Batgirl # 1 review

August 19, 6:25 PMBatman ExaminerJoshua Lapin-Bertone

Previous Next

3 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Batman Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

After months of speculation (particularly from this author), the first issue of the new Batgirl series hit the stands today. If you don’t want to learn the identity of the new Batgirl, don’t read any further. Although I’m sure the picture may have tipped you off. We learn within the first few pages of the comic that new Batgirl is none other than Stephanie Brown. Stephanie was formerly the Spoiler, briefly Robin and curiously enough an unwed teenage mother.

            It appears from the onset that this series will be another “teenage hero juggles school, costumed life while hiding their activities from parental figure” scenario that we’ve seen many times. This worked well for the 60’s version of Spider-Man and the 90’s run on Robin. Perhaps it will work as well for Batgirl. We see Stephanie, exhausted from her night-life, falling asleep during a college class. This is something many young comic readers can relate too.

            Two former Batgirls get some panel-time this issue. Curiously, Cassandra Cain shows up for a few pages to hand her costume and mantle to Stephanie giving little reason. Now that Cassandra is an adopted member of the Wayne family, it seems odd to write her off and not give us any inkling of where she is going. For someone who held the mantle and her own series for so long, she deserved better.

            Barbara Gordon also makes an appearance. Leslie Tompkins encourages her to let go of her anger and be a mentor to the recently paralyzed Wendy. This is following the events of the critically panned “Oracle: The Cure” mini-series which may not be such a good idea. Barbara is written as very bitter over her physical state. While I’m sure this is something one does not get over easily or ever, in the past Barbara has been portrayed as having made peace with her condition.

            Bryan Q. Miller is a fairly new name when it comes to comics, which is why the announcement of him being the series writer shocked many of us. The first issue is promising and it looks like it can get better. Lee Garbett’s art is great as well. His facial expressions for Stephanie add some new depth to the story and fans of cheesecake will enjoy the shower scene included.

            The choice of Stephanie as Batgirl is something that will be explored in a future column. For now I encourage you all to buy the first issue. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the rest of what will hopefully be a long running series.