By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Lee Garbett and Pere Perez (artists), Walden Wong and Pere Perez (inkers), Guy Major (colors)
The Story: Batgirl Rising: The Flood, Part Four of Four: Oracle is trapped in the mind of the Calculator. Stephanie is saving her, by plunging through a rainstorm from thirty-five thousand feet. Sounds like Stephanie….
What’s Good: First of all, what’s great is that this is the one-year anniversary of Stephanie Brown as Batgirl and it is worth celebrating that Michael Siglain and Harvey Richards have been able to hold together the core creative team (Miller, Garbett and Major – the inkers seem to be a revolving door on this book, though) for pretty much that whole run. This gives a definite feel to a Batgirl book. Miller stamps each issue with Stephanie’s personality and it starts from page one. Her running, self-deprecating monologues are always fun, but, in this last issue of this arc, we see more growth in her. Steph, a rebellious, clutsy, teenager-equivalent, has always had a pretty adversarial relationship with Oracle. This book turns a corner for Steph and for Oracle and it’s heart-warming. You see it in lines by Stephanie like: “This isn’t about trying to prove anything to anyone…this is about me saving the one person who’s ever given a real crap about me.” She doesn’t lose that Stephanie essence though, especially when talking on the radio to her backup: ZAP! “I’m good! I’m good!” The corner turns for others in the book as well. Everyone experiences growth, even the bad guy. Oracle’s turn is summed up nicely when she says (with relief): “I knew I could count on you not to listen to me, Batgirl.” On the art side, Garbett, Perez, Wong and Major deliver humorous action and adventure. The camera angles work and the layout does the job.
What’s Not So Good: On the storytelling side, Miller is telling fun adventure and coming-of-age stories. However, I don’t feel that the art has really gotten past that hazy sort of “average” zone for me. Garbett’s stuff always lacked a certain textural element, but the general feeling of plastification of faces and clothes has gotten stronger with Perez on the team. Don’t get me wrong. The art serves the purpose. I just feel that a book that doesn’t bring the art up a level is a lost opportunity. And, if you want to understand what I mean about bringing it up a level, check out Artgerm’s cover.
Conclusion: Fun adventure with a lot of growth and change in the characters this issue. It’s worth the $2.99, but doesn’t shake the comic field.
Grade: C+
-DS Arsenault
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