Hey folks!
Matina is out, so I’ll be handling the Batgirls review this week. I’ll be up front, I haven’t been keeping up with this book week to week, but I did some rush reading in preparation for this, so if I get something wrong, you know why.
Alright, with the disclaimer out of the way, let’s jump into
Oh boy that’s a lot of credits
So many people! It’s worth it, though, this is a pretty entertaining issue. As you can see up there, we’ve reached the conclusion of this most recent arc, and it was pretty decent. I heard a lot of Matina’s criticism from last issue and agreed with most of it, but I think this was a good midpoint to end on. It wasn’t exactly where I thought things were going, but I think it works, even if it took a roundabout, kind of convoluted way to get where it is. I’ll explain more in a second.
For now, I just want to showcase how awesome Steph and Cass’s relationship is in this book. I know it’s been talked to death, but I really do love how these two are just super besties doing super bestie things. It adds an incredible dynamic of positivity and togetherness that seems to be strangely lacking in Bat-family books these days.
As with previous issues, the attempts at teenspeak from Cloonan and Conrad can be a tad cringe-inducing, although that might just come from my being a part of the age group that’s being imitated here (I think, at least. I’m not exactly sure how old these characters are, come to think of it.). It’s not book ruining by any means, of course, I still had a good time. Still, if you’re one of the kids, or like to keep up with them, you might find yourself a little offput by some of the writing.
As for the writing complaints I had earlier, I’m gonna talk about that for a second.
Okay, so, last issue showed us that Riddler had been the one leaving all the clues around the crime scenes, right? Matina talked a little about it, but dropping all those hints and threads about Cluemaster, then revealing it was all Riddler, that was a little weird, right?
Well…
What if I told you it was all so that Riddler could just be vague about how it was probably definitely Cluemaster the whole time! That’s right, Bat-fans, we’re gonna have our cake and eat it too! Stephanie gets to show down with the Riddler AND grapple with her maybe-not-actually-dead dad! Isn’t that great? And needed? We definitely couldn’t have skipped to the second thing!
Ugh.
Okay, rant over. Here’s art talk now!
I forgot to mention the art hardly at all up there for reasons I’m gonna call “stream of consciousness”, but I really do enjoy the art on this series. The style is unique and dynamic, while being fun and wacky enough to support the relatively lighthearted tone of the book! It’s even better now that the inking problems from last issue are gone now that Googe is back full time on art.
There is one problem that did carry over, however. There are several panels in this issue where Steph is just… purple. Like, not shadowed, not shaded, purple. Flat out. It’s a weird coloring choice, and while it didn’t initially bother me too much, the more I looked at certain pages, the worse it got. It’s a shame, too, because I really like Rico Renzi’s colors otherwise in this book. Everything is explosive and vibrant, as cool and dynamic as the Batgirls deserve. Overall, I think it’s a solid looking book.
Recommended if…
- You’ve been following along this long.
- Wholesome batfam content is your jam.
- You enjoy a good weird twist.
Overall
This issue, while probably not my favorite in the run, is really solid. It’s a fun romp that I think most fans of these characters will enjoy.
Score: 6/10
DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review.
