belle_fiction's review against another edition
5.0
My God, I LOVED this Volume! *swoons*
Death of the Family really cranks up the tension with plenty of action, hard-hitting graphics and punchy dialogue. We see Batgirl face the bastard who paralysed her for three years (Mistah J) and are once again reacquainted with his psychosis and the depths of his depravity.
We also learn that Barbara's brother, James Gordon Jr. is actually pulling the strings behind these hideous attacks and forcing his sister to relive nightmare after nightmare after nightmare.
This volume is brilliant for sooooo many reasons: firstly, it comes across as more mature (both in tone and the topics discussed), we learn a lot more about the extremely complex family Gordon dichotomy which is key to understanding why James Gordon Jr. became a homicidal maniac, we also learn the true relationship between Batman and the Joker which can also be extended to Batgirl and her brother (kind of) - the Joker knows that Batman will never kill him because without him, Batman would be nothing (Batman needs an arch-nemesis, someone who justifies him wearing the Bat-cape, the Joker gives him a sense of purpose, and both know it).
I always love these little insights into their characters because it forces you to reconsider their position on the superhero/villain spectrum - is Batman really so heroic after all? Are they actually on the same side and is it just a case of the Joker being at the extreme end? They actually do have a lot of things in common and I loved to see this facet of their characters explored.
Going back to the title character - Batgirl is as kick-ass as ever, and I really do empathise with Barbara and all of the shit she has endured. I think one of the most harrowing details concerns her paralysis, and with the Joker and her own brother threatening to put her back in the wheelchair, I am rooting for Batgirl on every single page. She is such a likeable, wonderful and inspiring character. I hope there are many more Batgirl volumes to come because she is simply an extraordinary creation!
iffer's review
4.0
While I liked the previous two trades of New 52 Batgirl, I really enjoyed this one. The stories were more cohesive, and with Gail Simone at the helm, these story arcs couldn't help being great, since the Joker and James Gordon, Jr. are some of the best villains for Batgirl. I could've done with more development of Gordon family dynamics and the relationship between Barbara and her roommate Alysia, though (who, while I'm glad that she's trans and it's no big deal, doesn't seem to have any reason to be trans except that DC wanted to seem forward-thinking?).
rhganci's review against another edition
3.0
(3.5 stars) The first fourteen issues of BATGIRL that were collected in the previous two trade books were among the best of the New 52 over the course of the first year--Barbara's struggle through survivor's guilt, the threats represented by Mirror, Gretel, and Knightfall, and against the Court of Owls stood out as a particularly remarkable character story that's greatest strength was Gail Simone's development of Barbara's narrative voice. That continues to be the strongest aspect of the book, but the departure of Adrian Syaf's and Ed Benes' pencils and Simone's two-issue hiatus from writing duties really diminished the overall quality of this collected edition of one of the New 52's most surprisingly excellent titles.
Vol. 3, THE DEATH OF THE FAMILY is a bit of a misnomer--while the collection does include both Barbara's 3-issue "lead-up" story arc to BATMAN #17 and that conclusive chapter of the DEATH OF THE FAMILY crossover, that event spans less than half of the collected material of this paperback. The story arc involving James Gordon, Jr.'s escape from Arkham Asylum takes center stage, meshes with and departs from DEATH OF THE FAMILY, and finally ranges to its conclusion in by the end of the collection, but a few departures from the formula diminish the overall quality of the book.
The first of these is Gail Simon's very noticeable departure from writing duties after DEATH OF THE FAMILY, during which she continues her superb storytelling, writing Batgirl's DEATH OF THE FAMILY story that complements Snyder's nicely. After the Joker story concludes, Ray Fawkes's contributions to the story aren't exactly negative, but the contrast in quality between his story and when Simone is in the driver's seat is very noticeable. The thoughtful and humorous narrative voice that Simone has cultivated disappears when Fawkes temporarily takes over writing duties, and is replaced by narration by James, Jr. that sounds forced and lacks any of the development that Barbara's possesses. These books advance the story, but do not develop the characters, thereby undercutting what has made BATGIRL such a standout title of the New 52. Thankfully, Simone's departure lasts only two issues, and she returns to pen the final chapter of the James, Jr. story with as much style and substance as any of her previous installments, concluding the arc and launching the next expertly and restoring the high-degree of quality that the book has enjoyed.
