DC’s new 52 is full swing now, and as previously stated I was more than skeptical when I first heard the news of it. All skepticisms were cast aside with the first title of the re-launch, Justice League, hitting and blowing me away. I have gone on to read Action Comics, Detective comics and Green Arrow, with Detective Comics being the only exceptional stand out of the three. The biggest surprise for me however is Batgirl. Preview pages let us know that there would be a flashback to Alan Moore’s graphic novel
The Killing Joke, which peak my interest and nudged me into a decision to go ahead and pick this title up, and am I glad I did. Writer Gail Simone understands the character of Barbara Gordon as well as some of the fears that would go along with her being able to walk and fight crime again. If you have not read the issue be warned of
Spoilers!
Simone starts us of in a typical Batfamily fashion with an interrogation and a brooding rooftop shot all in the first couple pages. Where she really excels in the issue is her ability to get in Barbara’s head with her inner monologue. Making sure Barbara separates her personal life from that of Batgirl’s is a done beautifully and doesn’t seem too forced like we have seen with characters in the past. As previously stated once of my major reasons for picking this title up was the references in the preview pages to The Killing Joke. Going in I thought it could have done really well or it could have been a complete disaster, but not only was it done really well it is one of the highlights of the book with it centering around bad dreams that Barbara still has of the incident that would affect anyone in her situation. This also brings us into her relationship with her father, Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. Since her recovery of being able to walk again Barbara has been living with her dad and is ready to move out. This, again, is another area where Simone is spot on with Jim wanting to respect his daughter’s space but is worried about her and does not want her to go just yet by telling her “You don’t have to do this Barbara. You could stay here. With me I mean.” With the heartwarming father daughter moment such as this it really makes you feel for Jim, but Barbara reassures his she needs to “Stretch her legs.” The conclusion to the book could not have been written any better for what we have been set up for. We again are treated to another flashback of the Joker pointing a gun at Barbara after the assailant Batgirl is after points a gun at her the exact same way causing her to lose focus as well as the bad guy. Other than The Killing Joke flashbacks the conclusion was my favorite part of the story. Simone really understands and portrays Barbara’s fears and emotions regarding possibly being shot in the spine again with sensitivity and understanding that you should really have when writing a character such as her.
The art was drawn by Ardian Syaf and is also well done for the book. His art flows from pages to page seamlessly and gives us good visuals to compliment Gail Simone’s writing. The part that I enjoyed about it the most was his attention to the detail from tears to blood splatters he captures it all and puts us right in the heart of the action.
Overall this is the surprise of the DC new 52. Where others fell short in my opinion writer Gail Simone took off and ran with one of DC’s forgotten characters and knocked it out of the park.
4 Out of 5
About The Author:
Disney World addict, comic book fan & Film fanatic. I've written some things you might have read...probably not though.
Follow WaylonJones on:
