Scan barcode
A review by aceinit
Batgirl, Volume 1: Batgirl of Burnside by Cameron Stewart
2.0
Dinah Lance: What the hell do you think you're doing? You're like a completely different person. You think you're some kind of celebrity? ....
Babs: ...I'm in the spotlight now whether [Batman] likes it or not, and I'm gonna roll with it.
The above dialogue excerpts are a pretty good summation of this volume of Batgirl. Gone are Gail Simone's more mature stories bringing Barbara out of her wheelchair and back to a life of fighting against some of the most notorious baddies in Gotham. The relaunched Batgirl is brighter, lighter, and very obviously aimed at a younger, hippper target demographic, even if at times the subject matter seems to skew a bit older than said demographic.
The new arc opens with Babs moving to a new neighborhood (the titular Burnside), getting blackout drunk in the first few pages, and possibly having a one-night stand with a dude whose name she can't remember. Late, she instigates a street race against a driver she knows to be heavily intoxicated (because, seriously, what could POSSIBLY go wrong there?) in an effort to bring him to justice. Babs is the queen of bad decisions in this book, for these and other reasons, and those reckless choices clash with the otherwise near-campy tone of the story and art. This is a revamped Batgirl that isn't quite sure of what it wants to be.
Social media fame is an ever-present device that's almost as over-saturated in the story as real-life social media, and it permeates into the rogues gallery for this volume consists. Batgirl goes up against a series of pseudo-baddies straight out of fanfiction, including the aforementioned anime motorcycle twins, an overly-sequined and Bedazzled Batgirl imposter, and reality TV personalities, among others.
No, really.
It's a stark contract to The Court of Owls, her brother, and The Joker.
I don't like the obvious demographic switch that accompanies this volume. It's bright, it's cute, it's adorable, sure. But it's also a pretty sharp curveball from previous issues, and it jarred me. I would have much rather seen the series continue in the vein of previous volumes, even if the storytelling was uneven.
All of them are working for a mysterious puppetmaster, of course, but everything is so over-the-top that it comes off as silly. The big reveal didn't inspire any kind of shock or awe, just a mildly annoyed sense of "you have got to be kidding me."
Tarr's art, which is adorable, is much more enjoyable than the social media-obsessed storytelling, and one of the highlights of the volume.
Though I've been on a huge girl-power comic kick lately (Batgirl, Squirrel Girl, Spider-Gwen, Lumberjanes, Lady Killer, Delilah Dirk), the radical creative shift in Batgirl is not something I have enjoyed, and I'll probably cancel my subscription soon. It's a shame, too, because the New 52's Barbara Gordon was one of my favorite characters.
Babs: ...I'm in the spotlight now whether [Batman] likes it or not, and I'm gonna roll with it.
The above dialogue excerpts are a pretty good summation of this volume of Batgirl. Gone are Gail Simone's more mature stories bringing Barbara out of her wheelchair and back to a life of fighting against some of the most notorious baddies in Gotham. The relaunched Batgirl is brighter, lighter, and very obviously aimed at a younger, hippper target demographic, even if at times the subject matter seems to skew a bit older than said demographic.
The new arc opens with Babs moving to a new neighborhood (the titular Burnside), getting blackout drunk in the first few pages, and possibly having a one-night stand with a dude whose name she can't remember. Late, she instigates a street race against a driver she knows to be heavily intoxicated (because, seriously, what could POSSIBLY go wrong there?) in an effort to bring him to justice. Babs is the queen of bad decisions in this book, for these and other reasons, and those reckless choices clash with the otherwise near-campy tone of the story and art. This is a revamped Batgirl that isn't quite sure of what it wants to be.
Social media fame is an ever-present device that's almost as over-saturated in the story as real-life social media, and it permeates into the rogues gallery for this volume consists. Batgirl goes up against a series of pseudo-baddies straight out of fanfiction, including the aforementioned anime motorcycle twins, an overly-sequined and Bedazzled Batgirl imposter, and reality TV personalities, among others.
No, really.
It's a stark contract to The Court of Owls, her brother, and The Joker.
I don't like the obvious demographic switch that accompanies this volume. It's bright, it's cute, it's adorable, sure. But it's also a pretty sharp curveball from previous issues, and it jarred me. I would have much rather seen the series continue in the vein of previous volumes, even if the storytelling was uneven.
All of them are working for a mysterious puppetmaster, of course, but everything is so over-the-top that it comes off as silly. The big reveal didn't inspire any kind of shock or awe, just a mildly annoyed sense of "you have got to be kidding me."
Tarr's art, which is adorable, is much more enjoyable than the social media-obsessed storytelling, and one of the highlights of the volume.
Though I've been on a huge girl-power comic kick lately (Batgirl, Squirrel Girl, Spider-Gwen, Lumberjanes, Lady Killer, Delilah Dirk), the radical creative shift in Batgirl is not something I have enjoyed, and I'll probably cancel my subscription soon. It's a shame, too, because the New 52's Barbara Gordon was one of my favorite characters.