Batgirl #34

So, where to start...Well, remember how I said in the review of last issue that Babs calls in a few favours to deal with Knightfall's plan to wipe the slate clean in Gotham City? I want you to take a moment and look back at the character list for who all is in this issue...Yeah. She pretty much called in every single available superheroine on Earth (Wonder Woman was probably busy with the whole Superman Doomed bullshit), a few neutrals (Bleez in particular surprised me), and even one heroine that hadn't appeared in DC Comics since the relaunch.

Now, if you know me, you know that I love comics that have LOTS of superheroes in them. So of course, Gail wins me over just by virtue of that alone. But then it goes the extra mile by being not just a good comic, but a GREAT one, and a GREAT sendoff for Gail's run on the book. Not only does Batgirl stand triumphant in the end, but she learns that her brother is alive, meaning she's NOT a murderer. With that in mind, Babs decides it's time to start her life anew, and invites Alysia, who had stuck with her since the beginning, along for the ride, thus closing the book on the past three years of Batgirl comics in a positive way and making way for the next phase of Babs' life to begin.

Ultimately, this is a book about endings and new beginnings. It closes out Gail Simone's run on the book and sets the stage for Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher's. And my God, did Gail go out with a bang with this one. Yeah, at times it feels a little self indulgent, with Gail's Birds of Prey taking on one last mission together and seeing a bunch of Gail's favourite characters showing up (I'm actually a little shocked Wonder Woman and Catman didn't appear, but whatever), but since the book is pretty much made of awesome from start to finish, I can't really criticize. Hell, I probably would've done the same in her place. After all, who knows when the next time she'll get to write these characters will be?

So yeah, I really don't have a thing to complain about with this issue. This is how you want runs on comics to end, with them going out in a blaze of glory that sees the hero standing triumphantly and the writer riding off into the sunset. I'm not gonna act like everything in Gail's run was perfection (I intentionally skipped over Batgirl: Wanted, and I still wish Alysia was Babs' significant other instead of Ricky), and I'm not like I'm gonna rewrite history and say that I'm 100% fine with Babs taking the role of Batgirl from Stephanie Brown in the reboot. But, this was still an awesome three years for Batgirl, and honestly, they would've made Barbara Gordon Batgirl anyway, so I'm glad it was Gail that wrote her for the reboot.

Now, does that mean I'm not gonna read Stewart and Fletcher's run on Batgirl? Hell no! Based on what I've seen of the premise, I think I'm actually gonna really like this book. However, much like how there will always be a part of me that will remember and look back on Bryan Q. Miller's run with fondness, so too will there be one that will do the same with Gail Simone's. And as my favourite superheroine once said...

...Oh, and I know that Gail is writing Batgirl: Future's End, but since I HATE Future's End with a passion, chances are I won't be buying it. lol