Reviews: Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Red Robin

She's smiling, because her book is awesome!

Batgirl #17
Written by Bryan Q. Miller; art by Pere Perez; DC

I'm so glad I picked this up. This was the most fun I've had reading a comic book in a while. I laughed out loud in several places, and my heart broke in at least one. The art is perfect. Perez draws one of my favourite Damians. Makes me wish he was the artist on Batman and Robin. This is the first issue of Batgirl I ever bought, but I think I'm adding it to my pull list.

Red Robin #19
Written by Fabian Nicieza; art by Marcus To and Ray McCarthy; DC

I don't know if I don't understand what's going on in this book because I don't care about it, or if I don't care about this book because I don't understand what's going on in it. This business with the ünternet and some mobster in Russia and what the hell any of this has to do with Tim Drake and his "hit list" and how Darkseid fits into all this? I'm not really following it. And for some reason Tim Drake, who up until very recently was my favourite character, just gets on my nerves now. I guess this means I should stop buying this book. Why can't I bring myself to do that?

Well, because (a) Marcus To's art is great, and (b) I keep hoping that the story is going to get back on track. But more and more I think that second reason is just wishful thinking, and I don't know how much longer that first reason can sustain my interest in this title. Although, man, there were a lot of awesome visual moments in this issue.

Marcus To's design for Tim Drake's alternate Red Robin costume in the ünternet is about a thousand times better than the ugly Alex Ross design he's stuck with in real life. I really wish they could just use that design all the time. I hate that bat cowl without the ears.

Birds of Prey #8
Written by Gail Simone; art by Guillem March; DC

What the hell is this?! The solicitation said Ardian Syaf was still drawing this. See, I was pissed off when I found out that the last issue of this arc would be by a different artist. But I thought, oh well, at least I get three issues with a good artist, so I might as well finish the arc. Had I known that Ardian Syaf was off the book this early, I might have been tempted to just give up on it right away.

Anyway. Gail Simone's script was all right, but the art in this issue is just awful. And now, awesome news, a new artist has been announced for BOP, starting with issue #12: Jesus Saiz! That's excellent news. It means there's a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. But there are three more issues between now and then. Three issues with art by random artists. (There's no point even looking at the solicitations, since they're not accurate.) And will Jesus Saiz actually stay on the book to complete even a single story arc? So far, no artist has.

It's just a shame. It's like this book has been sabotaged. Gail Simone says it was nobody's fault - just a string of bad luck. And she assures fans that Jesus Saiz signals the end of the revolving door artists. I hope it's true, but I'll believe it when I see it. (And the only reason I'm being cynical about this is because I believe Gail Simone and this book deserve a good, stable, reliable, consistent artist.)