Comic Book Review: Batgirl: Year One #1
by R.J. Carter
Published: December 23, 2002
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Batgirl Year One #1 |
"Masquerade" |
Scott Beatty
Chuck Dixon
Marcos Martin
Alvaro Lopez |
DC |
$2.95 US, $4.95 CAN |
A+ |
For more information: DC Comics link |
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Special notice to DC Comics: If you want me to buy one of your books, put Barbara Gordon on the cover in her Batgirl outfit. She doesn't even have to be in the book (but you can bet I'll be plenty upset if she isn't). I'll grab up a copy of everything she's on.
What can I say? I've always had a soft spot for the fiery-haired Darknight Darling. So when I saw that there was going to be a multi-part exploration of her first year in the costume, you can count on me being there for the whole trip.
Set in the framework of Batgirl's masquerade ball battle against Killer Moth, the reader is shown the motivations of the young Barbara Gordon. She wants to be in law enforcement, like her dad, Captain Gordon. But Gordon won't let her be a cop, and the FBI won't let her be a field agent. She doesn't meet the minimum height requirement for either job.
To Dad, I'm all talk about digging for information.
I won't be some glorified "Answer Lady" for the cops.
I want to be in on the action.
Anything that will get me out of where I am. Where I don't want to be.
Tired of not being taken seriously, she formulates a daring plan to break into Justice Society Headquarters in downtown Gotham and leave a note for Black Canary. Utilizing her photographic memory, computer skills, and easy access to police headquarters, she astonishes herself by succeeding.
Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon are the perfect pair for tackling Batgirl's origin and freshman year, each of them having had longtime experience handling the Bat-mythos. The foreshadowing is a bit heavy handed at times. The above quote finds Barbara behind an array of computer terminals, sitting in a chair looking out a high window over the Gotham Public Library--not too much unlike her current position as Oracle. That, plus a large handful of statements about destiny, omens, portents and fate--things that one would require an Oracle to know about in advance--makes the longtime reader sometimes say, "Okay, we get your point! Knock it off already."
 The artwork is very nice. Martin and Lopez work well together, presenting action scenes that have a natural flow to them. And while I normally don't mention the colorist (nothing personal, folks, but I gotta draw the line somewhere), I'd be remiss if I didn't rave about the job done by Javier Rodriguez.
If you buy comics on a budget, you'll want to wait for the trade paperback to come out. If you prefer monthly installments, then by all means add this book to your subscription list.
Barbara Gordon fanatics like myself will buy both, of course.
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