Stephanie Brown: Spoiler, Robin, Batgirl Appreciation 2020

[Tsukiakari1203]

Why was Wendy unavailable? According to the wiki Batgirl #24 was her last appearance in comics. Her last general appearance was in 2014.

[millernumber1]

Why was Wendy unavailable? According to the wiki Batgirl #24 was her last appearance in comics. Her last general appearance was in 2014.

I think they were planning something with her in Teen Titans.

[millernumber1]

I think they were planning something with her in Teen Titans.

Oh, not quite. Here is a great interview that tells the story:

https://www.cbr.com/the-bat-signal-m...ye-to-batgirl/

[Tsukiakari1203]

Oh, not quite. Here is a great interview that tells the story:

https://www.cbr.com/the-bat-signal-m...ye-to-batgirl/

That was informative. Still wish Steph could have kept her book.

[millernumber1]

That was informative. Still wish Steph could have kept her book.

Absolutely! But the sheer amount of editorial interference for no good reason just makes my teeth grind.

[Chickfighter]

Absolutely! But the sheer amount of editorial interference for no good reason just makes my teeth grind.

Yes, that's the sort of stuff that makes you realize how truly difficult it can be to write for one of the major companies if you're not on a book considered a premiere title. It resulted in that weirdness within the story of taking of the time to set up Wendy and then just dropping her out of the blue.

[millernumber1]

Yes, that's the sort of stuff that makes you realize how truly difficult it can be to write for one of the major companies if you're not on a book considered a premiere title. It resulted in that weirdness within the story of taking of the time to set up Wendy and then just dropping her out of the blue.

I mean, even if you're on Batman, there's a lot of editorial interference - Morrison, King, and Tynion have all had to deal with quite a bit.

I have hopes that it might be changing, with Ben Abernathy, and perhaps an atmosphere that isn't against Steph showing up as a Batfamily member, with Batman: The Joker War Zone, but we'll have to wait until September to see (with both Young Justice #18 and Joker War Zone, we have a double helping of Steph content to look forward to that month! But a desert for July and August, as far as we can tell )

[Tsukiakari1203]

I look forward to September!

[Digifiend]

Yes, that's the sort of stuff that makes you realize how truly difficult it can be to write for one of the major companies if you're not on a book considered a premiere title. It resulted in that weirdness within the story of taking of the time to set up Wendy and then just dropping her out of the blue.

Yeah, it looked like Wendy was being set up to replace Oracle. I always assumed the reboot was the reason that went nowhere.

[millernumber1]

Yeah, it looked like Wendy was being set up to replace Oracle. I always assumed the reboot was the reason that went nowhere.

I don't think she was going to be a replacement in the universe, but in terms of her position in Team Batgirl, she was going to be Ops, definitely. I'm still bummed that we didn't get more with her and Steph.

[millernumber1]

Welcome to the Batgirl: Stephanie Brown reread, Week 13! (Schedule starts here: https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post4916669) Today, we're on Batgirl #13, "Trust", written by Bryan Q. Miller, pencilled by Pere Perez, inked by Pere Perez, colored by Guy Major, cover by Artgerm.



Notes: The ping-pong opening is delightful, as is Steph’s still-developing rapport with Wendy. Her rescue of Gage is a delightful and explicit flipping of the “damsel in distressed” trope, most famously Lois Lane being caught by Superman. Sadly, don’t have a lot of flips of that in the films yet, though hopefully Wonder Woman will give us some! Steph’s plan to shut down the bank and use her x-ray vision lenses is very cool, as is her quick deduction strength. Lots of delightful internal monologue issues, including the “squee”. Of course, the ice-arang finale is great, and the slowly building backstory of Nick Gage contributes to a nicely ambiguous ending, emotionally.

This is Pere Perez’s first full issue, and he does a great job. As Steph runs from ping-pong to Batgirl, her shadow does the classic Batman thing, giving her the Bat-profile! He also consistently makes Clayface’s duplication reveals with a creepy white eye effect, which is very nice.

Cover: Artgerm does a really tactile “gooey” feeling for Clayface.

Discussion Questions: This is the second of the one shots which are often remember more than the ongoing storyline of the series, and it benefits from a name brand villain, Clayface. How does it rank next to #4, “Field Test”? What do the hints at Nick’s backstory make you think might happen long term? I think as cute as they are in this issue, Steph and Nick are ultimately shown to not really be in the same place - do you agree, or are you StephGage shipping forever?

Bonus Comic: none this week.

[Tsukiakari1203]

I love the cover. I am not a StephGage shipper. Clayface was a cool villain to have in there. I really liked the issue

[millernumber1]

I love the cover. I am not a StephGage shipper. Clayface was a cool villain to have in there. I really liked the issue

It was pretty fun! I think it was a really great example of how to give Steph a challenge that she can reasonably solve in one issue.

[sunofdarkchild]

Issue 13: Probably the best chemistry Steph and Gage have in the entire series. Clayface is a good villain since he requires brains and not brawn to beat and the ending makes his motivations a little sympathetic. But now rereading it I can't help but think about the Nu52 versions of these characters who served on the same team together, even if Clayface was more Cass' friend than Steph's.

Just the kind of solid fun that's to be expected from this series. I'd rate it above issue 4 since the dialogue is more fun in my opinion and the victory feels more earned.

[millernumber1]

Issue 13: Probably the best chemistry Steph and Gage have in the entire series. Clayface is a good villain since he requires brains and not brawn to beat and the ending makes his motivations a little sympathetic. But now rereading it I can't help but think about the Nu52 versions of these characters who served on the same team together, even if Clayface was more Cass' friend than Steph's.

Just the kind of solid fun that's to be expected from this series. I'd rate it above issue 4 since the dialogue is more fun in my opinion and the victory feels more earned.

It is very odd seeing pre-Rebirth Clayface, because Rebirth Detective Comics was such a huge part of comics for me from 2016-2018. But I think that version of Clayface was pretty much the norm from the mid-90s to the end of the n52 - Clayface in Gotham Academy fits this too. But characters morph in how they're perceived by editorial and writers over time - after all, Steph was close to Catwoman in War Games, but in Batman Reborn - World's Finest - she treated Catwoman more like a villain than their previous relationship would indicate.

I think issue #4 is a bit more important to me because it marks the first time that Steph has really gotten positive feedback for being a hero from the public - but this issue is a more unified story, with a more "name brand" Batman villain rather than the brief Livewire (Superman) battle in #4.