quickly, both girls suit up and begin investigating the source of the explosion.

After finding the student who caused the mess, Newton explains his hard-light generator was meant to create three-dimensional constructs from images. When the collider overheated, the theater took the brunt of the blast, and since film runs at twenty four frames for second, twenty-four Draculas were spawned. When Batgirl asks how to stop them, Newton explains that driving a piece of wood into the constructs would case their molecular structure to fall apart. Or, in other words, staking the wampires.

Thus, Batgirl and Supergirl arm themselves with wooden stakes and begin their vampire-slaying quest.

Tropes:

• Always Someone Better: Stephanie readily accepts that Kara is better than her at seemingly everything. Apart from her natural superpowers, she also has a greater zest for college life than Stephanie ever had and can easily follow the explanation for rampaging Draculas because she is of the Science Guild. However, Stephanie likes her all the more because she is just so awesome.
• B-Movie: Stephanie and Supergirl go to a cliche'd, badly acted and cheesy Dracula film when Supergirl stops by one night for a visit.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: Steph and Kara exchange jokes while they are being throttled to death by the final Dracula.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Dr. Newton appears an unimportant character, returning at the start of the multi-issue "Reaper" arc, several issues later.
• Childish Pillow Fight: Kara suggests a pillow fight when they are spending the night out together, prompting Steph to wonder just what kind of movies she has been watching. Later in the issue, though the fight itself is not shown, Stephanie's bedroom is covered in pillow feathers.
• Classical Movie Vampire: The twenty-four Draculas spring from an old movie, so they fit the description to the letter: slicked back hairstyle, an old black-and-white suit, and their faces resemble Bela Lugosi altogether.
• Clothing Damage: When Supergirl agrees to a team-up, she rips off her top without hesitation or care, revealing her outfit underneath.
• Cool Versus Awesome: He might be a film-spawned hologram instead of the real thing, but it is still Batgirl and Supergirl fighting Draculas.
• Dracula: Twenty-four holographic Draculas jump off a film screen and rampage across the campus.
• Dressed in Layers: Discussed. When both girls realize that it is time to save the day, Supergirl rips off her top to reveal her costume beneath it, then she turns to Batgirl:
  Supergirl: Aren't you gonna... you know...
  Batgirl: Not unless you wanna see my bra.
  Supergirl: Does it have a bat on it?
  Batgirl: I assure you that it does not.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Although the movie-goers cannot stop laughing at the cheesy, overacted dialogue of the old vampire movie, Steph and Kara feel literally depressed by Dracula mourning his eternal solitude, and wonder why the audience thinks this is remotely funny. Steph reckons they simply don't know what it's like to really be alone.
• Fanservice Faux Fight: Alluded when Kara suggests a pillow fight, and Steph asks just what kind of movies she has been watching. Kara's reply is all of them.
• Fight Dracula: Batgirl and Supergirl fight twenty four Draculas escaped from a horror movie.
• Fun with Acronyms: Kara actually recognizes that "BFF" is already plural ("Best Friends Forever") and "BFFs" is a tautology. This only makes her even more awesome in Stephanie's eyes.
• Giant Equals Invincible: As listing her weaknesses, Supergirl admits that giant robots are one of the few things that can hurt her:
  Batgirl: I thought only the green stuff could hurt your... is "kind" offensive at all?
  Supergirl: Depends on which one of us you ask. And it isn't just Kryptonite. There's all kinds of little hiccups. Magic. Electricity. Sometimes robots, if they're big enough.
• Girl's Night Out Episode: Batgirl and Supergirl hang together for one night, watch a movie, fight twenty-four holographic vampires and have a slumber party.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: Newton's physics experiment accidentally creates twenty-four holographic Draculas that go on a rampage across the college.
• Hand Wave: Newton uses vague technobable to explain away how his hard-light generator was able creating twenty-four holographic Draculas out of a movie. After listening to him, Batgirl asks Supergirl if she has gotten anything out of his explanation, and the Kryptonian girl happily replies she is a member of the Science Guild, so of course she did.
• Hard Light: The twenty-four vampires are solid holographic constructs pulled from a movie by a hard-light generator.
• Hates Being Alone: Most of moviegoers laugh out loud when Dracula cries out about being alone, but neither Kara nor Steph can laugh about it. They know what being alone is like, and they don't find it funny at all.
• How We Got Here: The first page opens with Batgirl and Supergirl bantering with each other while Dracula is strangling both of them simultaneously. The next page goes back to the beginning of the story to explain how both heroines found themselves in that situation.
• Humongous Mecha: Brought up when going over Supergirl explains that big enough robots are able to hurt her.
• I Let You Win: Mrs. Brown is gloating about beating her daughter at Scrabble, even though Steph says she is letting her win because she doesn't care for their family game night.
• If I Had a Nickel…: Supergirl states the line when Batgirl comments on the unsurpassable sadness of a crying Dracula.
  Batgirl: "Nothing sadder than a crying Dracula."
  Supergirl: "If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that..."
  Batgirl: "You'd have a nickel?"
  Supergirl: "I'd have a nickel."
• In Medias Res: The story begins with Supergirl and Batgirl being chocked by a crying Dracula. Then it flashes back to ten hours before, explains how both heroines got there, and tells the end of the story.
• Innocently Insensitive: Invoked when Batgirl asks Supergirl if referring to aliens as "your kind" is considered offensive.
• Karma Houdini: Newton, the science student who brought about the mess in the first place, never faces repercussions by activating an experimental device without permission and creating twenty-four dangerous Dracula-like constructs which rampaged across Gotham U, terrifying people.
