batwatch's Batgirl #0 - A Fire in the Heavens review

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    The Psychotic Perspective: Batgirl #0

    A Fire in the Heavens

    I greatly enjoyed the last issue of Batgirl, and I picked up this zero issue with high hopes. Since all the zero issues are focused on retelling characters origins, I was interested in seeing how the new series would address Batgirl’s past, a tough thing to do well when working with a five year limit on the extended Bat Family.

    In this issue, we see the Barbara Gordon of four years ago. She enters the Gotham City Police Department hoping to find information on the mysterious Batman, but she finds herself in a heap of trouble when the GCPD is attacked by a cultist group trying to break out their captured leader.

    Keeping True to the Classic DCU

    This issue gives a good origin tale, and I was especially impressed by the way Simone managed to tell a new story while minimizing conflict with Barbara’s previously established history. I’ve read “Batgirl: Year One,” and as best as I can recall, this zero issue does not directly contradict anything revealed in that arc. Rather than focusing on Barbara getting a Bat Suit, this issue focuses on Barbara realizing that she has the ability to defend herself and others. In the course of this one issue, Barbara changes from someone who looks up to heroes to someone who is a hero.

    The story does an excellent job of recapping Barbara’s life as Batgirl without becoming a history lesson, and Simone is clearly expanding on the relationship between Barbara and her younger sibling James Jr. It would appear that the Batgirl creative team is preparing to make James Jr. an even more important character in this series.

    Letdowns

    I did have some significant problems with this issue. For one thing, James Jr. appears to be the wrong age. Unless he is very small for his age, he is probably not older than fourteen in this issue, yet in the present, he appears to be in his early twenties.

    I also found a couple of questionable art choices in this issue. First, the cover looks bad. Batgirl’s pose seems unnatural, and her suit appears to be made of shiny latex. Latex is good for fetishists but not for super heroines. My other complaint is that there is one panel which takes up the whole top half of two pages early on in the story, and though it is well drawn, it is not a particularly compelling image. It simply shows Barbara in her college dorm looking at news articles about her Dad. When I first saw this panel, I stared at it for much longer than usual seeking for some sort of subtle significance in the image, but I found none. Why waste so much valuable real estate for a mundane scene?

    Conclusion

    In the end, Batgirl #0 is definitely a good read for any Batgirl fan, but I did not find it to be quite as compelling as the last issue.

    Other reviews for Batgirl #0 - A Fire in the Heavens

      Stephanie Gordon? 0

      The cover for this zero issue is one of those very generic and uninspired ones. I'd be content to just say 'eh,' but it actually bothers me more than that because of the awkward and excessive purple lighting coming from nowhere.Sigh. Ed Benes has an almost Liefeldian grasp of female anatomy. During the final segments of the issue summarizing Barbara's career as Batgirl between her beginning and being shot in the spine, she looks ESPECIALLY offensive. Wide as heck hips, super round boobs, way too...

      5 out of 6 found this review helpful.

      Batgirl #0 0

      THE GOOD: Ed Benes is on this issue and issues to come, and some may not like the style he has, but it works and continues the feeling the others artist have established on this book. His facial expressions convey a lot and the action is fluid, and interesting. The story is where the issue goes right. Barbra Gordon is not Batgirl yet, but she is curious and wants to know more. This leads her to trouble at the Police Station and the result is her donning a Bat costume. Gail Simone crafts this ver...

      4 out of 5 found this review helpful.

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