So what did you think of Batgirl (the series) overall?

[Constantine Drakon]

Not about how the character is being used now.

Since her series is over and it doesn't look like she'll get another one soon, what did you think of the whole thing?

[Choppa]

I liked it.

I liked Azrael better.

[Constantine Drakon]

I'm going to do a "What did you think of Azrael (the series) overall?" thread when this one dies down. If it ever dies up.

[Choppa]

If it ever dies down or up, which is it??

[DWEarhart]

Overall, it was a decent series with some potential for some introduced characters to pop up later elsewhere. It started off great, with Damion Scott nailing the artwork and attitude of the book, and Kelley Puckett doing the writing, offering a personality of a city and a world to a girl who could not physically speak, and had no real attitude/personality of her own.

Then, she started speaking regularly, and it went downhill. I feel that she could have been turned into a villain, and I would have enjoyed it, but the route DC took in turning her was wishy washy, and it could have been done in much more sinister and psychological way.

The book lasted about as long as any Bat-spinoff book usually does. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great, and alot of holes left, but worth a read.

[Brack360]

I thought that Andersen Garbrych and Ale Garza's run was by far the best. It certainly had the most characterization and was the only run that gave Cassandra an inner monologue and her own supporting cast. However, it got rushed near the end as it approached cancellation.

I only occasionally bought the earlier issues, usually only when there was a crossover. I am not a fan of Damion Scott's non-traditional artwork. Kelley Puckett used little dialogue and no interior monologue. Each issue was read through very quickly. I felt that Puckett focused almost exclusively on action and not on Cassandra's unique background and character.

Gabrych was the first writer to "get" Cass, and the book was cancelled only a year after he came on. I definitely recommend the "Kicking Assassins" and "Destruction's Daughter" TPB's if you don't have them.

[The Shadow]

I got it from issue #1 and it was consistently among my favorites.

It wasn't a "blow you away!" type of series like The Ultimates or All Star Superman... but it was consistent from start to finish.

I loved Scott's early art and while I enjoyed the early issues the best I liked how her character developed over the course of the series.

[Magneto_X]

While I haven't read all of it yet I have read most of the trades and I *love* it!

[colossus34]

The series never gotten into a real grove. It lacked anything to distinguish it from the other Batbooks and overall got weaker andd weaker as the series progressed.

Early issues showed potential but the Batgirl character never went beyond the whole "Kung-Fu munchkin" persona. She needed more flaws, higher stakes at risk and a strong supporting cast that made her more interesting. Although, I'm looking forward to the return in Teen Tians east--I'm one of the vocal few who think she has potential to be a much more interesting villian!

[Lester C.]

I bought every issue so here is my take on it. It was awesome until the original creative team of Scott and Plucklet left. After that we got a horrible writing Horrocks and even worse art from a bunch of people you don't need to know about. Things were gravy again when Gabrich came on board with Mahn and Leonardi but by then the book was unfortunately past the point of no return. My apologies to all the writers and artists names who've I've misspelled.

For completeness sake the crossover betwen Batgirl and Ghost was good. Avoid the planet dc annual and the oneshot where Batgirl fought the joker. (Good concept but crappy art.)

[Subotai]

It started off very well. Cass was a real enigma, a girl trying to find her place in the world...I always thought of her as some sort of ronin, who winds up in Batman's service because he is most worthy of her service.

It didn't really fall apart on me until she went on that road trip and started going ga-ga over cute guys.

[Lester C.]

It started off very well. Cass was a real enigma, a girl trying to find her place in the world...I always thought of her as some sort of ronin, who winds up in Batman's service because he is most worthy of her service.

It didn't really fall apart on me until she went on that road trip and started going ga-ga over cute guys.
The roadtrip wasn't so bad and it wasn't where she went ga-ga over cute guys. That happened on the cruise as she fell for, Superboy and Blackwind.

[TheTen-EyedMan]

Andy Gabrych seemed to be the go to guy for comics that were about to be canned or changed.

When he did his short but great run on Detective, they veered right into the sewer with City of Grime.

Then he was given a Batman story before the change to crap with Judd's selfishness.

Then he was given the already half dead Batgirl and made it interesting.

Give him a Batbook and leave him on it.

[elias_A]

It was one of my favorite series, and I love the character of Cass.

