By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Lee Garbett (artist), Trevor Scott (inker)
The Story: Stephanie is stuck at home on Friday night with her Mom. No bat signal. No training. Just scrabble. Luckily, Supergirl stops by and they go out to visit the campus of Gotham U. Unluckily, some bitter grad student makes 24 solid holograms of a whining, B-movie Dracula, who all go on a rampage.
What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: I’m gonna mix these together because Garbett and Scott always deliver solid artwork, and you can see many of my other reviews to read what I think of the Garbett-Scott dynamic duo. On the writing, what works and doesn’t work depends on (a) what you think the writer is trying to do and (b) what you’re buying Batgirl for.
What was Miller doing mixing B-movie Draculas, girls night out, Stephanie’s self-deprecating monologue and Supergirl? Well, I think Miller was just writing an issue of fun silliness. After 13 issues of pretty intensive stuff going on in Steph’s life, including the loss of her partner and mentor, a breather was overdue. Since Batgirl is already a title that, within the suspension of disbelief, pokes fun at its hero, Miller has a fair bit of latitude on how funny he can go. And there is no way to take any of what goes on in this issue seriously. Nor is it possible to ask whether the writer is elevating the heroism of the characters. He’s not. That’s why the girls stop for ice cream and get their picture taken with one of the Draculas in the mall photo-booth in a Scooby-Doo-style montage. Does it work as funny? Yes. Does the nugget of truth in every joke reveal something about Batgirl and Supergirl? Yes. Is suspension of disbelief broken? Yup. Do I want to see this story become part of the canon? About as much as I want Obnoxio the Clown vs. the X-Men to be part of the X-canon.
Is this what I expected and wanted when I slapped my three loonies on the counter of my LCS? No….but I enjoyed it. And I may share it with my 5-year-old son, or one of his female friends. Do I want Batgirl as a series to be more about the humor than about catching bad guys and watching a new hero grow up? No, because suspension of disbelief is important to me. I read sci-fi and fantasy and comic books because I want to see other worlds and experience them. Humor is clever, but it never gives a sense of wonder because everything in a joke necessarily has to contribute to the setup of the punchline. There’s not a lot of room for wonder and escapism when you’ve got to get the joke right.
Conclusion: A funny issue of Batgirl. I had a laugh, but missed my sense of escapist wonder. Pick it up. Share it with your kids.
Grade: C+
-DS Arsenault
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