CBR: Bryan Q. Miller on "Batgirl"

[CBR News]

With his first story arc having recently wrapped up, Miller spills the beans on the new Batgirl, speaking to CBR News about the cast, the cornerstone themes and the somewhat hasty exit of the previous Batgirl, Cassandra Cain.


Full article here.

[CMBMOOL]

Well I have to say it is nice of Miller to answer some of our concerns over the actions of Babs and Cass during the first arc, so you know that in some way he does listen towards the readers complaints.

[Major Comma]

Also nice to know DC DEFINITELY has plans for Cass in 2010.
I cant wait to see what they have planned for her .

[The Cool Thatguy]

"From a dramatic standpoint, there aren't many places left to go with Cassandra. Steph's a work in progress."

...

Yeah, hell no.

[Freakzeek]

"From a dramatic standpoint, there aren't many places left to go with Cassandra. Steph's a work in progress."

...

Yeah, hell no.

gotta agree with the cool thatguy

[ykw]

Wonderful. Now where the heck is Charlie (Misfit)? Ex-Batgirl, Barbara's legal ward, established as being in Gotham in B4tC? And (far as I can tell) completely absent from the title.

[neverman]

Miller was worng about the goings on in that crappy Oracle series. only one "friend" of hers died, not several the way he stated it.

And, yeah, where the F*** is Misfit? I like her a helluva lot more than I like Steph (sorry, can't call her batgirl yet - feels wrong)

[Brack360]

From a dramatic standpoint, there aren't many places left to go with Cassandra.

This comment is not only wrong but is insulting. Cassandra Cain is easily one of DC's characters with the greatest untapped storyline potential. She is a unique character who defies the common super-hero archetype. This is like saying that there were no more places for Batman to go after the 1960s television show and that the character should have been retired back then. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc. have been around for decades and yet new writers somehow keep coming up with exciting new story ideas for these characters. Cass still has a lot of open plot threads from "Destruction's Daughter" and her more recent developments, nevermind that a reunion with Lady Shiva is practically screaming to happen.

This isn't Cassandra's book. I love Cassandra. She's a tragic hero to the highest degree. But this book is about Babs and Steph.

Miller's reasoning here would have made sense if he said "But this book is about Steph," but his phrasing of it as "about Babs and Steph" is peculiar and illogical. If Babs, another former Batgirl, can share the spotlight with Steph, then why can't Cass, who had a much greater connection to Steph than Babs did? There's even room in this book for Wendy but not for Cass. Why is this a better setup than a Batgirl book with Cass as Batgirl and The Spoiler as a major supporting character and Cass's best friend, or with Oracle mentoring Cass as Batgirl?

This is all symptomatic of a larger problem. DC's treatment of most of their major female characters since Didio came aboard has been staggering. There is a trend of replacing more complex and sophistocated characters, like Cass or the Linda Danvers Supergirl, with much more one-dimensional, ditzy, and juvenile versions. Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Catwoman, and Oracle have also suffered and have been seriously dumbed down.

[Brack360]

Also nice to know DC DEFINITELY has plans for Cass in 2010.
I cant wait to see what they have planned for her .

I won't be holding my breath. I expect that it will be the same kind of "big plans" than DC had for Blue Beetle in 2005 or for Superboy in 2006.

[Kiryu]

My "Teen Titans" #72 script was apparently fairly well-received around the DC offices.

Shame it wasn't well received by people who pay for their comics.

06/2009: Teen Titans #72 — 32,512 (- 4.7%)
07/2009: Teen Titans #73 — 30,990 (- 4.7%)
08/2009: Teen Titans #74 — 30,380 (- 2.0%)

I do not understand DC's fascination with tossing TV writers onto comics when it has worked so poorly thus far and seems to still be going poorly with Ms Henderson on Teen Titans.

[True Herald]

I do not understand DC's fascination with tossing TV writers onto comics when it has worked so poorly thus far and seems to still be going poorly with Ms Henderson on Teen Titans.

DC's fascination with them has developed because Dan DiDio used to work in TV.

[True Herald]

"From a dramatic standpoint, there aren't many places left to go with Cassandra."

As a writer, it's your job to come up with places to go with characters like Cassandra.

Now I'm kinda glad I held back on buying this book.
Next writer, please.

[neverman]

I won't be holding my breath. I expect that it will be the same kind of "big plans" than DC had for Blue Beetle in 2005 or for Superboy in 2006.

Oh yeah, and 2009 was supposed to be a big year for Barbara. Her 'big year' is her Birds of Prey book getting canceled, and she's still in that wheelchair, miserable, and acting as mentor to the new Batgirl. Bottom line: When DC says a character's gonna have a big year, they're just talking out their butts

[neverman]

"From a dramatic standpoint, there aren't many places left to go with Cassandra."

As a writer, it's your job to come up with places to go with characters like Cassandra.

Now I'm kinda glad I held back on buying this book.
Next writer, please.

Yeah, that was either a really lame excuse to shuffle Cass out of the comic, or the writer really believes that. And if a writer believes a characters has no place left to go, then he or she is not the correct writer for the job.

[Spiffy]

What's most interesting is that his two main counter-points are extracted almost directly from this board. The objections to the rapidity of Cass' exit was a constant theme here, and Babs "grump" situation was something I myself, and one or two others, brought up (although I don't think we used the phrase "grump" but characterized it more as straight-up anger).

I'll give him credit for at least acknowledging the perception of those as problems, even if they are dismissed a bit.