Batgirl #23 Review

With a brief side-step in last months’ one-shot issue, we find ourselves back on track for the penultimate installment of The Lesson.

Batgirl #23

So, I was out of the loop for a couple weeks and missed the great Batgirl/Squire team-up (and I do-so wish I had picked up Batman Inc. 9 but you know, bills to pay, mouths to feed, etc.) Regardless of my falling in and out of love with comics these past few months, I am glad I’ve stuck with Batgirl and I will continue to do so, even after the reboot. I love Stephanie just that much. Tee hee.

Onto the story. As it turns out, Detective Gage has an insider’s view on the Reapers, since he was once recruited. Always pays to have someone in the know but maybe this was a little too convenient, you know? His back story and motive were genuine (if not slightly cliche) and I appreciated that aspect of the unfolding of this saga.

There must always be casualties and I was sad to see the Grey Ghost meet an untimely demise but he played his role and he played it well. The aspect of his connection to Stephanie and her resulting guilt was, to me, a great bit of character development. But then again, Miller has yet to disappoint me in that aspect of Batgirl.

A riot at Blackgate is the setting for the big finale scene, wherein we find out that the super-suit dudes are there to kill this Client of theirs, who “funded” them but then the check bounced. I do see their concern here. Outnumbered, Steph must call for reinforcements and they come in the form of her good buddies, Stargirl, Supergirl, Miss Martian and Bombshell. I immediately thought that this would be a good way to follow their re-boot ideas of diversifying and bringing in female readers. I already thought this title was doing a good job but perhaps a future team-up here would do the trick.

The final page of this issue shocked me a bit because I didn’t see it coming and even had to Google the Batgirl Wikipedia for some, um, family history, if you will, but I am pumped for the final issue of this run. I hope that come relaunch time, Batgirl continues to amuse and amaze me. Though I have to say, I may be a bit skeptical. Miller has done such a wonderful job keeping character continuity and building relationships the past twenty three issues that I find it hard to believe anyone can fill those shoes.

We shall see…

Tags: Batgirl Batman Comics Bryan Q. Miller Dustin Nguyen Stephanie Brown