REVIEW: Batgirl, #35

[Claude]

I miss the "awesome" part of Barbara Gordon, too.

Did you notice how no limbs were severed in this issue? Noone got caught in a bear trap, or had their brother's hand mailed to them....

I can't relate to this.

[Monpochi]

I see DC trying to bite into the pie of Kamala eh?

Love the aesthetics but I can see how some long time followers will get put off by it.

[ed2962]

I see DC trying to bite into the pie of Kamala eh?

Love the aesthetics but I can see how some long time followers will get put off by it.

I pretty much feel the same way. I enjoyed it, but I get how some folks might not be into the more light hearted tone. Having said that, now that I've read the whole issue, I don't get how some fans are trying to characterize Babs as some sort of promiscuous party chick. There's one page dealing with the aftermath of a party (where she did not sleep with anyone) that pertained to the overall plot. The rest of issue shows her being a capable superhero.

[Floyd Fenris]

I think it felt new, refreshing and downright AWESOME. The only thing I must say is I STRONGLY disagree about what was said about the "numbering" in the review. I APPLAUD DC for not being tempted into renumbering with a new #1. I think the series will get more of a steady upward trend in sales this way, instead of the usual huge drop after a new number 1.

[ShaunN]

Mixed feelings about this. This doesn't really feel like Batgirl to me and the characterization of Barbara Gordon is off. Since when does Barbara get falling down drunk and climb all over some guy she doesn't know? That feels like an abandonment of what has been established about the character in order to make her a "typical" college student and it doesn't work. Her selfishness in dealing with Black Canary also feels off. Barbara has always been characterized as someone smart, mature and empathetic. To suddenly become a self-centered college girl is a revision of the character that, for me, doesn't work.

Anyway, I'm going to try this for a few more issues, then make a decision about whether or not to keep it.

[Spiralblue]

Did you notice how no limbs were severed in this issue? Noone got caught in a bear trap, or had their brother's hand mailed to them....

I can't relate to this.

I know right? When I think the essence of the character Batgirl, the first thing that pops into my mind is her mother's severed finger wrapped up in a hanky. And purple. Why are the colors not totally washed out in purple? Why is DC trying to force feed this hipster, female-friendly tone with eye-catching artwork and characters who speak like real people down our throats? I may have to drop this until the next creative team; which will hopefully be Scott Lobdell and a Jim Lee clone on art. Variety sucks!

[Godlike13]

I think it felt new, refreshing and downright AWESOME. The only thing I must say is I STRONGLY disagree about what was said about the "numbering" in the review. I APPLAUD DC for not being tempted into renumbering with a new #1. I think the series will get more of a steady upward trend in sales this way, instead of the usual huge drop after a new number 1.

See the thing is, i can't really applaud DC for not being tempted into renumbering with a new #1 because they already buckled under that trend, and relaunched books like SS and TT. Pretty inexcusably too. With much less of a drastic change then Batgirl saw here.

[Brave Sir Robin]

I knew the book was going to change because Simone left, but this is kind of crazy. The art is pretty pedestrian. It is not terrible, just sort of average looking. It doesn't do anything to help the story. The dialogue reminds me so much of the Buffy comic it is weird. They both have that over the top desperate feel of trying to use teen lingo so much that it is a little boring. I am not sure if it is pandering or an honest attempt that feels weird. I don't know if it works or not. I found it boring and kind of stupid, but again, I am not the target market, assuming it is young women or.. who knows what. If you compare it to Ms. Marvel, it doesn't even come close to that success. Ms. Marvel is charming, witty, humane and fun. This sounds like a bunch of hip girls in a high school talking about their weekends. But what the heck. DC needs to do something. Since Simone left, DC probably knew that no one was going to be able to keep the book going as the number one female led book for the company. So they ditched it and remade it. May as well. Now if the did that to a bunch of their tired, grim dark dumbness, they could be onto something. I will miss Simone's Babs. She was complex, evolving, and thoughtful. This one is some chick from Starbucks with fighting skills.

[Spiralblue]

I knew the book was going to change because Simone left, but this is kind of crazy. The art is pretty pedestrian. It is not terrible, just sort of average looking. It doesn't do anything to help the story. The dialogue reminds me so much of the Buffy comic it is weird. They both have that over the top desperate feel of trying to use teen lingo so much that it is a little boring. I am not sure if it is pandering or an honest attempt that feels weird. I don't know if it works or not. I found it boring and kind of stupid, but again, I am not the target market, assuming it is young women or.. who knows what. If you compare it to Ms. Marvel, it doesn't even come close to that success. Ms. Marvel is charming, witty, humane and fun. This sounds like a bunch of hip girls in a high school talking about their weekends. But what the heck. DC needs to do something. Since Simone left, DC probably knew that no one was going to be able to keep the book going as the number one female led book for the company. So they ditched it and remade it. May as well. Now if the did that to a bunch of their tired, grim dark dumbness, they could be onto something. I will miss Simone's Babs. She was complex, evolving, and thoughtful. This one is some chick from Starbucks with fighting skills.

