Simone Leaves "Batgirl" in the Hands of Stewart, Fletcher & Tarr

[Ceebiro]

So reading the interview, it sounds like Bab's is pulling a Murdock.

Stewart: Batgirl has really been put through the wringer in recent years – after being attacked and paralyzed by the Joker, her brother turning out to be a serial murderer, the trauma of her family breaking apart and the series of gruesome villains she’s had to contend with, we figured she deserved a break from all that. Just prior to the start of our story she’s pushed to the breaking point and decides that she’s had it with misery and darkness and wants a change. She wants the opportunity to have some fun and live the life of a young, single girl in the city, so she packs up and moves to Burnside, the cool, trendy borough of Gotham, to focus on grad school.

I'm still concerned about the push to be "hip" and "trendy". I get that they're marketing buzzwords like "grounded" and "gritty", but my hope is that the book is focused on telling a good story first rather than trying to make the story fit into a certain category.

Nevertheless, I'm still hopeful that the book manages to find the creative success that Waid/Rivera/Martin/Samnee/Rodriguez's Daredevil has found, with strong crafting to support a new direction.

[Robotman]

I love Gail but Batgirl hasn't been very good in a while. Love the new costume! Hopefully Gail gets a team book as she really seems to excell at character interactions in a larger group. Maybe a new Secret Six? One can hope.

[Factor]

Yes! A lighter tone is welcome. And I love the new costume

[Judge Dredd]

So excited for Simone leaving hopefully the book will improve, loved the idea of bringing Barbara back to being Batgirl but what a horribly written mess of a book. Hopefully this new team can give us a good Batgirl book finally.

[nepenthes]

A pre-emptive reminder;

Any posts regarding Cass Cain, 4chan rumours or a new Birds of Prey book will be deleted. Please take them here.

Any posts disparaging or even remotely antagonising fans of other characters, series or writers will be deleted with lashings and exile swiftly to follow. Make your thoughts known, please, but stay cool

[DHarper]

The new direction in tone is a welcome change, but I don't care for the new art style. Way too cartoony for my taste.

[OBrianTallent]

I am really hopeful for this new direction. I'm loving the costume (with the exception of the boots, need something a little more streamlined which could happen in the book still and the cowl needs to at least appear to be more than a hat and attached somehow.) But the rest looks great. Just from the initial interview, this is the Batgirl book that should have come out of the the reboot. Gail has gone on record on a couple of occasions saying how she wanted to move in a more lighthearted direction but was shot down, she is certainly capable of telling lighter stories, but she just never got the chance here.
As for the comparisons to this stealing in some way from Stephbat, this was how Batgirl was in the beginning. She was light hearted, her stories weren't dark much at all. It was only after she became Oracle that her stories got darker. So to me, this is a return to who Babs was and should be. I am very much looking forward to this change in direction.

[Noviere]

I love her new costume! Will definitely check it out.

[Flash Gordon]

Wow, this is such an improvement. Doyle really is rocking the line.

[RomeosTrueDude]

THOSE clunky ass shoes with THAT ugly track suit shirt with leggings? Also belt outside of jacket loop? Like really...who designed her clothes? This is awful and FAR from practical for crime fighting! Instead she looks like she about to go to garage wannabe screamo band. Also. Why does she seem much younger than previously?

[Park Slope Pixie]

Nice, but come ON Babs Tarr, combat boots (or are they just yellow Docs, still horrible), so dunzo. I guess they're still worn in flyover country, but isn't Gotham supposed to be more coastal (read: NYC) chic? I'm in SF and we turn our noses up at the freshly-landed still wearing Docs.

She should be taking a page from Topshop's AW 2014 campaign and going with otk boots. SO CURRENT.

[The Lucky One]

Well, great news for Barbara Gordon; not so great for Stephanie Brown. Between this book turning lighthearted, the more cartoony art style, and the purple costume, this certainly sounds/looks like more of a spiritual successor to Miller's late, lamented Batgirl series. Which is terrific for fans missing that kind of book, myself included.

Ironically, for all those fans who thought Dan Didio had a personal grudge against Stephanie Brown, this is far more likely to bury the character than just cancelling her book and pretending she didn't exist.

[scary harpy]

I doubt it was. Gail writes dark books, she almost always has. She probably thought Babs telling jokes would be frivolous in her book about victimization.

MTV also reassures Gail’s fans that she has another project launching soon at DC. But ironically, the emphasis on light’n'brighty over grim’n'gritty is one that has been against the editorial direction that Simone worked under…

[SmokeMonster]

I personally was hoping for something more akin to this from Batgirl recently.

But this seems like a bit of overcompensation, veering into groan-worthy 'thinks it's so hip' Bendis-like territory.

Could be wrong though, and it's still an upgrade and a shot in the arm.

[Park Slope Pixie]

I personally was hoping for something more akin to this from Batgirl recently.

But this seems like a bit of overcompensation, veering into groan-worthy 'thinks it's so hip' Bendis-like territory.

Could be wrong though, and it's still an upgrade and a shot in the arm.

Fiffe's New Ultimates is the only book to nail "hipster". Before that, "Pixie Strikes Back".

Bendis "hipster" is like hearing someone's dad extol the virtues of Death Grips. So painful.