By Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Lee Garbett & Trevor Scott with Sandra Hope (art), Guy Major (colors), Michael Siglain (Editor)
The Story: Stephanie Brown, the new Batgirl, has tracked Scarecrow to his lair and is about to go in, helped along by remote control by Barbara Gordon. Scarecrow is big and dangerous. Stephanie is small and no one, not even Barbara, has taken her seriously as Batgirl.
What’s Good: Except for a small glitch on one page, the writing was tight, pulling together everything that was said over the last three issues and giving it cohesive meaning. As the book went on, I realized that there were few throwaway lines, few things that didn’t move the action forward or show us more of who Stephanie is, or illuminate her hero’s journey. This is a pretty astonishing feat. I don’t use the term “hero’s journey” lightly, because Miller took the idea seriously. It was a classic story that loses nothing of its drama for being classic. Even the villain and the weapons he used were wisely chosen to fit with the hero’s journey, because Stephanie has to face fear itself and her incurable need to be where the action is. Her journey is how to reconcile that with the more pedestrian influences in her life and choose what she wants and who she is.
This month’s art was moody, stylized, and in places even surreal to match the hero’s descent as she seeks to prove herself. The large art team showed us a fearless hero in mortal danger against a backdrop of red skies, gothic architecture, and abandoned buildings. The stylistic effects of the cape and the exaggeration of sizes in some panels were useful effects, especially considering the psychotropic effects of Thrill and the fact that Stephanie’s injection didn’t do much to blunt its effects.
What’s Not So Good: For some reason, most or all of the Scarecrow’s dialogue came out wrong. In his first appearance, his mouth is filled with needless exposition, pointless revelation of his methods and cheesy B–movie treatment of cardboard lackeys. He is the perfect villain for this character and this particular arch. He just would have been more effective if he’d not spoken a word – the art certainly would have carried the story. The climax also left me a little cold, too. It was serviceable, but it was a little too pat and predictable, which ultimately made this “believe-in-yourself” story a little less satisfying.
Conclusion: This was a really fun book on the surface, with some deeper levels of meaning lurking just underneath. Well worth picking up if you’re a bat-follower, or even if you’re not.
Grade: C+
-DS Arsenault
Filed under: DC Comics Tagged: | Barbara Gordon, Batgirl, Batgirl #3, Batgirl #3 review, Batman, Bryan Q. Miller, Comic Book Reviews, DC Comics, DS Arsenault, Gotham, Guy Major, Lee Garbett, Michael Siglain, Oracle, Sandra Hope, Scarecrow, Stephanie Brown, Trevor Scott, Weekly Comic Book Review