I think if they're going to put out ads for this; they should say something like, "If You loved Batgirl before, you're going to absolutely hate this" or vise versa. Because this is pretty much the opposite of what this book was last month. Now, I for one love that it is, and I'm not young or a woman (least last time I checked the mirror).

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

Interesting that the reviewer liked the art. Nobody was buying this book in my local comic store and the five of us looking through it were all universal in our dislike of the art. Cartoony. I don't like the change from Batgirl looking like a legit super hero and a woman, to looking like a teenager with a cheap looking costume. I know she is supposed to be 21 in this book but she looks 15. I'm skipping this.

where do you live?

[Kurisu]

I knew the book was going to change because Simone left, but this is kind of crazy. The art is pretty pedestrian. It is not terrible, just sort of average looking. It doesn't do anything to help the story. The dialogue reminds me so much of the Buffy comic it is weird. They both have that over the top desperate feel of trying to use teen lingo so much that it is a little boring. I am not sure if it is pandering or an honest attempt that feels weird. I don't know if it works or not. I found it boring and kind of stupid, but again, I am not the target market, assuming it is young women or.. who knows what. If you compare it to Ms. Marvel, it doesn't even come close to that success. Ms. Marvel is charming, witty, humane and fun. This sounds like a bunch of hip girls in a high school talking about their weekends. But what the heck. DC needs to do something. Since Simone left, DC probably knew that no one was going to be able to keep the book going as the number one female led book for the company. So they ditched it and remade it. May as well. Now if the did that to a bunch of their tired, grim dark dumbness, they could be onto something. I will miss Simone's Babs. She was complex, evolving, and thoughtful. This one is some chick from Starbucks with fighting skills.

You mean Harley Quinn?

[AlexanderLuthor]

This was...interesting. We were introduced to a new character calling herself Barbara Gordon that was nothing like any Barbara Gordon we've ever seen before. The amazing Oracle doesn't back up her computer...has a random, drunken hook-up...posts a pic of herself under her real name and shows up for the meeting in costume with the same red hair flowing...and then acts surprised that someone knows who she is. Maybe this is how Batgirl should have been done all along, but this isn't the Barbara Gordon we've seen since 1997. This is the Joel Schumacher/Alicia Silverstone Batgirl. And it is painful to read adults try to write dialogue like this - yes, some college students talk like this, but they are the people that those who buy comics don't like, it's superficial, shallow and it tries too hard. As for Babs Tarr - I like the art, but again it seems really out of place. Add a dark haired girl and a freckly faced guy and it's a great Archie issue. I really can't wait for Commissioner Gordon, Dick Grayson or Batman to show up as it will make for some hilarity in this style. I don't want to give the wrong impression - I kind of liked the book (and it has to be an improvement over the past 34 issues), but it's completely out of left field

[quinnzel]

I want to first say I haven't read any of the rest of the Batgirl new 52 run because I'm still relatively new to comics and I've been waiting to pick up the trades, so I picked this one up because I was told it was a good jumping off point for new readers and I thought I'd give it a shot since it was built up so much.

I enjoyed the issue, and I do like the art. However, I think that was my favorite part of the entire book. The writing wasn't terrible to me, but it wasn't amazing, either. It seemed like they were writing a completely different character than the Batgirl I'm used to, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it felt like a really big departure and I'm not completely sure how I feel about it still. If someone had handed this book to me and hadn't told me it was a Batman-related story, I probably wouldn't have figured out until you see Babs sewing up her new costume that it was even in the same universe.

All this being said, I did enjoy the issue. I like the art and the colors, and I really do like Batgirl's new costume. I get kind of tired of the comics that try really, really hard to input social media and hash-tags and the like because I get it, you're trying to be modern but it's pretty old now. But overall, I did like the issue and I thought it was fun and I'll keep reading. Even if it wasn't the Babs I'm used to in any sense of the word, it was kind of a nice change that it wasn't so dark and serious as most Batman-related stories are.

[tedbragg]

Loved every panel of this. And ESPECIALLY enjoyed how compressed the story was. Can't wait for more. This new direction is a WELCOME, way overdue attempt to appeal to more types of readers, not just fanboys who hate everything.

HOWEVER -- this effort will fall flat on its face if they don't get issues into more outlets where new readers will ACTUALLY FIND IT.

[napolid]

I see DC trying to bite into the pie of Kamala eh?

Love the aesthetics but I can see how some long time followers will get put off by it.

Anyone who purchases this over Ms Marvel should get checked out.