Batgirl #3
Gail Simone: writer
Ardian Syaf: penciller
Vicente Cifuentes: inker
This issue is divided into three distinct parts. The first part continues the threat of the main villain for the book. The second part deals with Batgirl's relationship with her father. The third deals with her relationship with her Bat-family.
I am of a couple of minds of this issue. The first part of me who is the long time Batfan and loved seeing Barbara as the wheelchair bound Oracle is still frustrated that some sort of explaination hasn't been given to why she can walk. So if you have stuck with the series to this point and still want an answer to that question - better luck next issue. The second part of me is wanting to see what this Batgirl is made of. Does she have the strength to make it on her own, why did they need to change back to Barbara when there have been some very credible characters to take the name Batgirl since her departure, and does this interest me in general as a comic.
So I'll come out saying that I have a lot of expectations for this comic. Does it meet or exceed these expectations in this issue? Not so much. But I'm not so put off that I'll skip the next issue.
This issue feels like filler overall. We get some advancement with the main villain, Mirror, in this issue. We get the overall feeling that Jim Gordon probably knows that Barbara is Batgirl, but he turns a blind eye towards it. And, through the classic hero vs. hero fight/sparring, we get that Batgirl wants to make it on her own without the help of the rest of the Bat-family.
Its this last part that a bigger chunk of the issue is devoted to. It is also a story that I want to hear more about. What it feels like to me is that they are taking the character of Barbara and scaling her back. Either it is the character them self that wants to go back, or it is the writer who wants to scale them back. By going back, I mean that it feels like they are regressing the character from who they were and how they have developed over the years that I have read about her. I think that old readers will feel like this is a big cheat and a big letdown from what the character was.
Now comes the proverbial but, and I do mean capital "B" But, this is what is necessary to fit the character into this new world. I'm pretty sure if I picked up this issue from #1 and didn't know who the character was, I would grow tired of the "Barbara used to be in a wheelchair" thing. So, to me, this book is succeeding on the whole reboot path of thinking. That is what makes it hard to really go into this with fresh eyes, because almost every other Bat-book is continuing from the previous stories it was going with pre-reboot and this one is starting fresh.
So is this issue a success? I'm split. I need the larger understanding of where this is going in order to either appreciate it more, or demonize it all out. I will wait and reserve judgement until I read all three issues of the series at once. For just this one issue, it feels like it is set up for what is next. It feels like it was trying to push out the last of the monkey off its back, if that makes any sense, in order to move on to what it wants to do.
Words: 7/10
Pictures: 8/10 - consistency with the art helps. I'm glad it has kept that up.
Recommend: Er... Maybe. Not if you're new, but if you have been with it so far, this issue will be worth it to help you determine if you will stay with it, or it may just be bridging a gap for the next issue. Either way, you will still need to read it.
Buy Next Issue: Yes. But the title is on an issue to issue basis with me.
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