"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
Yeah; I just got sucked into Earth-27 because of this pic.
Rogue wears rouge.
Angel knows all the angles.
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
The Batgirl #2 we just reviewed, or New 52?
There is that unpublished Supergirl #62 cover by Amy Reeder, with Batgirl, Blue Beetle, and several others, and I think the story is that Nick Spencer was writing a backdoor pilot in Supergirl for a new Young Justice. His plan got canned (it was the final months before New 52), James Peaty was credited co-writing #60 with Spencer, and Peaty finished the arc himself.
Several characters did appear including Damian, Miss Martian and Blue Beetle, while Steph only appears on a mobile app and in a hallucination Damian has. I think Spencer and DC parted ways after that. And probably specifically BECAUSE of conflicts he ran into over that Supergirl storyline. Has he been at Marvel ever since?
I don't know how to reconcile those plans vs. apparently some earlier plans to bring back Barbara, unless the idea was 100% in Spencer's mind, and maybe he didn't have much invested in which Batgirl would be featured, or what the precise lineup would be. But by the time Supergirl #60 was being written (it was published March 2011), DC was surely at least close enough to making up their minds that they didn't go ahead with that project. Batgirl #24 was published October, 2011. And I think BQM has said that near the end DC was interfering quite a bit in Batgirl? (Or am I misremembering from some interview?)
Oh I know why! Because it's terrible . I'm very surprised DC put such a green artist on a title that was the followup to the incredibly successful first DCeased series. His faces are strange.
I agree that the coloring is TERRIBLE. It does the line art no favors - makes the art so much worse that maybe with decent coloring it wouldn't be such a dismal looking book.
The problem with the color is there is absolutely no contrast. Everything looks completely washed out.
Maybe the colorist was trying to imitate the artist's grayscale work! Whatever, it doesn't work.
Batgirl (2009) #2 - the one we just did. I've posted copies of the back material that isn't available in the digital copies on the wiki: https://stephaniebrown.fandom.com/wiki/Batgirl_Vol_3_2
This also goes for the Supergirl arc that Nick Spencer was writing - I have all the details I could collect on the wiki, including Reeder's gorgeous covers: https://stephaniebrown.fandom.com/wi...rgirl_Vol_5_60
It actually was in January 2011, so still 8 months to go before the n52. Spencer is still bitter at DC about it, and yes, he's been at Marvel ever since (and currently writing a fun, if sometimes meandering, Spider-Man book. Big fan.)
I personally don't think bringing Babs back was really being planned for the mainstream universe, but we'll never really know, unless Didio spills the beans and reveals just HOW petty he was.
BQM has said that DC was interfering with Batgirl - not allowed to talk about Steph's baby, but I think that was more content/controversy avoidance - not allowed to use Babs - but that was because of Birds of Prey and DC's weird aversion to "overexposure" for everyone except the Big Three - losing Wendy (because of Teen Titans). None of those were directly because of the n52, I think, however.
Yeah, the colors, especially the blacks, are so drab. It makes the generally "meh" linework look truly awful. I wish they could put someone like Jordie Bellaire or Guy Major or someone who was willing use blacks. (I also wish they would use Steph, but that's me. )
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
Welcome to the Batgirl: Stephanie Brown reread, Week 4! (Schedule starts here: https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post4916669) Today, we're on the fourth issue, Batgirl #4, "Batgirl Rising: Field Test", written by Bryan Q. Miller, drawn by Tim Levins and Lee Garbett, inked by Aaron Sowd and Trevor Scott, colored by Guy Major, cover by Phil Noto
So this issue and the last issue are both really important for Steph’s journey - #3 because it’s where Steph truly becomes Batgirl, and #4 because she faces her first major villain and establishes the pattern of her “normal” patrols as Batgirl. She also gets positive feedback as a hero for the first time from our favorite character, Nell! We also have a next step in Wendy’s storyline, where she has an important breakthrough with Babs during Steph’s patrol. Babs and Steph also have great bonding moments, particularly the jokes about the lack of iPod jack in the Batgirl suit. “I guess you’ll just have to hum.”
