Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Batgirl #19
DC Comics
Simone, Sampere, Glapion & Deering
This issue of Batgirl wraps up the storyline between Batgirl and her deranged brother with a very good read. The book isn't flawless but it does bring the story to a nice close, leaving some plot doors open and allowing the overall direction of the book to continue on its character driven track. This is definitely a good comic to pick up regardless of the transgender reveal within the pages.
Barbara reconciles with her roommate. It is during this scene that the transgender topic is brought up. The problem here is that the topic isn't discussed at all as it's just thrown out there and it comes immediately after Barbara dumps out her life story. It doesn't feel natural and seems to be odd that someone would listen to how they were shot by the Joker, put in a wheelchair, had a serial killer brother that was trying to date the roommate and that person's response is to tell Barbara she is a transgender. It feels like she is trying to one-up Barbara and that seems out of character. If anything the scene is disappointing enough because Barbara doesn't tell her she is Batgirl. I hope Simone explores the transgender much more than this throwaway line in an otherwise good comic.
The meat of the comic is the final showdown with Batgirl and her brother. It's fantastic to see how she manipulates him and he manipulates the situation. The fact that both parents are involved makes the scenes all the more memorable and left the book with an excellent dangling thread. These pages are Simone at her storytelling best.
The oddity with the ending is that two people are aware of Batgirl's identity which calls more attention to the fact that Barbara didn't reveal herself to the roommate. Also, the reason behind the brother's grudge with Barbara feels a little cheap. When you think about it really, does a psycho need a reason to kill people?
The artwork is very good. There is a tremendous amount of detail in the book which helps sell the emotions and drama. Front to back the comic looks great and it compliments Simone's script very nicely.
Batgirl has had some ups and downs. The fill in issues all but killed the character development of the lead character in hopes of building up her brother's but it just made for bad storytelling. With Simone back in the driver's seat she sticks the landing for this long running arc in a very good effort all around. This is worth picking up.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
