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wanderlustlover's review
5.0
2015: Part of my massive Barbara Gordon Re-read which I had a glorious amazing time with. Birds of Prey, under the hands of Gail Simone, was a gorgeous thing and It made me super happy to have all my amazing women back together doing amazing things!
2013: Even a few weeks late I can remember how refreshing it was diving back into this universe after taking 2 weeks to read the newest volume of Captain Marvel. I had some issue there, that opening this up reminded me every page that there are people out there doing it right. Able to blend the real life and the super life, like a hand in a glove. Able to blend horror and snark, with love and affection. Who have men, women, and trans people. Father, Mothers, Daughter, Brothers. All together all at once, and it's still a kick ass Girl Power Title.
Yes. Yes. More of this. So much more of this I need and want and love all of it.
2013: Even a few weeks late I can remember how refreshing it was diving back into this universe after taking 2 weeks to read the newest volume of Captain Marvel. I had some issue there, that opening this up reminded me every page that there are people out there doing it right. Able to blend the real life and the super life, like a hand in a glove. Able to blend horror and snark, with love and affection. Who have men, women, and trans people. Father, Mothers, Daughter, Brothers. All together all at once, and it's still a kick ass Girl Power Title.
Yes. Yes. More of this. So much more of this I need and want and love all of it.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
1.0
This one is... complicated. I generally enjoy Gail Simone's writing and narrative decisions, and the art in this volume (collecting various singles) was generally really good, it's just... I don't know how I feel about what's been done to Babs. Look, there's never a good way to approach the behemoth that is past comics canon: when you've got nonsense like CAPTAIN AMERICA: COMMIE SMASHER (eerily prescient for, uh, certain slash fic things), or BATMAN: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY (just, Jason Todd in general, really), or, well, what happened to Babs in THE KILLING JOKE. You know, the one where she was paralysed from the waist down, wheelchair-bound, and turned into Oracle instead of Batgirl. I mean, I liked Cassandra Cain as Batgirl fine, and I liked Barbara Gordon as Oracle fine. The issue I have is the, well, ableism.
Superhero stories are mostly ableist by nature, which is kind of a quirk of the genre; sometimes stories about magically (or scientifically) overcoming your disability (Captain America, Daredevil) or weaponising it (X-Men, Batman) can be fun, escapist catharsis. Sometimes ability-ex-machina feels cheap: the Percy Jackson series was pretty notorious for this, turning dyslexia and ADHD into literal superhuman abilities bestowed by gods. And then there are stories like this one, where Babs was disabled—she used a wheelchair, and it didn't prevent her from being productive, albeit in a very different way—and now she isn't. And it feels kinda shitty.
Superhero stories are mostly ableist by nature, which is kind of a quirk of the genre; sometimes stories about magically (or scientifically) overcoming your disability (Captain America, Daredevil) or weaponising it (X-Men, Batman) can be fun, escapist catharsis. Sometimes ability-ex-machina feels cheap: the Percy Jackson series was pretty notorious for this, turning dyslexia and ADHD into literal superhuman abilities bestowed by gods. And then there are stories like this one, where Babs was disabled—she used a wheelchair, and it didn't prevent her from being productive, albeit in a very different way—and now she isn't. And it feels kinda shitty.
carroq's review
3.0
I am disappointed that I did not like this one as much as the previous two volumes. It felt like it suffered from a little ADD at times. There were two different writers on this one and they switched off, so that probably has something to do with it.
The Joker storyline was great. It really showcased how insane he can be. It segues into a couple of issues that felt out of place to the series though. While it involved characters that have been introduced, they didn't contribute to Barbara's story much or in an authentic way. Batgirl should be the star, but she is kind of overshadowed.
The plot involving her brother is resolved. This portion of the story just didn't catch me though. Something about James Gordon Jr. just felt off throughout this series. He seemed shoehorned into a villain role that didn't need to exist.
Being a book from DC it isn't bad in any particular way. I think it could have been a lot better. The parts that tie into plots from other titles probably would have been better off in a different collection.
The Joker storyline was great. It really showcased how insane he can be. It segues into a couple of issues that felt out of place to the series though. While it involved characters that have been introduced, they didn't contribute to Barbara's story much or in an authentic way. Batgirl should be the star, but she is kind of overshadowed.