Secondly, Adrian Syaf's pencils are absent, and while Ed Benes contributes his striking artwork intermittently (mostly in the form of some terrific covers), Daniel Sampere's pencils lack the consistency of Syaf's. The colors are less stylish, and without the purple and gold motif for Gotham City, the book feels less like Batgirl's, and as such, less distinct. It is my hope that as Fernando Pasarin inherits artwork duties in Vol. 4 (due out in December), some of the consistency that Syaf and Benes contributed to the first two collected volumes can return to accompany what is sure to be another terrific story from Gail Simone.
You can read this review and a bunch of other awesome articles at our blog, The Unending Backlog: http://unendingbacklog.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/review-batgirl-vol-3-death-of-the-family/
Vol. 3, THE DEATH OF THE FAMILY is a bit of a misnomer--while the collection does include both Barbara's 3-issue "lead-up" story arc to BATMAN #17 and that conclusive chapter of the DEATH OF THE FAMILY crossover, that event spans less than half of the collected material of this paperback. The story arc involving James Gordon, Jr.'s escape from Arkham Asylum takes center stage, meshes with and departs from DEATH OF THE FAMILY, and finally ranges to its conclusion in by the end of the collection, but a few departures from the formula diminish the overall quality of the book.
The first of these is Gail Simon's very noticeable departure from writing duties after DEATH OF THE FAMILY, during which she continues her superb storytelling, writing Batgirl's DEATH OF THE FAMILY story that complements Snyder's nicely. After the Joker story concludes, Ray Fawkes's contributions to the story aren't exactly negative, but the contrast in quality between his story and when Simone is in the driver's seat is very noticeable. The thoughtful and humorous narrative voice that Simone has cultivated disappears when Fawkes temporarily takes over writing duties, and is replaced by narration by James, Jr. that sounds forced and lacks any of the development that Barbara's possesses. These books advance the story, but do not develop the characters, thereby undercutting what has made BATGIRL such a standout title of the New 52. Thankfully, Simone's departure lasts only two issues, and she returns to pen the final chapter of the James, Jr. story with as much style and substance as any of her previous installments, concluding the arc and launching the next expertly and restoring the high-degree of quality that the book has enjoyed.
Secondly, Adrian Syaf's pencils are absent, and while Ed Benes contributes his striking artwork intermittently (mostly in the form of some terrific covers), Daniel Sampere's pencils lack the consistency of Syaf's. The colors are less stylish, and without the purple and gold motif for Gotham City, the book feels less like Batgirl's, and as such, less distinct. It is my hope that as Fernando Pasarin inherits artwork duties in Vol. 4 (due out in December), some of the consistency that Syaf and Benes contributed to the first two collected volumes can return to accompany what is sure to be another terrific story from Gail Simone.
You can read this review and a bunch of other awesome articles at our blog, The Unending Backlog: http://unendingbacklog.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/review-batgirl-vol-3-death-of-the-family/
burntfries's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
old_tim's review
4.0
Good, but this would be so much better if they'd stop forced those crossovers.
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2013/10/left-alone-this-would-be-great.html
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2013/10/left-alone-this-would-be-great.html
wanderlustlover's review
5.0
2015: Part of my massive Barbara Gordon Re-read which I had a glorious amazing time with. Birds of Prey, under the hands of Gail Simone, was a gorgeous thing and It made me super happy to have all my amazing women back together doing amazing things!
2013: Even a few weeks late I can remember how refreshing it was diving back into this universe after taking 2 weeks to read the newest volume of Captain Marvel. I had some issue there, that opening this up reminded me every page that there are people out there doing it right. Able to blend the real life and the super life, like a hand in a glove. Able to blend horror and snark, with love and affection. Who have men, women, and trans people. Father, Mothers, Daughter, Brothers. All together all at once, and it's still a kick ass Girl Power Title.
Yes. Yes. More of this. So much more of this I need and want and love all of it.
