I’ve been meaning to jump into a few more DC books, and also catch up with what Mairghread Scott’s been doing lately, so Batgirl was a pretty convenient way to do both. See below for a review of the Batgirl Annual #2.
I’m a huge fan of the Consulting a Convicted Killer trope: Hannibal Lecter of course, but Daryll Lee Callum in Copycat, Buffy grilling Spike, and in countless police procedurals and superhero movies, where the good guys talk to the bad guys (either behind bars or inside one of those cool glass cages) and ask for advice. I never get tired of it, because most of the time the bad guys will play along out of boredom, taking little digs at the good guy when they think they can get away with it.
The same is true here, though there’s an extra wrinkle in this story: Barbara isn’t visiting the psychopath for advice. She originally dropped by to make sure he’s where supposed to be, because bodies are cropping up and the psychopath is her brother and if he’s escaped it’s going to get very bad very quickly.
I’ve missed reading Mairghread Scott’s writing ever since the end of Till All Are One over at IDW, so it was cool to catch up with her again. The style of this story is darker than Transformers (I was going to say “obviously” but honestly, Transformers can get pretty dark) without as much humor, which makes sense given the plot.
My one complaint is that lines like “I won’t let you dim my light” and “you can’t see stars without the darkness” felt a little flat to me, I think Barbara sounds better when she’s just speaking like a regular person. This issue was pretty heavy on lines like that, but most of them are in internal monologues of the “this is hard but I’ll keep fighting because it’s what I do” variety, and internal monologues are always a little on the dramatic side. (Especially when the Bat Family does them, boy howdy.)
But I liked the direction of the plot, the mini mystery of it and what it means for the future. It works as a stand alone story, and it gives a few hints about what’s to come.
I also liked Detective Khatri, and I hope we see more of her. She recognizes that some crimes have, as she puts it “Bat-level weirdness,” so she’s fine with Batgirl dropping by as long as she doesn’t contaminate the damn crime scene. I like that kind of no-nonsense pragmatism.
Elena Casagrande’s inks with Jordie Bellaire’s colors looked great, with lots of dynamic action shots and excellent shading. Khatri’s face when she introduces herself, and the closeup of Barbara’s eyes when she looks at the crime scene, were very nicely done. I’ve never quite gotten behind Batgirl’s costume with the bright yellow combat boots, but they made it work. I’ve enjoyed Casagrande’s art since her work with the Tenth Doctor over at Titan Comics, my only quibble is that the well-defined nostrils are sometimes a little distracting, I’d be okay with them being toned down, especially when we’re looking right up someone’s nose. (However as a casual artist I’m terrified of drawing nostrils and can’t get them right to save my life, so I’m probably projecting here.)