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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 31, 2014 9:22:18 GMT -5
I didn't see a thread... apologies if I missed it.
What'd y'all think. I was really not excited about the new, hipster Batgirl (unlike many, I was actually enjoying the Gail Simone version, dark though it was).. and the reviews and discussion over at CBR almost made me not buy it.
I did, though, and it really was pretty decent. There was, in fact, in story reasons for the changes, which is good. They (for the 1st time in a long time) show Barbara as intelligent, which was nice. I didn't love the Sherlock-like 'meditate and see everything I've ever saw' thing, but I can live with it.
The concerns of her being a 'party girl' all of a sudden are not so bad.. though that's worth watching. Overall, it was a pretty decent issue and did a nice job of a soft reboot without being annoying.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2014 9:46:24 GMT -5
I quite liked it, enough that it got added to my pull when I had dropped the Simone version a while ago. I didn't necessarily dislike what Gail was doing, but rotating and sometimes multiple artists on a single issue, none of whom had strong visual storytelling skills sabotaged a lot of what she was doing and made it not worth spending the money on. I liked the story and art enough in the new direction to give it a chance for a while.
-M
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2014 9:46:43 GMT -5
This is what I posted in the new comics thread in Community Discussion. I read Batgirl #35 and Arkham Manor #1 today. Batgirl felt more like Marvel than DC. It's only one issue in, and the competition isn't that stiff, but it may end up being my favorite book since New 52. I look forward to DC's upcoming event ruining it. Didn't care for Arkham Manor at all. Never read Simone's run, as I don't like her writing. |
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Post by Dr. Poison on Oct 31, 2014 11:28:38 GMT -5
I was reading the book since it started back up in the New 52 but I decided to drop it with the new creative team as I don't care for the interior artist's work. The new costume is decent and the covers look nice though.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2014 11:42:57 GMT -5
I was reading the book since it started back up in the New 52 but I decided to drop it with the new creative team as I don't care for the interior artist's work. The new costume is decent and the covers look nice though. Same here, and I miss Gail Simone as well. That's why I started reading Red Sonja over at Dynamite Comics and she started writing of her as I speak now. I happen to agree with Dr. Poison's interior artist's work too and that alone made me drop Batgirl altogether! |
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Post by Action Ace on Oct 31, 2014 18:35:18 GMT -5
It was definitely not for me. I was lost with the social media references, I utterly despise urban hipsters and the art was a different kind of mediocre than what had come before. I did like the Batgirl parts and the more cheery tone though. If I could survive Simone's run, I think I can survive this one too.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2014 17:01:10 GMT -5
I read #36 today and I wasn't crazy about the villains' origin, but it makes sense for the book. One thing that does worry me is the possibility that the book could focus more on Barbara than Batgirl. That's fine for these early issues, given the creative team change and tonal shift, but Barbara's reaction to the other grad student and here roommate referring to him as "cute" have me concerned.
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Post by Pharozonk on Nov 13, 2014 21:15:59 GMT -5
Not really fond of the hipster feel of the book and it feels like its trying too hard to relate to "my generation".
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2014 1:47:20 GMT -5
I read #36 today and I wasn't crazy about the villains' origin, but it makes sense for the book. One thing that does worry me is the possibility that the book could focus more on Barbara than Batgirl. That's fine for these early issues, given the creative team change and tonal shift, but Barbara's reaction to the other grad student and here roommate referring to him as "cute" have me concerned. I find the focus on the person and not the costume a refreshing change for DC after 3 years of basically telling stories about costumes and powers and not people for the most part. I have always found the person in the costume more interesting to read about than the costume and power set. Good stories are about the consequences of the conflicts the characters face, costumes and powers don't lend themselves to consequences, and hence usually don't offer good stories for my tastes. The toll on the person in the costume that wearing the costume entails is where the grist for story is. Not really fond of the hipster feel of the book and it feels like its trying too hard to relate to "my generation". Instead of relating to 45 year old hardened fanboys with every book as Didio claimed before. I will take that change. I don't think this run will be a long one. It's got 6 issue i.e. 1 trade of material before the Convergence skip months. No one is quite sure what the shape of the DCU s going to be afterwards, whether there will be changes or not. All these new books and new directions however had releases timed to provide those 5-6 issue of material before the hiatus, so my guess at best is that they are a trial run to see how they do sales wise and whey will use the hiatus to evaluate where to go from there. I doubt most of the creative teams signed on for more than 1 arc initially though, so we'll see. Templesmith is not a guyy to commit long term to a corporate book, so I'd guess one arc of Gotham by Midnight form him, Cloonan has several creator-owned projects in the pipeline so I'd guess 1 arc from her on Academy, etc. If they sell well and they fit DC's post-Burbank move, maybe you will see these new directions continue, but we'll see. I'm in on Batgirl and Academy, undecided on Klarion and Catwoman, and out of Arkham Manor. Haven't seen Gotham by Midnight yet, so not sure there. However, I am treating them all as minis as far as my pull is concerned and am not counting on any of them being around come May when DC resumed it's "normal" publishing schedule after Convergence. -M |
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Post by Jesse on Nov 14, 2014 8:12:44 GMT -5
I'm enjoying the change in art and tone. I did find the way they were trying to appeal to millennials a bit heavy handed but issue #36 seemed to dial that back a bit.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 14, 2014 10:28:06 GMT -5
I suspect that the sales on this and Gotham Academy could well have alot of influence on the DCU after Convergence... both are very Manga-y (especially Gotham Academy... you set it in Tokyo and it could easily be in Shojo Beat )
If they do well, you'll see more of them, I'm sure. If they don't, Batgirl will probably look alot more like the Gail Simone version afterwards.
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