The plot involving her brother is resolved. This portion of the story just didn't catch me though. Something about James Gordon Jr. just felt off throughout this series. He seemed shoehorned into a villain role that didn't need to exist.
Being a book from DC it isn't bad in any particular way. I think it could have been a lot better. The parts that tie into plots from other titles probably would have been better off in a different collection.
delaneybull's review
3.0
Death of the Family was such a shift in tone to the other issues in this volume that I honestly couldn't get through it. Plus, the body horror was way too much. The other stories were fine, but I really couldn't get invested since there was this gigantic diversion in the middle of the volume.
lberestecki's review
5.0
4.5 Stars.
I liked the issues written by Simone a lot more than the other issues. I'm really bummed out that she isn't going to be the author of this series in the future. This volume was definitely really dark, but it was well done - the ending made me really excited to get Volume 4. Simone also did a fabulous job of writing Joker - he physically made me uncomfortable, which is how it should be with a crazy villain like him. This wasn't my favorite volume in the run, but it was still awesome.
I liked the issues written by Simone a lot more than the other issues. I'm really bummed out that she isn't going to be the author of this series in the future. This volume was definitely really dark, but it was well done - the ending made me really excited to get Volume 4. Simone also did a fabulous job of writing Joker - he physically made me uncomfortable, which is how it should be with a crazy villain like him. This wasn't my favorite volume in the run, but it was still awesome.
renatasnacks's review
3.0
Oh man. I like Gail Simone, and I like Batgirl, but I grabbed a stack of new Batgirl GNs from the library and was like, oh yeah, this is why I mainly read Marvel, because this is UPSETTING.
I mean it's well done, if you like upsetting things? Which I... don't really. But the art is good and I liked Batgirl Annual with Catwoman & Strix... kind of makes me want to pick up Birds of Prey to follow Strix, who I liked.
I mean it's well done, if you like upsetting things? Which I... don't really. But the art is good and I liked Batgirl Annual with Catwoman & Strix... kind of makes me want to pick up Birds of Prey to follow Strix, who I liked.
booksnarks's review
5.0
I always thought that out of the entire Bat Family, Barbara would be the most likely one to break Batman's moral universal of 'no killing,' especially when it came to the Joker, and especially after he broke her. That's the overall theme of this volume, and from the opening pages of the chapter, Barbara makes it clear that she is going to kill the Joker, and that Batman's greatest mistake was letting him live that long.
Barbara and Joker's reunion was not as epic as I would have liked it to be, but it was pretty close to being perfect. The best was seeing the aftermath and looking at how it affects her relationship with Bruce going further, because it is quite clear that in a way, Barbara perhaps could not forgive Bruce for letting the Joker live for so long. All of this is much more harrowing when the Joker tells her that the reason Batman hasn't killed him yet is because he loves him and he couldn't live without the Joker; it is almost tragic, when, in the closing pages of the story arc, part of Barbara (and the rest of the Bat Family) start to somewhat believe that.
Perhaps though, the greatest with this volume lies in its final pages when Barbara finally snaps and does the unthinkable; it was great, and tragic, and painful, and so deeply complex.
Barbara and Joker's reunion was not as epic as I would have liked it to be, but it was pretty close to being perfect. The best was seeing the aftermath and looking at how it affects her relationship with Bruce going further, because it is quite clear that in a way, Barbara perhaps could not forgive Bruce for letting the Joker live for so long. All of this is much more harrowing when the Joker tells her that the reason Batman hasn't killed him yet is because he loves him and he couldn't live without the Joker; it is almost tragic, when, in the closing pages of the story arc, part of Barbara (and the rest of the Bat Family) start to somewhat believe that.
Perhaps though, the greatest with this volume lies in its final pages when Barbara finally snaps and does the unthinkable; it was great, and tragic, and painful, and so deeply complex.
nerdywerewolf's review
4.0
I loved this one! The Joker storyline was great and so was the James Jr. arc. I'm glad I got the next two, because there's kind of a cliffhanger ending...
crowyhead's review
3.0
It turns out I'm just so tired of The Joker. So bored. I liked the elements of Batgirl dealing with the trauma of her injury at The Joker's hands, but I keep feeling like this series would have been so much better without The Joker actually showing up. Ho hum.