Batgirl by Gail Simone / What is your verdict?

[sabongero]

I have read the first several issues of this new 52 relaunch. Personally, I'd prefer the Barbara Gordon character as Oracle, the leader of the Birds of Prey, and Cassandra Cain donning the guise of Batgirl.

But I am a supporter of really good storytelling. And Gail Simone's Batgirl is in fact one of those ongoing stories told really well. I liked the part where Gail tackles Barbara's fears, especially the psychological part about a gun pointed at her waist ala the Joker did in Batman: The Killing Joke. It's good that she deals with those kinds of inner problem along with other inner turmoil. It makes this title a really character driven book, as in deep characterization.

What do you think about this title so far?

[Sunbird]

I think the first three issues were meh but the last two showed promise. Quite frankly making even a basic leather purse out of the sow's ear she was given is a major achievement. I don't lay much of the blame for the problems at her feet.

[Cowtools]

Hoooo boy, here we go...

[vampiric_cannibal]

Batgirl thread? Living dangerously, my friend. I'll get popcorn.

[ArnoldoAAD]

1 Star

Terrible villains
Poor set up
and I dont care about the supporting cast
Bab should have never recover her legs

[Godlike13]

LoL, oh good god. Here we go...

[Den]

I'm a fan of Gail's work, while not her strongest stuff, I've still enjoyed Batgirl under her pen. I particularly like the villains that have been introduced so far, they seem very in tune with the Gotham flavor, yet still different enough to stand out on their own. I think Gail is fighting something of an uphill battle as DC's choice to make Babs walk again was very unpopular with a lot of Oracle fans, but we'll see how it goes.

[BatSignal]

Eh it's not great, but I'm still giving it a chance. I'm holding back now and reading it a month late for a little cheaper digitally.

I'm probably better off doing that too because I avoid the discussions of it on places like here, which are full of niggling little complaints that are kind of petty. But that's the problem with the book at the moment. There's nothing big wrong with it, but nothing big right with it either, so all these petty little things which you'd ignore as completely insignificant if there was something really good going in the book come to the front of your mind when you're reading it.

I think if Barbara had some friends it could be really great. At the moment, Barbara is a bit of a loner and she has a wordy inner monologue. I hear Black Canary is making an appearance soon and Gail wants to more closely link goings on in Batgirl with Birds of Prey. I'm hoping a lot of this is just because for the first arc it's about Barbara proving she can do it herself, but in the future we'll see more of the Batfamily and more of her dad as well as friends, new boyfriends etc. Gail is good writing relationships between characters and I think she is less good writing a lone Batgirl. She does have a room mate but I don't like her yet, which is a shame because at the moment it's Barbara's only regular interaction with another person.

[Guglio08]

1 Star

Terrible villains
Poor set up
and I dont care about the supporting cast
Bab should have never recover her legs

+1.

(filler stuff)

[ArnoldoAAD]

I'm a fan of Gail's work, while not her strongest stuff, I've still enjoyed Batgirl under her pen. I particularly like the villains that have been introduced so far, they seem very in tune with the Gotham flavor, yet still different enough to stand out on their own. I think Gail is fighting something of an uphill battle as DC's choice to make Babs walk again was very unpopular with a lot of Oracle fans, but we'll see how it goes.

why?
i dont really bother by anything else but
Why do you think that Mirror and Grethel are good villains?

Mirror is a very unoriginal villain with a really bad motivation to be evil
Grethel is basically Just like Brainstorm from Mr Terrific

[new_onslaught]

When I heard that Barbara was going to be Batgirl I was excited. I love Batgirl: Year One and I wanted to see her in the Batgirl role again. But so far I'm disappointed. What I don't like is that she doesn't seem to shut up! All that non-stop inner monologue has killed the book for me. I gave it 2 stars. I'm dropping it after #6 but will have an eye on it, if I hear that it got better.

[Den]

why?
i dont really bother by anything else but
Why do you think that Mirror and Grethel are good villains?

Mirror is a very unoriginal villain with a really bad motivation to be evil
Grethel is basically Just like Brainstorm from Mr Terrific

Well, obviously, YMMV
You really think Mirror is that unoriginal? I haven't seen that many others sharing the same motivation. I found his 'Final Destination' sort of vibe entertaining, he seemed disturbed, but then many villains in Gotham are. He was methodical and zealous. I also enjoyed the visuals of his costume.

Gretel is still too soon to say what I like about her exactly. Perhaps it is how she's a bit nuts. Maybe it's the hair color changes. I'm not familar with Brainstorm from Mr. Terrific so take that how you will.

[ArnoldoAAD]

Well, obviously, YMMV
You really think Mirror is that unoriginal? I haven't seen that many others sharing the same motivation. I found his 'Final Destination' sort of vibe entertaining, he seemed disturbed, but then many villains in Gotham are. He was methodical and zealous. I also enjoyed the visuals of his costume.

hello Frank Castle
his family gets killed he goes insane, he kills a bunch of ppl
but in mirrors case its twisted to a point that just doesnt have any sense at all
His family died in car accident, which leads him to kill ppl who survive accidents, then Why doesnt he kill himself!!

for the record, i also liked his FD kind of MO, and i thought he was cool on the first chp
but after his origin is reveal, he doesnt work
and worst of all he cheats on his method and MO when he killed the other guy and other ppl in the other train in chp 3

the guy was mainly made to make this all metaphor on the recovery of Barb, the ending is very symbolic on the fact that she "breaks the mirror" in the same place that the joker tried to break his father but its very obvious
but this is a character that will never work again

Gretel is still too soon to say what I like about her exactly. Perhaps it is how she's a bit nuts. Maybe it's the hair color changes. I'm not familar with Brainstorm from Mr. Terrific so take that how you will.

fair enough but i dont get the motivation of the character yet, if we know more maybe it will work but i doubt it

[Mr. Holmes]

If they were doing to make such a controversial decision, the least they could have done is well execute it.

[DarkKnghtJared]

I'd give it a 3.5, but I rounded it up to a 4. The villains so far have been rather lacking (especially surprising since Gail wrote them so well in Secret Six), but she's formed a pretty likable, three-dimensional character in Barbara and given her a decent supporting cast with some interesting sub-plots of their own.