• Kryptonite Factor: When Supergirl was injured by one of the twenty-four Draculas that she and Batgirl are chasing, Batgirl is surprised, since she thought only Kryptonite could injure a Kryptonian. Supergirl goes on to explain that other things can injure them, including magic and robots, if they are big enough.
• Narm: In-Universe. As watching a scene of B-Movie "Vampyres Bryde Revival" where Dracula shouts he is "Doomed! DOOMED! Doomed to forever be alone. ALONE!" over a woman's corpse, most of moviegoers snort, sneer and snicker at the overhammy, melodramatic lines. Kara and Steph, though, find the scene incredibly depressing, and don't get why the audience find loneliness "funny".
• Noodle Incident: Kara wants Steph to help her have college experiences as a keg party, but Steph stammers that “Those never end well for me”.
• Oh, Crap!: Newton turns his hard-light generator on without authorization to prove it works. When he sees his generator is overloading and glowing dangerously, Newton mutters "Balls."
• Our Vampires Are Different: The Draculas are hard-light constructs spawned from an old "Dracula" film that do not stop whining about their loneliness.
• A Rare Sentence: After Steph remarks the sadness of a sobbing Dracula, Kara humorously remarks that is not something you would normally say.
  Batgirl: Nothing sadder than a crying Dracula.
  Supergirl: If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that...
  Batgirl: You'd have a nickel?
  Supergirl: I'd have a nickel.
• Refugee from TV Land: The twenty-four Draculas are film-spawned holograms from a horror movie.
• Rule of Cool: The explanation for twenty-four Draculas running around campus does not make sense, but it does not matter since it is Batgirl and Supergirl fighting Draculas.
• Separated by a Common Language: Lampshaded by Kara when she says she is not sure as to why British and Americans have different words for "college", but she considers it awesome.
• Shout-Out:
  • After Batgirl learns that the Draculas they are fighting are holograms, she remarks "Okay. So, barring us running into "Moriarity" or "Evil Lincoln" or anyone else that escaped the Holodeck..."
  • As Stephanie shows Supergirl (as Kara) around her college, Supergirl is really excited.
    Supergirl: Look at this stuff! Isn't it neat!
    Stephanie: [thinking] Please don't break into song...
• Show Within a Show: Stephanie and Kara watch a cliched, badly acted and cheesy film called "Vampyres Bryde Revival" during their night out.
• Slumber Party: After teaming up to take twenty-four Draculas down, Steph and Kara decide hold a slumber party on the former's home. Unfortunately, Supergirl picks an emergency back on Metropolis, so she has to leave.
• Speed Blitz: Supergirl drops by her friend Stephanie's home. Both girls are talking when the latter's mother comes to the door to find out who has called. Stephanie freaks out at her mother seeing Kara and realizing that her daughter is Batgirl, but Supergirl changes clothes in the blink of an eye; nobody even sees her putting on casual clothes over her costume even though she is standing in the street.
• Techno Babble: When Newton rambles over hard-light generators and three-dimensional constructs to explain the existence of the twenty-four Draculas sprung out of a theater screen, Batgirl asks Supergirl if she is following any of this. Supergirl nods, pointing out that she is a member of the disappeared Kryptonian Science Guild.
• Television Portal: The hard-light holographic Draculas leap off a movie screen and start attacking the audience.
• That's What She Said: Supergirl utters the line when Batgirl makes a quip as fighting the final Dracula.
  Batgirl: While being strangled by Dracula Hopefully you won't hold this against me.
  Supergirl: That's what she said.
  Batgirl: You're funny.
  Supergirl: I try.
• They Called Me Mad!: When science student Newton learns that Gotham U is cutting funding for his hard-light generator, Newton rushes back to his college's super-collider lab, ranting about "showing them all" and "they want results to keep this project alive, I'll show them results", and "I won't forfeit my credit. And I won't go back to being a Teacher Assistant!"... Thus, Newton turns his hard-light machine on, his generator nearly explodes, and causes twenty-four holographic vampires to spring from a nearby theater's screen.
• Touché: When Kara mutters "If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that..." after Steph comments on the overwhelmeing sadness of a sobbing Dracula, Steph jokingly answers she would only have a nickel. Kara laughs in agreement.
• Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny: The plot is mainly an excuse to have a "Supergirl and Batgirl versus Dracula" fight.
• Unabashed B-Movie Fan: As most of audience watching "Vampyres Bryde Revival", a movie vampire styled after classic Dracula films, are laughing loudly at the cheesy dialogue and melodramatic acting, Steph and Kara wonder what is so funny about Dracula wallowing in his eternal loneliness.
• Vampire Episode: Batgirl and Supergirl hunt twenty-four Draculas down in the only issue in the whole run which dealt with vampires.
• Wangst: In-Universe, in the cheesy, over-acted movie the girls are watching the various Draculas will not stop whining about how alone they are. Or rather, how ALONE!!!!! they are.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Neither of the girls have compunctions about staking the Draculas, since they are hard-light holograms.
• Wooden Stake: Lampshaded when Batgirl asks Newton how to destroy the vampires. Newton suggests a shock to their system, like driving a piece of wood into their molecular structure, so that Batgirl lampshades he is suggesting to stake the vampires.
  Batgirl: "How do we stop [the holographic vampires]?"
  Newton: (pulling several wooden sharp rods out) "With these! These control rods should be able to destabilize the Draculas' photon matrices. High impact should do the—"
  Batgirl: "So we have to drive a stake into Dracula's heart, then?"
  Newton: "Well, yeah...If we go all "nerd" on it."
• You Watch Too Much X: When Kara starts suggesting all things what they should do in a college, such like keg parties or pillow fights, Steph asks what college movies she has been watching. Kara's answer? All of them, obviously.