Well, this does sound like a great idea for a Batman-related series.
Batgirl Cassandra Cain starred in a 73-issue solo series from 2000 to 2006; in which original retired Batgirl Barbara Gordon served as her mentor. Later a new one appeared batgirl In the show, Stephanie Brown (aka Spoiler) inherits the mantle from her friend Cassandra (it takes some incredible waving to get the costume off Cass and force her temporarily stuck in the story). in this volume batgirlIt lasted 24 issues from 2009 to 2011. The original and retired Batgirl Barbara Gordon once again served as the mentor of the new Batgirl.
Then, when the “New 52” happened, Gordon temporarily returned to the role of Batgirl, starring in a series that lasted 53 issues from 2011 to 2016, then immediately relaunched with a new volume that lasted 50 issues until 2021 Year.
What to do with these Batgirls? Why not put them all together in a new series that has the obvious premise of an older, original Batgirl named Barbara – who has gradually returned to her pre-New 52 days as a computer expert and information broker named Oracle status – serving as a mentor to two teenage vigilantes?
This is the idea behind the new series batgirlwhich launches in 2022, following several issues of teamwork concepts featured in some backup stories within the pages of the magazine. batman, in writer James Tynion IV’s massive “State of Fear” crossover storyline. Like I said, it sounds great, and given the relative success of the three female protagonists in solo series throughout the 21st century, putting them all in a Birds of Prey -like team-up seems like an obvious move, one that would bring With that came three different fan bases.
Oddly enough, it only lasted 19 issues, fewer than any Batgirl solo series to date.
What went wrong? I don’t know, other than the obvious fact that it’s very difficult to sell an ongoing comic series right now.
I’m an avid reader of the original Batgirl series, a huge fan of the Cassandra Cain character, and an advocate of the premise of a book, and I I didn’t read it for various reasons (The New 52 basically broke the contract between me as a reader and the DCU), and as an ongoing background comic is now over $3 a copy, not enough titles have been read to justify taking a trip) no longer going to a comic shop every Wednesday, etc.). I can’t speak to the rest of the potential batgirl reader.
When I started reading the first volume of the series, the title was officially canceled, Batgirl Vol. 1: No matter what, created by the creative team of writers Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad and artist Jorge Corona. Having done that, I thought I could offer a few guesses, the main one of which is that the title isn’t very good. Extremely plot-heavy with little focus on characters, characterization or ideas, this isn’t really a book about Rather than just our heroes fighting some villains, this type of comic has always had dozens of similar books, many of which offer more than just fight scenes.
(I wonder how much the launch of the series tied to “State of Fear” might have been a factor. It’s a good storyline for Tynion and company, but it doesn’t make for a believable and tense villain. Not that great, enough to prove that in That said, Bat-incidents have long been used to launch new Batman games, including the original Batgirl series that followed No Man’s Land.
After the Sheriff in Fear State is hunting Batgirl Cassandra Cain and spoilers for several short stories of Stephanie Brown’s Batgirl, Stephanie Brown has apparently changed up her costume recently, with a busty There’s a purple bat on the front, also past “Batgirl” now (if Stephanie reverts to the Batgirl name, should she continue wearing her own Batgirl costume…? I don’t know; I personally prefer her original spoiler costume, rather than this more ninja-like, detailed version.
This leads to “The Magistrate,” which you probably already know because you’re reading batman-Remember, this series begins with batman As a replacement, this may or may not be a factor in the series’ failure to catch on—Sometimes the target is Batgirl, sometimes Oracle Barbara Gordon’s clock tower headquarters. Meanwhile, a counter-oracle called the Prophet targets Babs and disrupts her messaging network.
This results in the two teens having to lay low for a few days while Barbara sets a new status quo for them and, of course, a new series: the three of them move into a loft together in a new neighborhood, The Hills , turned into a Batgirl-only version similar to Birds of Prey, with Stephanie and Cass going out to do Batgirl’s errands, while Bubbles stayed behind the scenes as the Oracle.
They’re immediately attacked by a series of villains, none of whom I’m afraid are terribly attractive, which is a bit unfortunate because Cloonan and Conrad focus on these guys and their conflicts rather than on the girls’ characters. and its relationship with girls. (Where Cass and Stephen live forward Did they move in with Babs? What was their current situation before? I don’t know; the book doesn’t provide any clues).
There’s also the aforementioned Prophet, who can hack into the Oracle’s network and seems to have an unexplained grudge against Barb and Batgirl. The Mentor is a prolific spray paint artist with sociopathic tendencies and a form of mind control that turns his victims into mindless zombies at his command. Among them is the Mentor’s patron, the newest villain, named Spellbinder (the third, by my reckoning). There’s also The Saints, radical members of the former Justice of the Peace who resemble a cartoon version of Peacekeeper-01 (you did Read “State of Fear,” right? ) and each was named after the saints Tarsus, Valentine and Assisi. There’s also the Mountaineer, an unknown, unseen serial killer who seems to be stalking the girls in their new territory, although they have no direct contact with him or her in the book, although Stephen is suspected of being a neighbor, according to some sources rear window– style of doubt.
If that seems like a lot of heartwarming content for the first six issues of the new series, it’s mainly the mentors and spellcasters who are involved. The Prophets attack and do some taunting, but are mostly background players until they unexpectedly show up in the cliffhanger ending, while the Saints appear to be manipulated by the Prophets, attacking a few times, but they’re not the focus of the storyline either.
It was all…good, but it also lacked substance and what I expected from a series that, like I said, didn’t really focus on the characters or their relationships.
Corona’s art is so good that it’s hard to imagine fans being turned away by it. His Cass highlights her visual identity as a creepy cross between Batman and Spider-Man in a tight, small, slightly feminine package (with a great splash panel, in Nearing the climax, her arms merge into her cloak, giving him the appearance of a giant bat). The other two Batgirl concepts are less visually interesting, but are well rendered, as are the three characters out of costume.
I was curious as to what was going on with Tile, and interested enough in the characters to follow the rest of the series, but, with only the first third to go on, I guess the low-calorie approach to comic book storytelling just didn’t appeal Enough eyeballs to make it as successful as any of the girls’ solo outings to date.