However, looking back, there were some problems:
Puckett was great with Cass characterisation, but he focussed mainly on her death wish. After the duel with Shiva, he seemed to have run out of ideas.
Also, a lot of his issues were very short to read.

I think the problem was that Cass is maybe to good as a fighter - she has no serious threats or villains of her own, not even really Shiva. The focus was on her inner problems, not the villains, but that could not support the series any more after the Shiva fight.
I liked the issues were Cass is faced alone with moral problems and has to deal with them from her unusual world view, like the issue with the boys playing with rats were she has to comfort the boy whose father she just arrested.
But that recipe is not enough for a whole series, I guess.

After Puckett came Horrocks (I think that was the name?), who did not really know what to do with the character. I did not like his run very much.

But after that, Gabrych was great. He understood the character, and finally, a lot was happening.
I would like to know how much of the villains Gabrych used (Deathstroke, brotherhood of evil, Nyssa) was forced by editorial, maybe already with Titans east in mind. I would have prefered a better developed long-term threat, like a crime boss like Blockbuster or an evil ninja clan. Also, the supporting cast (coffee shop girl, mysterious sprayer) was OK but not enough, and a bit to cheerful - a more noir atmosphere like in Gabrych's Tec run or in Catwoman would have fitted better.

But still, Gabrych's run was great, and I think the issue where she visits Cain to ask who her mother is was the best of the whole series.
It is a shame Batgirl was cancelled, and I hope Gabrych returns to write a Bat-title or even relaunch Batgirl (even when it is a new character.)

[carabas]

I agree with the general concensus.
Pucket/Scott: great. new, original take on the pointy-eared vigilante.
Maybe a bit too non-conventional for many readers who expect the plot to evolve around villains and such, rather than around Cass's inner demons. See also Azrael.

Horrocks: horror. Here's what he must have thought:
teenage superheroine = teenage soap opera.
Kinda missing the point.

Gabrych: vast improvement. He got what made the character unique.
Could have done without the mutant pig biker though.


Things were gravy again when Gabrich came on board with Mahn and Leonardi but by then the book was unfortunately past the point of no return.

Gotta disagree with this. Sales upwards of 30K is not even remotely past the point of no return. Sales upwards of 20K are even sustainable these days.

The book was shut down for a reason other than sales. Possibly because of Titans East, but more likely because of Didio's obsession with getting things back to basics (as in having Babs be Batgirl at some point). Or simply to make way for Batwoman.

[Subotai]

The roadtrip wasn't so bad and it wasn't where she went ga-ga over cute guys. That happened on the cruise as she fell for, Superboy and Blackwind.

But they happened consecutively, right?

[Lester C.]

But they happened consecutively, right?
Not really. The cruise and gaga was written by Horracks. Then there were a bunch stories that took place in Gotham that ended with a drugged Batman and Batgiirl fighting each other. The road trip was the first final, Batgirl arc, taking place quite a bit later that the awful cruise are, and was written by Anderson Gabrich. The whole point of the road trip was for Batgirl to find her origins, as she was looking for information about her past and mother, and we get the origin or a major villain that turns out to be her mother. Sorry about being vague about plot details, but I don't want to spoil the book.

[Jeff F]

I think the series started to die after the first creative left. I loved the art for that book.

After that the series became a bit stagnant. It was really fun while it lasted though.

[Lester C.]

What got me is that I stuck with the book after the creative team got, even though I hated it. This went on for a year plus. Then when the book finally turned a corner, and was a must read DC not only pulled the plug but made her into something that should have been inconceivable.

[Blight]

I thought the person who had the best run was Gabrych. I mean he didn't really add on the Rogues but he really went to the core of Cassie's character and her out of the shadow of both Babs and Bruce. Plus some of the fights in the book where some of the series best (Cassie vs. Brotherhood of Evil and Cassie vs. Ravager where some of my fav fights).

The only part that dragged was the sudden inclusion of Mr. Freeze in the final arc. He came out of nowhere and the plot went in a different direction.

The Pucket/Scott I'm very mixed about. I loved the writing but the art was at times hard to digest. Sometimes it was great and sometimes it just was a little off.

Horrocks had probably my fav issue of the series where Cassie wears Babs Batgirl outfit for a night. Other than that his run was alright just in the thick of a lot of Bat crossovers during that period and a lot of fill in artists and writers (Gabrych was one of the fill ins before early on).

