Review: Batgirl #43
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Cecil Castellucci
Artist: Cian Tormey
Colorist: Chris Sotomayor
Letterer: AndWorld Design
Reviewed by: Sean Blumenshine
Summary
After the disastrous dust-up with Oracle, Batgirl needs to regroup. But when a power villain’s imagination takes the city by storm, she must go once more unto the breach of super-heroism. THE MAKER has come to Gotham to claim a prize from his past and Batgirl must stop him before she loses herself in the grip of his twisted tales come to life!
Positives
The cover by Carmine DiGiandomenico and Steve Buccellato is cool. It’s simple but it works. And it looks great.
Cian Tormey’s interior art is quite good. Gotham and the fantasy world are both well portrayed. It’s a fun style that has to blend the two worlds.
This issue definitely gets points for originality. The story is bizarre but I kind of like it. It’s a nice change of pace after Year of the Villain. I appreciate that Cecil Castellucci is willing to get a little weird and put this character in new and different situations.
I love that Babs gets so into the book series that she pretty much ignores everything else. It will obviously come in handy for future issue but it’s also a nice human thing for her to do. I like seeing her just enjoying a bunch of silly fantasy books; it’s endearing.
Negatives
The issue is a little abrupt. I like the weirdness but Castellucci does not ease readers into it. I had to adjust my perspective a lot reading. And some of that is fun. But it also takes me out. There were several places where I didn’t really know what was going on. And that made the issue a little dry for me. You have to be somewhat ready for it or it is going to lose you entirely.
Verdict
This is an interesting issue. I definitely like the creativity involved. This is not like any Batgirl story I’ve ever read and that is a good thing. This book needed some shaking up. But it takes a second to adjust to what is happening in the book because it is rather bonkers. But the approach takes guts and who doesn’t want to see Batgirl fight a dragon?
