Batgirl #23 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Pere Perez (artist), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Honestly, Steph, this wasn’t the girls’ night out I was expecting, so…

The Review: Last we left Batgirl, she was in a hotel room about to tear into what I presumed to be some Milk Tray under the disapproving cowl of Batman, on the eve of her big British mission.  So it was surprising to find this week’s issue opens with her back in business in Gotham.  Then I remembered that in two months, Steph Brown as Batgirl would be no more, so Miller likely had to work some time-jump magic to let the title finish its course in her hometown.

It can’t be said the skip in time does much for the Reapers plotline.  You keep getting the sense that Miller had to nip and tuck away at certain details he might have otherwise fleshed out, just so he can truncate the conclusion into two issues.  Certainly this explains why we still know almost nothing about the Reapers beyond their underage henchmen in nifty suits.  It also explains why we learn of a fairly important featured character’s death after the fact.

Besides the disappointment of not getting to see Steph’s first major team-up with Bruce since they both returned from the dead and the rushed pace of Batgirl’s showdown with the Reapers, there’s a certain dissatisfaction in the villains themselves.  Since all we’ve seen has been well-equipped college kids committing semi-sophisticated heists, the Reapers’ motives have always seemed small-scale and vague.  There were hints of a much bigger picture at work, but now it looks as though that story will have to be left to our imaginations.

Batgirl #20 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Ramon Bachs (art), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Here’s a lesson for you kids: if you slack off in college, you may wind up a costumed speedster robbing millions in bank heists for a living.

The Review: When Batgirl relaunched with Stephanie Brown under the mask rather than Cassandra Cain, there was an expected uproar over the switch.  Cass spent many years getting over her grim background to earn her right to wear the Bat, while Steph in a lot of ways pushed herself into the biz.  But you can’t deny Steph’s nonchalant, happy-go-lucky attitude gives the title more energy and humor than Cass probably ever could.

Cass’ lone wolf personality made her interactions with other characters, even within the Batman family, infrequent and often cold.  By comparison Steph’s chemistry with all her supporting cast just flies off the page (with the exception of perhaps Proxy, who still needs to develop beyond angry nerd with punk hair).  You definitely can’t imagine Cass ever crushing on an older detective, nor can you imagine said detective giving her a paperclip bent into the Batgirl insignia.

Almost every title on the stands uses humor to some degree, only Batgirl has a female lead devoted to self-aware comedy, mostly because Steph’s character can pull it off.  Miller knows the trick to delivering jokes that work: they make a point about the characters or plot.  The beat Oracle takes after going overboard with her pep talk shows she knows she’s trying a little too hard to be a mentor to Steph and Proxy when they’re clearly handling things on their own.

Batgirl’s independence comes across full-force this issue, as she and Proxy design their sting pretty thoughtfully, but execute it thanks to some accidental deductions on Steph’s part.  Her wide-eyed realization of who’s been napping beside her in class this whole time instantly cuts to her running across campus to frantically get into costume.  It’s a sitcom-like moment Miller writes very well with her, and a scene which shows that she’s a rare bird in the DCU.