Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Babs Tarr, barbara gordon, Batgirl #35, Brenden Fletcher, cameron stewart, Comics, dc comics, entertainment

Finally Ready To Talk About Batgirl #35 (UPDATE From Brenden Fletcher)

Christine Marie Vinciquarra

As most of you know, the Batgirl series has been taken over by a new creative team consisting of, Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher, and Babs Tarr. Their first issue, #35, was released last Wednesday, and it has taken me a little over a week to be able to form a fair opinion. I was fortunate enough to hear Stewart, Fletcher, and Tarr talk at the "DC Comics- Batman: Gotham Rising" panel last Friday at NYCC, which definitely aided in my acceptance of this "New Era" of Batgirl. However, I must voice my opinion on some things that I hope will not continue in future issues.

I'll start off with the positive, which mostly revolves around Babs Tarr's style of illustration. While I am a huge fan of the art in previous issues, I can appreciate the brighter more cartoon like style of Burnside. Tarr's illustration breathes new life into Batgirl's world and sets a more positive tone for the series. My real issue was with the plot. I felt that the quality of content was taken to a level that was meant to desperately attract a younger audience. Of course, I can understand why DC would want to do that, but only to a certain degree. It is possible to show a new side of Barbara Gordon without utilizing hash tags, and a storyline consisting of app hackers and online reputations being ruined. Under no circumstances should a hashtag "#" be used in a conversational format. If the goal is to reach a younger crowd, can we please do it in a different way? Yes, technology is a huge part of society today, but there was too much of it in this issue. I think stylistically this comic will be eye catching to new and old readers, but I worry that the storyline for Batgirl is going to flounder.

Now, I am a huge fan of Batgirl's character and I very much enjoyed Fletcher's other project Gotham Academy. Therefore, I will continue to read this "New Era" of Batgirl and cross my fingers that things will improve with the next issue. The creative team did talk about some of their future plans, which sounded a bit better than where they started things off. I think they are experimenting with some new styles and content, which is fine. I just hope they balance things out a bit more. I'm all for showing the normal, human side of superheroes, but I think it's important to stay true to the characters as well. Give us more badass Barbara, and less "hung-over throwing up into a garbage can Barbara."

Batgirl Issue #35 from DC Comics is written by Cameron Stewart, and Brenden Fletcher, with art by Babs Tarr.

Christine Marie Vinciquarra is a writer and bibliomaniac with a love for all things creative. Some of her favorite things include: Batgirl, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Saga, Game of Thrones (the books and the show), Johnny Depp, and all things Disney. She spends her weekends feeding her competitive side while she plays tabletop and/or video games with her husband and friends. She is currently working on a series of young adult fantasy novels. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @AWritersWay or on her blog writerchristinemarie.wordpress.com.

UPDATE: Brenden Fletcher adds comment…

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