Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Batgirl #2

By Hervé St-Louis
September 11, 2016 - 12:51

To protect a friend whom she is smitten with, Batgirl enrolls into a mix martial arts combat tournament for women to find a link to the trainee who threatened her new love interest. Enjoying the delights of Singapore by day and the harsh mix-martial arts training by night, how will Barbara Gordon ever find out what trouble her friend has gotten into? Will it be too late to not fall in love with him?

This comic book is cheesy. Batgirl falls in love or resists it the moment she meets an old buddy. How cute. I realize that male heroes often become smitten with the women that they rescue too so perhaps on some level, I’m still practicing a double standard. The tough female heroine cannot fall in love every issue while Batman collects all the women in his life. Point taken.

I found the part with the peeping tom being reported to the police by Batgirl incredulous. First, knowing Singapore authorities, they would have arrested Batgirl too! I’m sure that there is a law there about cosplay and heroics! The whole thing about her reporting a peeping tom spying on her civilian self is weirder. And it is these little things that make me want to not believe this comic.

In the first issue, as pointed out, the sudden arrival of a red-haired girl and Batgirl in Japan should have raised everyone’s doubts. In Singapore, it’s just stretching disbelief. The subplot with Kai, the new boyfriend discovering her identity on the spot last issue wasn’t even addressed in this one. Call me anal retentive, but it’s kind of a big detail to ignore! Of course, it will be addressed and become a plot point, before Kai gets killed at the conclusion of the storyline. You know the rule about random characters discovering super heroes’ identities… They usually die.

This comic, regardless of its plot holes, was still fun. Much of it is due to the dynamic work by Rafael Albuquerque. Where has this talent been before? He channels the same ethos of cartoonist Fiona Staples with a bit of Evan Shaner in the mix. He has excellent storytelling and his Batgirl looks like she’s floating as she jumps around most of the time. It’s like he captured a Polaroid mid-air. It’s sweet art.

Rating: 6.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12