[Magneto_X]

I bought every issue so here is my take on it. It was awesome until the original creative team of Scott and Plucklet left. After that we got a horrible writing Horrocks and even worse art from a bunch of people you don't need to know about. Things were gravy again when Gabrich came on board with Mahn and Leonardi but by then the book was unfortunately past the point of no return. My apologies to all the writers and artists names who've I've misspelled.


I'm the complete opposite. Gabrich's Batgirl is definitely my favourite and the pencillers he had (Ale Garza, Pop Mhan) were definitely superior to Scott's. IMHO, of course.

[Lester C.]

I'm the complete opposite. Gabrich's Batgirl is definitely my favourite and the pencillers he had (Ale Garza, Pop Mhan) were definitely superior to Scott's. IMHO, of course.
I loved Gabrich and Mhan. But Scot Batgirl was just as awsome as the stuff Pop did. As a fan I'm still trying to figure out how his run on Robin could be so bad after his run on Batgirl was so good.

[Damo]

The book was a heartbreaker. It could have been so much better.

Cassandra:
1. Andersen Garbrych and Ale Garza introduced inner monologue and her own supporting cast. Definitely the trend to follow.

2. Puckett... great with Cass' characterisation, but after he finished the "Death wish" aspect of her characterization with the duel with Shiva, he seemed to phone it in.

In terms of Cass herself I think the series needed:

1. Cass empathizing with other others' pain
2. Her search for redemption as the main idea.
3. Cass' approach to solving a problem = she may be a ninja, but her first instinct when she has to open a box is to break it. She meets problems head on, that should have been explored as a weakness.
4. More exploration of her weaknesses (reading, language, etc.)
5. More exploration of her "heritage". Why in Blazes did she never track down Richard Dragon? The guy's sole purpose these days is to be a badass martial artist, and to help heroes whose lives have gotten off track. She needed to track him down and just talk about the kind of responsibilities and difficulties that come with their kind of skills. And if an old enemy that was a threat to him showed up, all the better.


Supporting Cast:

This was weak.

I love Spoiler, and I think the stories with the two of them were some of the best things in the series... but once she was gone it became clear just how much the book had been depending on her as a supporting cast. And she didn't even "belong" to the book, so there was nothing to do when the decision came to kill her. Same with Oracle, I loved her but the Batgirl writers couldn't really do much with her.

She needed a supporting cast that couldn't be whisked away by what was happening in other books. Mix in brand new characters with some forgotten greats.

Off the top of my head: Marco, The Question's old partner. Brazillian martial artist, fought Shiva and impressed her enough that she promised a rematch if he could improve, obsessed with being the best, religiously devout, prays to "Saint Bruce, the Patron Saint of Martial Artists".

Villains:

BY FAR THE WEAKEST PART OF THE BOOK.

I honestly think this is what killed the title. Deathstroke, Mr. Freeze, The Brotherhood of Evil, Nyssa... YES! GOOD! But they needed to appear 50 issues earlier, and have them spread out more. Have a big name villain show up, then introduce some of her own villains in between.

Did you know that "Doctor Death" was meant to be a villain Batman fought in the first year of his career? His first mad scientist, before he went up against any costumed criminals? I didn't, but apparently he was. That could have made for a great story, Batgirl up against this forgotten enemy from Batman's past.

Heck, she was being cast as Batman's heir. It would make sense to give her some stylishly retooled forgotten villains of his, have her experience something like he did. Dust off characters from ages back, give them a makeover to make them worthy of her, set them loose. Picture Cassandra vs. The Monk, that vampire Bruce faced in his first year as Batman.

Instead, we got (ugh) Black Wind "hello, I am from country that does not really exist. I am handsome and mysterious, and slightly evil but not in big way. You will have crush on me now American girl, because that is how the cliche works. Behold my made up country's made up customs!"

They needed to put her up against someone that has a vendetta against her. The kid of the one man she killed. Someone who she failed to help when she was younger. Someone with a grudge against the girl under the mask, someone psychological.

And they needed to give the girl someone that uses deathtraps like from the SAW movies. Again, put her out of her element.

Her Rogues gallery needed more solid characters that weren't hand me downs. Alpha was a stylish start with his gun-fu, and The Mad Dog was an interesting concept handled badly, but 90% of the series was "Cassandra vs. unpowered thugs with guns. Wash, rinse, repeat."

