Stephanie Brown: Spoiler, Robin, Batgirl Appreciation 2020

[Bikkun]

As Harpsikord has said, we've SEEN Stephanie's costume. Literally with our own eyes. It's right here:



This was in a PDF DC released a month or two ago with Batman 100's solicit.

[ohfellow]

https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2020/0...joker-war-zone

Interesting news - Steph and Cass's story is going to be by Josh Williamson, not Tynion. Which is weird, since Tynion said in his newsletter he was writing it...

Also perhaps odd is that DC writes "a Cassandra Cain/Spoiler tale." Why not Orphan/Spoiler, or Cassandra Cain/Stephanie Brown? Is there some significance? Or just carelessness.

[Chickfighter]

Also perhaps odd is that DC writes "a Cassandra Cain/Spoiler tale." Why not Orphan/Spoiler, or Cassandra Cain/Stephanie Brown? Is there some significance? Or just carelessness.

That is weird, but probably just an inability to maintain parallel consistency. Otherwise it would suggest a heroine versus villain type situation or something.

[DropOfSaturn]

Also perhaps odd is that DC writes "a Cassandra Cain/Spoiler tale." Why not Orphan/Spoiler, or Cassandra Cain/Stephanie Brown? Is there some significance? Or just carelessness.

Probably just carelessness or shorthand. If it was on purpose, all it means is that only one of them is advancing.

[adrikito]

As Harpsikord has said, we've SEEN Stephanie's costume. Literally with our own eyes. It's right here:



This was in a PDF DC released a month or two ago with Batman 100's solicit.

Who is this character with Glasses? Harley? It reminds me her.

[Bikkun]

Who is this character with Glasses? Harley? It reminds me her.

Barbara acting as Oracle. We see her clearer in the second part.

[adrikito]

I can´t believe that I insulted Barbara calling her harley.

[Digifiend]

To be fair, it's in black and white, so you didn't have the obvious hair colour to tell them apart, and it was just a headshot, so you couldn't see the Batgirl suit.

[ohfellow]

OK, I'm almost caught up. A few thoughts on #21.

Welcome to the Batgirl: Stephanie Brown reread, Week 22! (Schedule starts here: https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post4916669) Today, we're on Batgirl #21, "The Lesson: Unchained Melody", written by Bryan Q. Miller, pencilled by Dustin Nguyen, inked by Derek Fridolfs, colored by Guy Major, cover by Dustin Nguyen.

A little bummed that the cool “next issue: Batgirl...Incorporated” tag wasn’t kept for either the old or new trades. All those kinds of little lettering details give me joy in my heart, but trades tend to strip them away.

Trades are a pet peeve of mine. A lot gets stripped out. It's weird, because they often give you some bonus material - so they give you some, but remove so much at the same time.

Cover: This one, with Steph crouching in front of the stained glass, is absolutely gorgeous, and was used as the collection cover for the final trade of her Batgirl series in 2018. It shows off Steph, Grey Ghost, and the church setting for the first part of the book.

Agreed, I love this cover. That's the trade collection I have. This is Ngyuen doing what he does best.

Discussion Questions: Where would you say this issue feels in terms of the overall Reaper arc? How does Wendy’s departure work for you?

Well, we're making progress I guess now that the Reapers are looking for DNA. By this point does BQM know he has to wrap things up quickly? I wonder how far along he thought he was in the Reaper arc.

Wendy: The best I can say about Wendy is I hope she finds what she needs in Nanda Parbat!

Though I know BQM is just tossing off a history subject, citing Reconstruction as "an inescapably boring period of history" might have been ok back in 2011, but that was a long time ago, and it's not a neutral choice now. To the extent that people think about Reconstruction, and regardless of what they think, probably no one would call it boring now. People Steph's age are engaged and many are thinking about the nature of the last 150 years of American history. Well, this is probably a short little narration box BQM would probably like to have changed.

On a more positive note, the "noisy" way Steph dealt with Harmony was fun, and I especially liked the body language where Steph was dressing down Grey Ghost. Just realized her "Beware" to him echoes the feeble "Beware" he moaned when she had found him in the debris.

(It's pretty lame that the way Clancy found Harmony was that he was out looking for Steph... as if that explains anything!)

