COMIC BINGE: Batgirl, Vol. 4: Wanted & Damian: Son of Batman
REVIEW: Batgirl has not been one of my favorite titles in the New 52, but I continue to read it because I cannot deny a Batman title a second, third, fourth, or fifth chance. Maybe sixth chance. The premiere volume of Batgirl just did not do it for me. It was geared towards a younger crowd it felt like, and Batgirl just wasn’t the kind of character I would get into. Batwoman has been successfully rocking the hell out of their title, at least the ones that I’ve read by the original showrunners J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman. They nail every single element of a comic in that book, and make the female Batman of Batwoman feel like even more of a badass than Bruce Wayne himself. But the fourth volume here in Batgirl is what finally set this title off for me, and I’m glad to see that it has gotten darker, serious, and a little more intense.
The third volume of this title benefitted from the Death of the Family arc that covered quite a few of the Batman titles. All of those books were just phenomenal for all of the many reasons you would think like The Joker’s return, Scott Snyder’s source writing, and the effect it has on each individual world. So to follow up such a dark and intense story, surely they had to make the one that they made here. Batgirl is being hunted by her father James Gordon, as both deal with the death of their own family in their own separate ways. Batgirl is struggling with being a hero, and what it means to her and her life. The inner turmoil that Gail Simone creates with her writing is on par with some of the great introspective writing we’ve seen that in the aforementioned Batwoman. I was really happy to see Batgirl combatting with these really heavy aftermath themes from the Death of the Family arc. Also, Ventriloquist is a really great villain that is haunting this book, and despite being the villain is totally balanced with all of the other story going on in the Gordons’ Gotham.
STORY : ( 9 / 10 )
ARTWORK : ( 8 / 10 )
COVERS : ( 9 / 10 )
AWESOME : ( 9 / 10 )
FINAL RATING : ( 9 / 10 )
REVIEW: To start, I’m not that big of a fan of Andy Kubert’s Batman books, and they never seem to be anything that great at all. Half of the time they are just altered compilations of already Batman stories anyways, which in itself is just stupid. But anyways, this one deals with the events of Batman’s death, leading to Damian Wayne taking over the mantle of the Bat. In reading the plot, you would be led to believe that this book may actually be worth reading. And it was that book, but only at first. What starts as a pretty promising story with Batman’s death, becomes something else entirely.
So when you wonder what happens if Damian becomes Batman, you don’t actually think it could be too bad. But then, Batman comes back! Yes, the whole reason that the story was unique and different was because there is no “Batman” Batman, and then they bring it back. This alone just caused me to stagger about an issue into the book, and just really question why I had any hope for this book in the first place. So I keep reading, hoping that it turns around and becomes that book you hope it will be. Denied. This book goes nowhere, but in the absolute opposite direction of where it should, and not surprisingly it yet again uses material from other books in hopes of making their own easier to swallow. It’s an awful tactic, and I really just did not like this book. The story just didn’t amount to anything and only got weirder and weirder. The art was okay, but nothing to pop your eyeballs out at. Andy Kubert’s books are either just not for me, or not for anyone, and the word on this one has me leaning towards the latter. Read your Batman elsewhere.
STORY : ( 4 / 10 )
ARTWORK : ( 6 / 10 )
COVERS : ( 6 / 10 )
AWESOME : ( 2 / 10 )
FINAL RATING : ( 4 / 10 )