And they needed to give her some "Batgirl but not Cassandra Cain" villains. Killer Moth/Charaxas (maybe even throw in "Fang" and "Kitty" from the Teen Titans show). Firefly. Dora Smithy, the tragic character from Gotham Girls. These are enemies of "Batgirl" even if they never met Cass.

[Agentum]

I think it was a good idea that turned wrong, i'm not fond of over the top characters that just comes in and is better than anybody withour any resonable explanation.
I liked when she couldn't talk or said extremly little, but when that was done away the character became unitresting.
To much was focused on how extremly good she was at fighting and pretty soon she was the best and that was that, not much of a learning period from older and wiser heroes.

I like them to have heroes like this to acualy have something to learn not just jum in and defeat the old heroes to show how cool they are.

I have the same problem with the current Supergirl.

I just don't think characters like that can be intresting in the long run.

[Jmacq1]

Generally I loved the series, and the character, the Horrocks run was the weakest point, and Gabrychs was the best overall, but the Puckett/Scott era was very cool in a hyperkinetic sort of way.

Pretty much I agree with most everything Damo said.

She needed to be faced with more situations that couldn't be solved by punching things. Her glaring weaknesses (unable to read, lack of detective skills, lack of anything outside of combat skills) were often touched on, but rarely explored or exploited. Heck, even in the last couple of issues, Shiva chided her for having a belt full of tricks that she never/rarely used. Let her fail a couple times because sometimes martial artistry just plain isn't enough and learn and grow from the experiences. Gabrych seemed to be going in that direction, but didn't get the chance to see it to fruition. Plus it'd have been amusing to see her fumbling with the stuff in the utility belt that wasn't weaponry or swinglines.

She needed opponents that couldn't necessarily be defeated by punching them (Let's see how she handles Clayface, for example), or at least had other means of insuring they weren't immediately overwhelmed by her superior martial arts skills. If that meant putting her up against metas, then so be it. It's OK to show hordes of faceless/nameless thugs getting taken down, but there needs to be some threats that genuinely are threats. There needs to be some danger for the main character, and not just other people for her to rescue.

Give her her own supporting cast. Not just a "shared" supporting cast with other bat-characters. Don't get me wrong, I thought the Spoiler friendship was great. But as noted, Spoiler didn't "belong" to the Batgirl title. Likewise with Oracle. Again, Gabrych started going in this direction, only to be derailed by cancellation and "Infinite Crisis".

So basically, Gabrych really seemed to "get" what needed to be fixed with Cassandra, but didn't have the time/opportunity to do it. Shame.

Oh, and one last thing: DC needed to get behind the character. It didn't need to be a major marketing push or anything (though that would have helped), but having some editors with the guts to tell writers "Hey, if you're going to do a crossover that includes the whole Bat-family, you actually do need to include the whole Bat-Family." Let her face pop up a few more places outside of her solo title. DC never really seemed to fully support Cassandra as Batgirl (as evidenced by the fact that Barbara Gordon remained Batgirl in all advertising, marketing, and outside media), and with a scant few exceptions (JLElite being the most notable) she barely seemed to exist outside of her own monthly title. They want to get the character recognized? Introduce her in one of the many animated series featuring Batman. She'd probably be a big hit with the kids. Problem solved.

[shaunyc56]

I really wanted to like it, I purchased like the 1st 10 issues, but after a while, unbeatable super chick just got so boring. Does Batman always win, of course, all superheros do, it was just

1) There was no hint of the outcome being in doubt, not even for a panel, except w/ Shiva.

2) She came off as a douche at times, I'm ashamed, but at times I just did not like this person. Again, the bat himself has been that way at times, but it just came across better, and I could always fall back on why he was dick, and even though he was a dick, he just didn't enjoy being a dick, Cass sometimes looked like she liked being a dick.

[Sharpandpointies]

Damo and Jmaq1 hit it right on the head for me.

As usual.

[Doom]

I agreed with what Jmacq1 said. Pucket and Scott's run was incredibly hyper kinetic, but it also is kind of like pop corn. You can eat a lot of it really fast, but it doesn't really stay with you. (No wait that's a horrible example since pop corn gets bits stuck in your teeth.) You can go back and read entire Pucket issues in 30 seconds flat.
I do think it's interesting how Cassandra started out as a character with not only no dialogue but no way of any form of internal monologue. She was litterally someone who didn't think to herself. While an interesting idea, it quickly became obvious that apart from having her as a Cypher, there is no way you could write someone like that, so the Telepath who fixes her brain was introduced.

