Batgirls hasn't had the easiest of times. It was shown off as being a book about Steph and Cass before the book came out, and that got people excited. Barbara Gordon was going to be involved, but in a more support based role. Then the first story arc came out and it the younger Batgirls were somewhat sidelined in order to make it into a Babs story. That, along with art that some readers didn't really like, seemed to hurt the series as it took its first steps. Over time the book actually shifted to being about the girls, and Barbara is hardly involved anymore, and the book is what it was saying it was going to be; but those early missteps have resulted in the series being cancelled as the book finally finds its feet. Doubly a shame, this is easily the best issue of Batgirls yet, and it sucks knowing that this arc will be the final one.
Our story begins with Cass and Steph enjoying a day out at the Aparo Park Jubilee, where they get to eat food, meet with friends, and dance the day away. Having been through a lot lately (Steph has both died and become a bat monster in recent issues) they deserve something of a day off. As usual, whenever something's happening in The Hill, Grace O'Halloran is there to report on it, and to terrorise the locals in her own fun, lovable way.
The girls are determined to try and track the shooter down, but Grace is having a rough time of it, trashing her apartment and staring at a bottle of alcohol. The issue makes a point earlier on that Grace has been struggling with drinking, and has been doing better, but her friend being in critical condition seems to be pushing her to a breaking point.
When the Batgirls head to a cemetery to break up gun sales that the local gang, The Hills Angels, are conducting, they come under attack once again as the sniper comes after them a second time. Whilst Steph runs interference Cass goes after the sniper, but finds only three bullets and a note saying 'One for each Batgirl' waiting for her.
This issue takes a step back from the weirdness of the last few issues, Man-Bat formula's and Lazarus Resin, to focus on a much more down to Earth issue; gun violence. This is always a tricky thing to tackle, especially in American media where any criticism of guns or the suggestion that the country has a gun problem can lead to huge arguments and drama; but it really seems to work well in this setting. The sudden shocking violence of a pleasant day out turning into hell when a shooter turns up is done subtly enough that the horror is clear, but it doesn't make it the focus. We get just enough of it before the girls have to head out go after the attacker.
The gun sale in the cemetery is also done well. There's the typical super hero stuff of Cass taking the gang out one by one from the shadows that's really fun and well done (I love that Steph is the distraction asking for them to make the right decision whilst Cass takes them down as it shows the two girls strengths), but its not the real focus here. The gang argue that they're doing a good thing, helping to arm people who are afraid, to give them a chance to defend themselves and feel safer. And indeed we see this in action, as their buyer is Grace, who seems more beaten down and afraid then we've ever seen her; and we saw her getting stabbed in the eye and fighting for her life before. This argument is countered by Steph saying that you don't need more untrained people with guns.
It's not all gun violence and gloom, however, as the book also gives the girls some fantastic moments to shine, and they clearly have fun here too. The images of them letting loose and tearing up the dance floor together are great, and just makes me appreciate their friendship and connection. They also compliment each other well when out on mission, with the fore mentioned approach to the gang fight, and have some fun banter over their comms whilst doing stuff.
One of the places in which this issue really shines is the art. This story look phenomenal, and Robbi Rodriguez and Rico Renzi work really well together here. The art is really crisp and clear, and Rodriguez makes every character feel full of energy and emotions. Every panel has something interesting going on, and you can see the emotions that characters are going through. Grace starts the book looking happy and confident, later we see her breaking down, barely holding it together, and by the end she seems small, frightened, and without hope. The art makes this so clear, and sells her emotional journey over the course of the issue in ways that previous artists on the book just haven't been able to capture. Renzi's colours work fantastically with Rodriguez's art, and the book brings in a lot of the colour schemes that the book has had since issue one, but still somehow makes it feel fresh and unique. There were a lot of panels in this issue that are my favourites of the series to date.
Batgirls might be coming to a close soon, but it seems like the book is prepared to go out on a high. This is already shaping up to be the best arc of the series; and maybe we could get lucky, and enough people start singing it's praises and the sale will go up enough to save the title, as I'd love to have more of these two characters together.
No comments:
Post a Comment