2013: Even a few weeks late I can remember how refreshing it was diving back into this universe after taking 2 weeks to read the newest volume of Captain Marvel. I had some issue there, that opening this up reminded me every page that there are people out there doing it right. Able to blend the real life and the super life, like a hand in a glove. Able to blend horror and snark, with love and affection. Who have men, women, and trans people. Father, Mothers, Daughter, Brothers. All together all at once, and it's still a kick ass Girl Power Title.
Yes. Yes. More of this. So much more of this I need and want and love all of it.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
1.0
This one is... complicated. I generally enjoy Gail Simone's writing and narrative decisions, and the art in this volume (collecting various singles) was generally really good, it's just... I don't know how I feel about what's been done to Babs. Look, there's never a good way to approach the behemoth that is past comics canon: when you've got nonsense like CAPTAIN AMERICA: COMMIE SMASHER (eerily prescient for, uh, certain slash fic things), or BATMAN: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY (just, Jason Todd in general, really), or, well, what happened to Babs in THE KILLING JOKE. You know, the one where she was paralysed from the waist down, wheelchair-bound, and turned into Oracle instead of Batgirl. I mean, I liked Cassandra Cain as Batgirl fine, and I liked Barbara Gordon as Oracle fine. The issue I have is the, well, ableism.
Superhero stories are mostly ableist by nature, which is kind of a quirk of the genre; sometimes stories about magically (or scientifically) overcoming your disability (Captain America, Daredevil) or weaponising it (X-Men, Batman) can be fun, escapist catharsis. Sometimes ability-ex-machina feels cheap: the Percy Jackson series was pretty notorious for this, turning dyslexia and ADHD into literal superhuman abilities bestowed by gods. And then there are stories like this one, where Babs was disabled—she used a wheelchair, and it didn't prevent her from being productive, albeit in a very different way—and now she isn't. And it feels kinda shitty.
Superhero stories are mostly ableist by nature, which is kind of a quirk of the genre; sometimes stories about magically (or scientifically) overcoming your disability (Captain America, Daredevil) or weaponising it (X-Men, Batman) can be fun, escapist catharsis. Sometimes ability-ex-machina feels cheap: the Percy Jackson series was pretty notorious for this, turning dyslexia and ADHD into literal superhuman abilities bestowed by gods. And then there are stories like this one, where Babs was disabled—she used a wheelchair, and it didn't prevent her from being productive, albeit in a very different way—and now she isn't. And it feels kinda shitty.
carroq's review
3.0
I am disappointed that I did not like this one as much as the previous two volumes. It felt like it suffered from a little ADD at times. There were two different writers on this one and they switched off, so that probably has something to do with it.
The Joker storyline was great. It really showcased how insane he can be. It segues into a couple of issues that felt out of place to the series though. While it involved characters that have been introduced, they didn't contribute to Barbara's story much or in an authentic way. Batgirl should be the star, but she is kind of overshadowed.
The plot involving her brother is resolved. This portion of the story just didn't catch me though. Something about James Gordon Jr. just felt off throughout this series. He seemed shoehorned into a villain role that didn't need to exist.
Being a book from DC it isn't bad in any particular way. I think it could have been a lot better. The parts that tie into plots from other titles probably would have been better off in a different collection.
The Joker storyline was great. It really showcased how insane he can be. It segues into a couple of issues that felt out of place to the series though. While it involved characters that have been introduced, they didn't contribute to Barbara's story much or in an authentic way. Batgirl should be the star, but she is kind of overshadowed.
The plot involving her brother is resolved. This portion of the story just didn't catch me though. Something about James Gordon Jr. just felt off throughout this series. He seemed shoehorned into a villain role that didn't need to exist.
Being a book from DC it isn't bad in any particular way. I think it could have been a lot better. The parts that tie into plots from other titles probably would have been better off in a different collection.
delaneybull's review
3.0
Death of the Family was such a shift in tone to the other issues in this volume that I honestly couldn't get through it. Plus, the body horror was way too much. The other stories were fine, but I really couldn't get invested since there was this gigantic diversion in the middle of the volume.