Review: This issue gets underway with Steph taking sometime away from being Batgirl to school a fellow college student in the fine art of ping pong. While Steph is enjoying herself, her bat-cell phone rings, and Proxy tells her that she was needed at the financial district where the police had surrounded a gun happy man suspected of killing his wife. Steph(as Batgirl)heads to the sight just in time to see the man toss a gas can at the riot police and then shoot it, setting the cops ablaze. The man flees the scene, and is pursued by Steph(and Oracle's)potential love interest, Detective Gage. Gage corners the man on a rooftop, and the man suddenly blasts Gage with mud, knocking him from the roof, where he is saved by Batgirl. Upon learning that she was dealing with Clayface, Steph heads up to the roof, only to discover that Clayface was gone, apparently slipping into the air vents of a local bank. Steph sneaks inside and hits the lockdown button behind the teller's desk, and begins to look for Clayface with some fancy Bat-glasses. Unfortunately Batgirl learns that Clayface was nowhere to be found. She does learn that the woman who was killed by Clayface was seen downstairs heading towards the vault, and as such, Steph heads downstairs to confront the woman. Naturally the woman is Clayface in disguise, and the two fight, with Clayface sending Batgirl through the basement roof before following her, this time disguised as Batgirl. Det. Gage arrives on the scene in time to see the two Batgirls fighting and is unsure as to what to do until one of the Batgirls tells him to shoot her since she'd bleed, where as Clayface wouldn't. After hearing that, Gage shoots the other Batgirl, drawing clay and turning Clayface back to himself. Gage unloads his gun at Clayface, which doesn't really do anything but anger Clayface. Finally Batgirl throws an ice-batarang at Clayface, freezing him in place and ending his threat. With Clayface immobile, the cops come by and take him away, and Gage reveals to Steph that Clayface was trying to get into the bank vault to get an old security deposit box which held a picture of Clayface(prior to his transformation)and his long dead wife. This issue ends with Gage thanking Batgirl for her help, but getting kind of melancholy when the subject of Clayface's dead wife is brought up.
What I Thought: It was a Batgirl comic, of course I enjoyed it! This was a really good little one off story, that gave us some insight into Det. Gage, who has become a regular in this series. What more can I say? It was what it was, a really good self-contained story. No complaints here whatsoever.
Score: 9 out of 10.
Sheesh, Clayface is one UGLY dude!
I'm doing some reading tonight, I'll be back to comment some more! :) As for Zatanna too! I promise. ^_^
ReplyDeleteI thought this issue was really good, and as you mentioned we gave it the same rating. Speaking of Batgirl, Dustin Nguyen of Streets of Gotahm is taking over art duties in October. I like Dustin but I really like the current art style more.
ReplyDeleteGreat, I'll be waiting to see what you thought Falisha! :-)
ReplyDeleteWell, I know a certain Ms. Falisha will be pleased by that news, since I seem to recall Dustin being one of her favs. As for me... I don't really know what to say! :P So long as the stories stay strong, and the art does take away from anything, no complaints here!
After months of seemingly non-stop multi-part story arcs, it's always nice to take a breather for a done-in-one story, no matter the series. You guys continue to make a great case for Batgirl, which I've still gotta get my hands on someday!
ReplyDeleteAww I won't keep you waiting long!!
ReplyDeleteAnd you are right X, he is one of my fav's but, sadly, I'm not too hype about him being the new artist for BG. His art is more gritty/grunge looking and I don't see that being BG as an artistic style. I like crisp solid colors like it is now, you can only do so much with watercolor. But I'll really try and set my feelings aside and keep on reading. Lol.
Because as far as Black Widow's art is concerned....it's really turning me away from the comic. But the story is damn good and keeping me interested.. Lol.
Yeah I'd have to agree with Falisha, Dustin's art is great but it's gritty and dark and Batgirl is more happy-go-lucky and bright, so unless their changing her tone it'd seem odd. But like you said, if the story stays great I'll read no matter what.
ReplyDeleteWe'll win you over yet, Marc. :-)
ReplyDeleteI guess that's a really good point. Artistically Batgirl should probably be like Robin was, bright and vibrant, not dark and gritty. You know me though, unless the art is horrendous(or great!)I probably won't even notice... It's pretty pathetic!
I haven't read the last two issues of BW yet Falisha(I'm still waiting for my cb store to get #3 in stock, since I have #4), but I'll def be keeping my eyes on the art now that you mentioned it.
Lol. I've finally made it!! Finally got a chance to read this last night and I loved this issue. I loved the fact that Batman's enemy Clayface slowly made his way into Batgirl's life. I hope to see more of Batman's enemies give Batgirl some trouble.
ReplyDeleteI'm also waiting for Steph and Detective Gage to hook up. Lol. I can see it brewing in my head!! maybe that's the romantic side of my brain trying to make them hook up. lol.
Totally agreed with Steph getting to take on more of Batman's villains. It be sweet to see Steph have to deal with heavy-weights like Joker, Two-Face and Hush sometime down the road.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can see that happening too. I don't think Babs is gonna hook up with Gage, which leaves the door wide open for Steph to get with him. With Tim having moved on, Steph deserves some romance in her life too!