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mysteriousmre 's review for:
Batgirl, Vol. 4: Wanted
by Gail Simone
5 out of 10
Very split on this volume. I know this a superhero story, but I wish we could have spent more time focusing on how the previous volume affects Barabara's relationships to the people around her instead of the next villain of the week. As usual, the best part of the book is Barbara herself and her inner monologue as she deals with the aftermath of killing her brother James and how its strained her relationship with her father, Commissioner Gordon. When the story is exploring Barbara and her relationships with people inside and outside the cowl, the story rocks. I just wish it spent more time doing THAT and that we didn't have moments like Barbara removing the bat symbol from her costume (I get the symbolism, but the way it's done in the book was a bit over the top for me). It was interesting seeing the Gordon family handle grief in different ways, and Barbara's turmoil over keeping her grief to herself was absolutely heartbreaking. Interestingly, Batman shows up for a brief cameo, but we never see how James' death impacts the Batgirl/Batman dynamic like we do Barabara/Jim Gordon. True, Batman is not her father, but he played a significant role in her development as a hero and not seeing him reach out or confront Barbara seems like a missed opportunity.
Simone seems to have a real knack for creating creepy concepts for villains, but they've never really landed as characters. The new Ventriloquist story didn't really do it for me, and the returning Knightfall didn't impress me the second time around either. TLDR: the good stuff is still good, there's just less of it in this volume.
Very split on this volume. I know this a superhero story, but I wish we could have spent more time focusing on how the previous volume affects Barabara's relationships to the people around her instead of the next villain of the week. As usual, the best part of the book is Barbara herself and her inner monologue as she deals with the aftermath of killing her brother James and how its strained her relationship with her father, Commissioner Gordon. When the story is exploring Barbara and her relationships with people inside and outside the cowl, the story rocks. I just wish it spent more time doing THAT and that we didn't have moments like Barbara removing the bat symbol from her costume (I get the symbolism, but the way it's done in the book was a bit over the top for me). It was interesting seeing the Gordon family handle grief in different ways, and Barbara's turmoil over keeping her grief to herself was absolutely heartbreaking. Interestingly, Batman shows up for a brief cameo, but we never see how James' death impacts the Batgirl/Batman dynamic like we do Barabara/Jim Gordon. True, Batman is not her father, but he played a significant role in her development as a hero and not seeing him reach out or confront Barbara seems like a missed opportunity.
Simone seems to have a real knack for creating creepy concepts for villains, but they've never really landed as characters. The new Ventriloquist story didn't really do it for me, and the returning Knightfall didn't impress me the second time around either. TLDR: the good stuff is still good, there's just less of it in this volume.