[ohfellow]

Though I know BQM is just tossing off a history subject

I meant tossing out - he just listed a couple of topics without thinking much about them (Reconstruction, Great Gatsby). That is, I don't think he put much thought into it, or at least I hope he wasn't trying to convey a message.

[ohfellow]

Comments on #22:

A silly one-shot - I think this would be a comic episode interlude if filmed for a TV series. I forgot just how goofy it is.

Some of the overt silliness:

Ministry of Management and Proper Accord
Joust for Jusice

I think it's a nod to British comic farce, not generally my cup of tea (well there I go too!). The self-critical jabs always strike me as unsubtle (though I do know fans of it think the same of American comedy, and find British comedy to be sharp social and political comedy). The Ministry of Management and Proper Accord makes me think of the "Minister of Silly Walks" (Monty Python).

Steph had some good moments, and got in some funny lines. My favorite is the simple "I don't know why we're yelling!" (It's far from original, but is a tried and true comedy bit, and still makes me chuckle.)

Given there are only two issues left, I personally wish there had been a more serious story here.

I agree it is another winning Nguyen cover.

[Digifiend]

That's the entire gimmick of Knight and Squire, they were British comedic heroes, and their own book had a British writer. So yeah, Monty Python was probably an influence.

[Konja7]

Stephanie appear in DCeased Hope at World's End #9.

It was pratically a cameo, but she finds pretty funny the discussion between Talia and Lois.

[millernumber1]

Stephanie appear in DCeased Hope at World's End #9.

It was pratically a cameo, but she finds pretty funny the discussion between Talia and Lois.

It was pretty cute! Though I really hope that we get an actual feat that Steph Robin fans can point to and say "This was Steph as Robin!"

[millernumber1]

Welcome to the Batgirl: Stephanie Brown reread, Week 24! (Schedule starts here: https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post4916669) Today, we're on Batman Incoporporated: Leviathan Strikes, "School of Night", written by Grant Morrison, pencilled by Cameron Stewart, inked by Cameron Stewart, colored by Nathan Fairbairn, cover by Chris Burnham.



Notes: The worldbuilding of St. Hadrian’s, while quite fun in a pulpy way on its own, is even more fun when I think about Grayson and all the stuff that spun out of it - Matron (Helena Bertinelli), the Skull Girls, etc. That kind of extrapolation from a brilliant idea from Morrison is exactly why I love the Batman Inc era, perhaps best of all the eras. It was only about 8-10 months, but it invigorated Batman in a way I haven’t seen before or since, except perhaps the first two years of Rebirth. (And yes, I know Snyder outsold Morrison and everyone else, and Court of Owls is everywhere, but the energy was different for me. Batman Inc was the democratization of Batman - the very real sense that ANYONE could fight for justice and help others as a Bat, and I’ve never let go of that dream.)

Steph’s thoughts at the end of the issue are a beautiful mirror of that - after nearly 20 years of being ignored or put down by the Batfamily, she’s Batgirl, and she’s trusted by Batman to hold her own against a school of brilliantly trained assassins. She is worthy - the girl who had a criminal father, and fought crime because she wanted to do some good against him. Morrison got that really right, and it’s fantastic.

Fairbairn’s colors are an interesting contrast with Guy Major, who colored the vast majority of Steph’s Batgirl appearances. Fairbairn actually uses the darker red version of Steph’s color, instead of the blue purple that Major employs in most comics. I don’t know if that’s because Fairbairn just wanted to use that color, since it was featured on most of the covers, or if that color is more expensive to print, and thus they only used it for interiors in a special one-shot like this.

Stewart, though I do not think much of him as a moral being, is a very good artist - his linework is clean, his composition strong, and his drawing appealing.

Cover: The main cover is more focused on the second half of the issue. Originally, this was going to be Batman Inc #9, and there was a cancelled cover by Burnham that reflects the story we got.



Discussion Questions: Do you think this flows neatly from the last issue of Batgirl? Does St. Hadrian’s intrigue you as a place for more stories (or do you like what Grayson did with it)?

Bonus Comic: All New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #13 - Calling all Robins! Steph gets a wonderful, beautiful showing (coming out the same month as this special) written by the brilliant Sholly Fisch, illustrated by the amazing Rick Burchett (of Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood). She even appears as both Robin and Batgirl in this time-travelling team-up tale!