I do have one small complaint about this issue - it’s Steph’s sleep schedule. Ever since I learned that Batman only sleeps two hours a night, I found the claims that he’s “realistic” hilarious. In this issue, Steph only sleeps about 30 minutes, which seems really implausible to me. But maybe this was supposed to be unusual, given the Livewire involvement.
This issue is a one-shot - part of an overall arc titled “Batgirl Rising” - which lasts for a full year. It’s the first artist break - Lee Garbett provides art (a bit wonky looking) for the first four pages and the final page, then Tim Levins for the other 17. This is Levins’ only issue for this series - he draws Steph very differently from Garbett, Perez, and Nguyen, especially physically. I don’t hate it, but I also don’t mind that he only did this one partial issue. The cover by Phil Noto is Steph’s first full-body reveal, and was used as part of the promotion of the series (see back matter for #2) - Steph looks cool, but a bit awkward, and I am not the biggest fan of the weird speech bubble on the cover, or that she’s fighting the Mutants from Dark Knight Returns. Odd choice.
Discussion Questions: This issue was also anthologized in the 50th Anniversary Batgirl collection - does this seem like a good representation of the series as a first introduction for a new reader?
A cover question: What do people think about the coloring difference - a more pink-purple on the covers, a more blue-purple on the interiors? Do you have a preference?
Bonus issue: The Web #3, written by Angela Robinson, pencilled by Roger Robinson, inked by Hilary Barta and Walden Wong, colored by Guy Major (Steph’s regular colorist!), cover art by Artgerm (who would become forever linked to Steph as a Batgirl cover artist soon!)
Sadly not digitally available, but we have scans of Steph’s most relevant pages, and a nice summary at the wiki: https://stephaniebrown.fandom.com/wiki/The_Web_Vol_1_3
Seeing Steph as an active and competent agent of Oracle is really cool, and her dialogue is really nice and in character. Roger Robinson’s rendering of her is also quite good, and seeing even just her hand on the cover is great, with her signature purple providing the shock wave of the punch!
Last edited by millernumber1; 04-22-2020 at 06:41 AM.
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
I don't think The Web will ever be legally available digitally. He's a Red Circle character, so he's owned by Archie Comics.
Also, "we're on the third issue, Batgirl #4" - wouldn't issue 4 be the fourth issue?
Appreciation Thread Indexes
Marvel | Spider-Man | X-Men | NEW!! DC Comics | Batman | Superman | Wonder Woman
Issue 4. Now this is more like it. No more of this weird philosophy that makes no sense the moment you try to think about it. The tone is a million times lighter. First appearance of Nell. Oddly enough, I actually find Steph to be less competent here than in the previous issues. Even when fighting livewire there's no 'whoa, how did she do that' moment like perfectly aiming a batarang without needing to look at her target at the start of issue 1. Her relative inexperience/incompetence is actually shown in the grapple scene rather than merely told like it has so often been over the years. Perhaps the single biggest problem with Steph is how many seemingly major things in her life happen off-panel. From her mother just getting over her addiction off-panel in the late 90s to these supposed promises BQM keeps referencing that we never saw her actually make. At the end of Robin, Tim demands that she never put on the Spoiler costume again and she doesn't respond. In a follow-up between that and this series he seems to accept that she's going to keep fighting even if he doesn't like it and she outright refuses to quit. Now, according to BQM, she made an explicit promise to Tim that she's breaking. Off-panel developments like both of these annoy me.
Drat it, every time. Fixed now, thanks!
And wow, I did not realize that the Web was an Archie character. I only know him because Steph shows up in this issue. That does make a lot of sense. A shame, as I think it's one of her better tie-ins (about which more next week!)
Interesting interpretation that Steph feels less competent. I'd say since this is her first major meta villain, and one who does, indeed, fight Superman, it doesn't really come across as too incompetent, more a moment of learning to trust Babs's preparation.
The stuff with Tim, I think, isn't such a big deal. I read it mostly as even though she refused to actually say the words to Tim, he's still a big enough force in her life that she feels responsible, even when she didn't actually promise. And she's definitely breaking promises to her mom.
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
It kind of reads that Barbara was the one who beat Livewire and not Steph since she designed the suit that way and Steph had nothing to do with the design and didn't know about it. Not complaining since it's so early in the run and it provides a nice contrast to the way she had to outthink other super-powered villains herself as the series progressed.
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord