It’s impossible to have any kind of intelligent discussion about this book without revealing the identity of the main character. So consider yourself warned. Turn back now if you don’t want to know who’s weaing the mask.
*Spoiler Watrning*
The new Batgril is… Stephanie Brown. Robin fans may know her better as Spoiler. It’s a reveal that is only slightly more shocking than Dick Grayson becoming the new Batman. Which is to say that most of us already guessed Steph would be Batgirl.
Before I address the quality of the book itself, let’s address the elephant in the room. The question of who should be Batgirl has been hotly contested for years. It’s not quite as divise as the great Hal/Kyle debate, but it’s up there. As a fan of Barbara Gordon, I did NOT want to see her return to the role. Oracle is a much more interesting and unique character than just another vigilante in a Batsuit.
Once you rule out Babs, just about any established girl of Gotham works just fine for me. I’ve always liked Stephanie Brown, so I am glad to see DC is gatting some use out of her. I do feel bad for Cassandra Cain’s fans. DC has treated that character badly over the years and she gets the brush-off here.
The issue itself is pretty bland. If you’ve ever seen any of the early episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or read any of Chuck Dixon’s early Robin issues, you’ve seen this all before. Steph is trying to be a “normal girl” but her crime fighting duties keep getting in the way. She even has to keep her secret from her single mom. If the premise sounds less than original, the execution is equally mediocre. There’s nothing terrible here. But there’s nothing to get really excited about either.
Both former Batgirls also make appearances in the book. Although poor Cassandra Cain’s time in the spotlight is brief. Her scene is two pages long. Page 1: Spoiler and Batgirl fight thugs. Page 2: Cassandra strips off the Batgirl costume and gives it to Steph with something that barely qualifies as an explanation of her actions. Basically, she’s there to make sure everyone knows her time as Batgirl is done.
(Say “hi” to Ryan Choi when you get to comic book limbo, Cassandra!)
Barbara Gordon may not be Batgirl, but she has a pretty meaty role in the book. It seems likely that she will stick around as Steph’s mentor; kind of Giles to Steph’s Buffy. However, Bryan Q. Miller’s portroyal of Babs jest felt off to me. Check out this narration:
“That anger is really all I know anymore. Every day. And it isn’t a comfort like a blanket. It’s a film that I can’t scrub off my skin. Every day is a constant reminder that things will never change.”
It’s always hard to review the first issue of a new series because the nature of the beast is that they require a lot of set-up. But unless Miller shakes up his premise soon, it feels very tired already. And since the execution leaves something to be desired, I can’t must up much enthusiasm for this book in spite of the fact that I am pleased with the identity of the new Batgirl.
I didn’t mind the issue… except for the vast, continued character assassination of Cassandra Cain.
Seriously. She’s not a hard character to write. And yet, how many people have done it well in the last couple years? It just makes me sad, honestly.
I didn’t mind the book, but it didn’t do anything for me either. I’ll probably give the next issue a look.
I didn’t read much of Cassandra’s book. So I was never all that invested in the character. But I read enough to know that DC has treated her terribly dince OYL. I have a friend who is a huge Cassandra Cain. She was his favorite character. I hate to see someone’s favorite character get treated this way.
You’re right. She was a pretty simple character. If you read an issue or two of her series, you could get a pretty good handle on her. The only person I can think of who handled her well at all post OYL was Chuck Dixon in Outsiders. As soon as he left, they turned her into an idiot in that book.
I feel bad for Cassandra.. Hope this works.
I was upset at myself for for paying money for this book. And will just be downloading a copy from this point on IF I want to read about the life of Stephanie Brown. Now the death of her that I would pay money for. I did a freeking happy dance the first time I thought they had killed her. She sucks and I hate her.
Hey, didn’t they kill off Steph Brown a couple years ago???????
It didn’t take.
I agree 100%!!! I think we all agree about the tragedy of Stephanie Brown replacing Cassandra Cain Wayne. Here is what I DON’T & CAN’T understand. So bear with me please. They bring back Cassandra Cain to the Batman Family after the controversial One Year Later storyline decision to change her character back, ONLY due to fans LOGICALY & LOYALY criticizing about the horrible decision DC did. Then she is brought in to the Outsiders (which was a good idea) by Batman as a contingency to lead the team when and if he goes missing. She admiraly try’s to lead the team even after the team disbands and looses direction, AND she even goes as far to rebuild the team in the image of Batman with Dick disaproving her reasons for doing so, displaying that she is still dedicated to Bruce. Also during this time Bruce legaly adopts her. Which leads to Battle For The Cowl. During this storyline we see that Bruce has a will about his last wishes, instructions, etc for Alfred, Dick, Tim and even Jason but no mention of Cassandra. Cassandra is not even a pivitol role in the storyline EVEN though her adopted siblings are fighting amongst themselves over the cowl. NOW all of a sudden during the Batman Reborn storyline in Batgirl #1 she is “disallusioned.” (which makes no sense) replacing her with a boring character with the SAME story of a teenager trying to balance between a normal life and a hero. (which DC tried to do with Tim Drake) Now, I understand that they all would handle Bruce’s “death” differently but I DON’T believe that she would just quit with a lame excuse like that. If anything, that would make her want to continue fighting for her adopted father in his absence. The writers should of just kept her on the Outsiders as the leader instead of Alfred as their dispatcher. (Still trying to understand that) Or even put her in the Gotham Sirens with the Birds of Prey, Spoiler, Question and Batwoman.(That’s what I thought originally) At least have her join Tim in the search. I just don’t understand what DC is trying to do anymore. Sorry, I needed to vent, this is very infuriating! Hopefully this is temporarily and fans will uproar again to bring back Cassandra Cain Wayne AAGGAINN. I pray that DC critics and writers see this. Until then, I won’t be buying. Let me know what you think.
Basically, my good people, it’s this: certain characters get preferential treatment by the editorial staff at DC. While Cassandra Cain was not my favorite character, I do think that Didio and co. have obviously made up their minds about her and have resorted to making her look like crap. Do you really think they could try this stunt with Dick, Tim, Barbara or Selina? I don’t think so.
Also, Cassandra is not the only notable example as look what they did to the original Azrael, who Didio obviously hates as well. Instead of resolving what became of him after his series ended, they chose to give a completely new guy named Lane very abruptly and then brought back the original one as a Black Lantern zombie.
Other examples as well entail abruptly killing a new character like Orpheus for no good reason and bringing back Jason Todd only to make him more dislikeable than he already was with bad writing.
Again, Cassandra may not have been my favorite character but abruptly replacing her with Spoiler was lame-just like replacing Jean Paul Valley with Michael Washington Lane, killing off Orpheus and making Jason Todd more of a douchebag were also lame.
Sorry, I forgot to add that this stuff shows you one irrefutable fact: the greatest threat to the DC Universe aren’t characters like Darkseid, Krona, Imperiex, the Anti-Monitor, Parallax, Superboy Prime or the Sinestro Corps but the editorial staff at DC itself.