Horrock at times went to far into some silly stories (Black Wind.)
What he did set up (and was followed by Garbrych) was that at times Cassandra was incredibly harsh on herself. It's interesting and unique to see that she wasn't just physically self destructive but mentally too. The issue where she get's doesd with the drug and imagines her friends saying horrible things about her was great.

And I agree with the consensious that Garbrych was turning the title around when it was canned. Such a shame really.


Oh, and one last thing: DC needed to get behind the character. It didn't need to be a major marketing push or anything (though that would have helped), but having some editors with the guts to tell writers "Hey, if you're going to do a crossover that includes the whole Bat-family, you actually do need to include the whole Bat-Family." Let her face pop up a few more places outside of her solo title. DC never really seemed to fully support Cassandra as Batgirl (as evidenced by the fact that Barbara Gordon remained Batgirl in all advertising, marketing, and outside media), and with a scant few exceptions (JLElite being the most notable) she barely seemed to exist outside of her own monthly title. They want to get the character recognized? Introduce her in one of the many animated series featuring Batman. She'd probably be a big hit with the kids. Problem solved.

This is very true, and something that has always bothered me. Every so often on the title they'd dress Cassandra up as Barbra. In this wierd kind of "she's a doll, let's make her look like Barbra today" kind of creepy psychology. What's worse was almost everytime they did it, they'd use it as a way of putting down Cassandra and her own uniqueness. (Like Robin going "Wow, you look much hotter" or in Birds of Prey when the guy describes the Batgirl he saw as "The original. The Hot one.")

I just found that really disturbing.

[Damo]

I think it was a good idea that turned wrong, i'm not fond of over the top characters that just comes in and is better than anybody withour any resonable explanation.
I liked when she couldn't talk or said extremly little, but when that was done away the character became unitresting.
To much was focused on how extremly good she was at fighting and pretty soon she was the best and that was that, not much of a learning period from older and wiser heroes.

I like them to have heroes like this to acualy have something to learn not just jum in and defeat the old heroes to show how cool they are.

I have the same problem with the current Supergirl.

I just don't think characters like that can be intresting in the long run.

I hear this often, and it never stops sounding... well, silly to me.

Okay, Supergirl I can get, she supposedly had all of Superman's powers only they were better. Yeah, that I had a problem with.

But here's a girl that can do martial arts better than Batman. Um, okay, so? What's the problem? He's the world's greatest detective. Have we ever gotten a really spectacular Batman story where he wins by being the best martial artist in the world?

Cass, on the other hand, has that one thing, and is basically the lowest tier at everything else. Her English isn't great, her people skills are terrible, can't read, can't write - if you need something more than ninjaness to solve a problem, she's in a lot of trouble.

I'll agree that those weaknesses needed to be explored more often. But I just don't get this abhorance for the idea that she's such a good fighter, when a first grader can kick her ass at pretty much every other skill you need for crime fighting.

[Hollowpoint_Ninja]

I doubt it'll happen but I'd love to see her come back as Batgirl... maybe team her up with Supergirl in ther renamed Supergirl/Batgirl series... I'd read it... :D

[Damo]

>_< But... Cassie teamed up with Supertorso? Nooooo...

The more I think about it, the more I think they should have played up that she was following in Batman's footsteps but still a very different person.

I mean, look at the Doctor Death story we got, then picture it with flashbacks here and there to Batman on his first year on the job going up against the evil master of poison gasses so you can compare how he went after Dr. Death differently from her.

Or heck, lots of his old foes oculd be retooled to be threats to her.

Ten Eyed Man? Yeah, seing out of your fingertips... not exactly an edge against the Batman. But I'm thinking his body language must have been screwy as all hell, looking through his hands and all. He's nearly got 360 degree vision to start with, give the guy an uzi, maybe some gloves with several different special lenses built in (night vision, infrared, etc.) the guy might actually be a threat under the right circumstances.

Doctor Double X? Makes evil copies of people. Picture Cass going up against Evil Cass, someone that can do everything she can but is everything that's bad inside her.

For that matter, why no Girl-Bat to Batman's Man Bat?

Why no Cat Boy?

=(

My main feeling looking back is confusion that it wasn't a lot better.

