Comics! Batgirl #12

Batgirl #12

Gail Simone: writer
Ardian Syaf: penciller
Vicente Cifuentes: inker

Solicitation

• BATGIRL battles BATWOMAN!

• KNIGHTFALL strikes!


Preview

Why I Bought It
I wanted to see how a meeting between these two would work.

What I Liked
The solicitation was wrong. Sure, the heroes fight, but Batgirl didn't even get a punch or anything in. I am thinking that this comic meant to be funny with that fight, er, "battle." So in that case, the solicitation was right on.

What I Didn't Like
You know the line in the movie The Crow that is simply: "Victims, aren't we all?" I think this book takes that as the premise and runs with it.

Every character introduced in this book is a victim of something. Their back story involves tragedy, and they were all victims. That is how Simone has written just about every major villain and character in this book. I am assuming at this book, especially since it hasn't been mentioned ever, will stick with the story that Oracle was never out there. And with it, a huge amount of what made the character great is gone. What you have left is a victim of a Joker attack, and that's the way it will be.

Syaf tried to play homage to Batwoman and J.H. Williams' style when Batwoman entered the book. Unfortunately, Syaf does not get William's style. Williams doesn't have a shot of a gun in multiple panels falling slowly to the ground.

I really want to like this book. I really, truly do. I'm not trying to find things to dislike, I just want strong characters that don't play the victim cards every step of the way.

Panel to Remember
The cover. It at least had Batgirl fighting.

Quotable
"Victims, aren't we all?" - yea, it didn't appear in the comic, but the theme was there.

Grades
Words: 2/10
Pictures: 2/10 - See my previous reviews for the details on the art. Nothing has changed since then.
Buy Next Issue: Its the zero one, so I'm tempted to buy it to see which "origin" they will address and show.