A review by trike
Batgirl Vol. 1: Beyond Burnside (Rebirth), by Hope Larson
3.0
I'm giving this 3 stars assuming this book is aimed at pre-teen girls. As I'm a man in my 50s, I am clearly not the target audience.
If most superhero books are male power fantasies, this is definitely female adventure fantasy. It's lightweight and cute and Batgirl is apparently independently rich after having developed an app (at age 16, I would guess), but she doesn't have any responsibilities running her company since she can just jet off to Asia on a whim.
She just-so-happens to meet her hunky ne'er-do-well friend Kai who is clearly up to some no-good shenanigans involving costumed supervillains, and they grew up together in Chicago where her dad, Commissioner Jim Gordon, lectured them about how "kids of cops turn into either cops or crooks." Babs has gone one way while Kai has gone the other. But he's ever so dreamy! A bad boy, to boot!
Don't worry, none of that was a spoiler -- it's the first 2 pages.
I picked this "Vol. 1" up because the over-the-logo masthead declares "DC Universe Rebirth". So I assumed DC rebooted their universe yet again. Not so much. As with the previous restarts, this is very clearly a continuation of the previous Batgirl comic. Not only is that evident from what happens in the story, at one point the editor note implores the reader to check out Batgirl Vol. 3 for more info on an obscure reference she just dropped. Which makes this renumbering merely a marketing ploy to draw in new readers. Shameful.
Just make each story a standalone, if that's what you're aiming for. Jim Shooter, when he edited Marvel back when *I* was a pre-teen, said that every issue was someone's first issue. Which meant they had a quick recap of previous adventures if that was necessary, but usually meant each comic told a complete story. Restarting the numbering scheme just ends up being stupidly confusing.
Anyway, Kai is clearly an idiot, since the green-eyed, red-haired 5'6" Barbara Gordon always mysteriously disappears when the green-eyed, red-haired 5'6" Batgirl shows up, and vice versa. Her outfit has changed at some point, revealing even more of her face, too. But hey, comics.
The art is serviceable. It's weird how her footwear keeps changing from high-top sneakers to knee-high combat boots, but whatever. These are not things 10-year-olds are likely to notice. Nor the fact the story is fairly silly. (I mean even beyond the inherent silliness of superhero comics.) It's just a romp.
If most superhero books are male power fantasies, this is definitely female adventure fantasy. It's lightweight and cute and Batgirl is apparently independently rich after having developed an app (at age 16, I would guess), but she doesn't have any responsibilities running her company since she can just jet off to Asia on a whim.
She just-so-happens to meet her hunky ne'er-do-well friend Kai who is clearly up to some no-good shenanigans involving costumed supervillains, and they grew up together in Chicago where her dad, Commissioner Jim Gordon, lectured them about how "kids of cops turn into either cops or crooks." Babs has gone one way while Kai has gone the other. But he's ever so dreamy! A bad boy, to boot!
Don't worry, none of that was a spoiler -- it's the first 2 pages.
I picked this "Vol. 1" up because the over-the-logo masthead declares "DC Universe Rebirth". So I assumed DC rebooted their universe yet again. Not so much. As with the previous restarts, this is very clearly a continuation of the previous Batgirl comic. Not only is that evident from what happens in the story, at one point the editor note implores the reader to check out Batgirl Vol. 3 for more info on an obscure reference she just dropped. Which makes this renumbering merely a marketing ploy to draw in new readers. Shameful.
Just make each story a standalone, if that's what you're aiming for. Jim Shooter, when he edited Marvel back when *I* was a pre-teen, said that every issue was someone's first issue. Which meant they had a quick recap of previous adventures if that was necessary, but usually meant each comic told a complete story. Restarting the numbering scheme just ends up being stupidly confusing.
Anyway, Kai is clearly an idiot, since the green-eyed, red-haired 5'6" Barbara Gordon always mysteriously disappears when the green-eyed, red-haired 5'6" Batgirl shows up, and vice versa. Her outfit has changed at some point, revealing even more of her face, too. But hey, comics.
The art is serviceable. It's weird how her footwear keeps changing from high-top sneakers to knee-high combat boots, but whatever. These are not things 10-year-olds are likely to notice. Nor the fact the story is fairly silly. (I mean even beyond the inherent silliness of superhero comics.) It's just a romp.