[90'sCartoonMan]

Oh, and one last thing: DC needed to get behind the character. It didn't need to be a major marketing push or anything (though that would have helped), but having some editors with the guts to tell writers "Hey, if you're going to do a crossover that includes the whole Bat-family, you actually do need to include the whole Bat-Family." Let her face pop up a few more places outside of her solo title. DC never really seemed to fully support Cassandra as Batgirl (as evidenced by the fact that Barbara Gordon remained Batgirl in all advertising, marketing, and outside media), and with a scant few exceptions (JLElite being the most notable) she barely seemed to exist outside of her own monthly title. They want to get the character recognized? Introduce her in one of the many animated series featuring Batman. She'd probably be a big hit with the kids. Problem solved.

Well, Batgirl's title did take part in Fugitive/Murderer as well as War Games. She sprung out of NML. And she made a guest appearance in Young Justice. But I get what you're saying, Cass didn't seem to really have taken the "Batgirl mantle" from Barbara.

The Batgirl title sort of went through a lull...sometime after issue #25, maybe. But it started picking up when Gabrych came on. I thought Cass's search for her mother was a good read. If the title hadn't been cancelled, maybe we would've seen more return villains. She was already starting to develop a supporting cast in Bludhaven.

[phantom1592]

I read it occasionally. I never really liked it. The fact that she didn't talk, meant 20 pages without dialog and it took 2-3 minutes to finish the book. Hated the costume. The fact that she was the greatest fighter to ever live right off the street was pretty boring too. She also never really had much of personallity. No interaction with people. She'd usually just stare at them, or hit them. She was a robot.

There was ONE aspect that I thought could have been AWESOME to explore. Batman raising a DAUGHTER! Techniquely he's raised three "sons", but this would have been something new and different for him. Instead he gave her a seperate cave and talked on the video phone to her once in a while. What a wasted opportunity :(

[Subotai]

True, true.

[Magneto_X]

I read it occasionally. I never really liked it. The fact that she didn't talk, meant 20 pages without dialog and it took 2-3 minutes to finish the book. Hated the costume. The fact that she was the greatest fighter to ever live right off the street was pretty boring too. She also never really had much of personallity. No interaction with people. She'd usually just stare at them, or hit them. She was a robot.

Early in the series, yes, but later she grew into a strong willed and talkative person with her own monologue! Exspecially during Gabrych's run.

Pick up Destruction's Daughter. You'll love it.

There was ONE aspect that I thought could have been AWESOME to explore. Batman raising a DAUGHTER! Techniquely he's raised three "sons", but this would have been something new and different for him. Instead he gave her a seperate cave and talked on the video phone to her once in a while. What a wasted opportunity :(

Agreed.

It was good how Oracle became Cassie's "parent", though.

[Subotai]

Have they ever shown Bab's reaction to Cass's flip?

[Magneto_X]

Have they ever shown Bab's reaction to Cass's flip?

Not yet. BOP is pretty much ignoring post-OYL Cass. For now, anyway.

[elias_A]

Not yet. BOP is pretty much ignoring post-OYL Cass. For now, anyway.

in the last issues Babs mentioned Cass. It was a bit vague, but she sounds more like she thinks Cass is dead. She still seems to think Cass is/was heroic and a friend (as does canary as well.)

[Damo]

There have been more refs to Cass after the Robin story than in any other book (not hard - no other book has had any refs). It seems to be that the chars don't like talking about it. I guess the less references made to things in that extremely stupid story, the better the chance that things in that story will be changed?

[Drink]

I really liked the series, or what I've read of it (Which is most of it).

It was different from the other Bat-Sidekick books in many ways, such as it showed Cass trying to deal with concepts of morality and stuff that most hero books take for granted.

Also, it managed to protray as much, or maybe more, of the story through the art than in words. That also was unique.

When I got into comics several years ago, I got most of the Bat-titles starting out. While Robin and Nightwing quickly were 'blah' reads, Batgirl was a book I anticipated each month. So that's why the whole evil thing is really getting at me.

[PaulTiberius]

Jumping into the thread without reading it all ...

I only read the last year or so of the series, and I have to say I really enjoyed her move to Bludhaven. It was sweet seeing her try to make new friends and discover what community and relationship meant apart from the Bat gang. The loss of all her newfound friends was really the only emotional tug I felt at Bludhaven's destruction.

Very sad she's gone over to the dark side.