There was a lot of hullabaloo when Batgirl made the switch to this trendy, much younger version. I couldn’t care less as I didn’t really follow the series like I did when it first launched with The New 52, but the cover of Batgirl #39 sold me on this series and was the sole reason I picked this one up today. Seriously, the thing demands that you pick it up and read with how cool it looks.
“For months, Batgirl’s been hounded by an unseen threat claiming to be the “real” Batgirl…and the truth of her enemy’s identity will shock her to her very core!”
Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher have done a wonderful job building on the tension and animosity that built up around the change in people’s beloved Batgirl. Having Burnside turn against her plays to the way fans reacted toward the comic and because of that, Batgirl #39 shines.
Within the book we see Batgirl dealing with an enemy that is shrouded in mystery, but one that has been pushing Barbara to her limits both physically and emotionally. Things come to a head when Hooq, a major online startup akin to Facebook, sets Burnside against its hero by placing a twenty-million dollar for the capture of Batgirl.
This has been done before in hundreds of books before, but the way it’s implemented from the view of a bunch of smart twenty-somethings dealing with their youthful problems is fun. Batgirl is the first book I’ve read that really connects with the modern world like no other. As I’m typing this review I’m surrounded by all sorts of technology. In fact, my smartphone has buzzed three times and my email alerted me twice since I began laying out this very review.
The writers on Batgirl manage to parallel this modern world that the youth live in, against the kind of world that Batman is a part of. Batgirl and Batman have essentially the same types of personal and internal conflicts (handling their day-to-day life, etc), but the problems themselves are representative of the age and generation of each character.
Babs Tarr is on art duties with this issue and I am loving every second of it. The art style not only perfectly captures the world around Batgirl, but also fits in with the kind of story the writers are telling. Panels flow exceptionally well and the detail given to characters and background, even when not in battle, is fantastic. Batgirl #39 is one of the prettiest looking books I’ve read in a while.
Batgirl #39 takes a lot of pages and devotes them to showing Barbara away from the suit and cowl and dealing with the kind of problems many highschool/college age people are going through. We get to see her deal with the pressures of school, of friends, and of ones own insecurity, all the while having this secret (now celebrity) identity to hide.
The whole story plays with the idea of questioning ones self. Sure, Batgirl has changed as a character that people knew and loved into this “new” version of herself on the pages of this new series. The story forces Barbra to ask if this new version of Batgirl is in fact the real one. Is Barbra the one in control, and is she the true Batgirl?
While the book and story may tie Batgirl too closely to her smartphone (I think it does, but constant smartphone usage is a pet peeve of mine), it does use it to connect her with the world around here. Let’s face it, if there was a young adult version of Batgirl in real life, chances are that she’s be on her phone all the time too.
Batgirl #39 does a good job of showing Batgirl in a vulnerable state. not from some super-powered bad guy or alien space witch, but from the weight of life that sits on her shoulders and she deals with the problems of being Batgirl on her own.
While Batgirl #39 might not be everyone’s cup of tea, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book also has a pretty awesome ending that will make you want to keep reading next month. I highly recommend picking this one up.
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