Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Rebirth Batgirl #1: A Review

By Zak Edwards
August 2, 2016 - 10:32

The New 52 didn't do a lot of favours for many of DC's characters, but Batgirl came out of it better, stronger, and more popular than ever. Gail Simone’s initial run worked through her trauma with Joker, creating the space in which Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher, and Babs Tarr could create a new Batgirl. She wasn’t all doom and gloom, essentially living in Brooklyn and being a hipster. It worked out great.

Rafael Albuquerque's art for Rebirth Batgirl #1 is energetic and interesting without exoticizing.

So when the entire "Batgirl of Burnside" team left the book, people were upset. And when new writer Hope Larson revealed she’d be taking Batgirl on an Asian backpacking trip, a lot of people raised their eyebrows. Certainly Batman has a long history of using East Asia for ninjas ninjas, mystics, journeys of “self-discovery,” and little else. Batgirl continuing such a tradition could set the book’s progress back at least five years.

This first issue may do little to alleviate these fears, but it certainly gives it a go and has fun doing it. Landing in Japan, Babs's experience of Japan the country mostly involves witnessing someone get sick off some octopus and ending up in an Irish pub. In between, she has a great time with an old friend, meets a super-old and super-cool former superhero with a not-super-codename (Fruit Bat. I know…). But perhaps the best panel to sum up the actual Japan experience in this book is Babs speaking Japanese to a line of mostly white tourists, waiting for a bathroom:



But even with this stumble, the book has a lot of energy and excitement, carrying on the style of the previous team while carving out something new. Thankfully, Rafael Albuquerque’s art is able to handle both the transition between the series, and within the book itself, with grace and style.

Albuquerque is unfortunately famous for last year’s Batgirl/Joker cover, but he’s the perfect artist here. His energetic and loose style gives the script some added “oomph,” while his ability to capture a space in minimalist detail gives every page an open and fresh feel. This minimalist detail actually helps ground Japan as a place as well, and not simply an exotic location.

Albuquerque can move that energy between scenes, providing a momentum that isn't present in the script. If anything, Larson’s script can bog down the art. Hopefully the team will figure out where to give each other the space they need.

Batgirl is an extremely important character to readers and fans. It's small part of the world carved out for those bored of the usual capes-and-tights adventures, and representations, it’s a book that comes with considerable pressure. And as the animated Killing Joke continues to fail Babs Gordon in the usual ways (and even some new ones), this book has become even more important. The Batgirl people love is here, albeit without her stellar supporting cast, and hopefully the team continues to give this wonderful character her due.

tl;dr review: The post-Burnside Batgirl has raised some eyebrows, but fans will be delighted by the new team, the new look, and the new direction.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12