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sherpawhale's review
3.0
I've already gone on the record as feeling that Death of the Family was kind of meh. Nothing new to say. I wish Gail Simone didn't get unceremoniously dumped, then rehired. Seemed like her contribution could have added to something more than it was.
himiko's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
harvskhails's review
5.0
An emotional, poignant, brilliant volume! One of the best, if not THE best, set of Batgirl comics of the New 52. I loved that it was overall a collection of Batgirl comics that concerned Barbara's two families and the psychotic killers that could break both families. In this regard, I feel like even though the "Death of the Family" title concerns the Batfamily, for Barbara it also had a lot to do with the breakdown of the Gordon family. In my opinion, this volume really showed what Barbara is capable of when she's driven to the edge by those that have broken her in the past (Joker) and those who aimed to break her and her family (Joker and James Jr.) I'm curious to see how the consequences of these two stories plays out.
I really liked Admira Wijaya's art in the first issue of this collection, every panel and page was more like a painting than I comic book but the art being handed over to Daniel Sampere for the most part felt more like a return to actually reading a comic book, especially because the art was still very similar to Adrian Syaf and Ed Benes' collaboration in previous volumes which suits this iteration of Barbara. Greg Capullo did a great job of keeping the artistic style consistent as well for the Death of the Family issues.
I do understand now why people were unhappy with Gail Simone temporarily being replaced by Ray Fawkes as Batgirl writer. Don't get me wrong, Fawkes still wrote brilliantly but Simone has a very significant voice in her writing that you can't replicate, something that Scott Snyder had in his Death of the Family issue. I felt like when Simone returned to writing the comic, the voice of Batgirl she had created for the New 52 was back.
I really do miss this Batgirl costume though, it's my absolute favourite of them all. I'll be sad to see it go after volume 5.
I really liked Admira Wijaya's art in the first issue of this collection, every panel and page was more like a painting than I comic book but the art being handed over to Daniel Sampere for the most part felt more like a return to actually reading a comic book, especially because the art was still very similar to Adrian Syaf and Ed Benes' collaboration in previous volumes which suits this iteration of Barbara. Greg Capullo did a great job of keeping the artistic style consistent as well for the Death of the Family issues.
I do understand now why people were unhappy with Gail Simone temporarily being replaced by Ray Fawkes as Batgirl writer. Don't get me wrong, Fawkes still wrote brilliantly but Simone has a very significant voice in her writing that you can't replicate, something that Scott Snyder had in his Death of the Family issue. I felt like when Simone returned to writing the comic, the voice of Batgirl she had created for the New 52 was back.
I really do miss this Batgirl costume though, it's my absolute favourite of them all. I'll be sad to see it go after volume 5.
pun_intended's review
4.0
Very creepy and violent. High suspense and action. Sheesh, this one was wild.
thingslucyreads's review against another edition
3.0
I'm beginning to think Batgirl is not a series for me. It's so dark, all the time, and relentlessly painful. I never expected sunshine and roses, but I also didn't expect this. And it's good, don't get me wrong, but I'm not finding it very enjoyable.
(PSA: this is the volume where Barbara's roommate comes out on the page as a trans woman.)
(PSA: this is the volume where Barbara's roommate comes out on the page as a trans woman.)
anthroxagorus's review
5.0
At this point, I'm going to have to talk with the spoilers on. If you're this far in, and you can see my 5 stars, then you can see that this series is still body-slamming amazing.
I heard a lot about Death of the Family. Seeing it happen, good god, it was INCREDIBLE. It was a perfect use of some literacy device I don't know the name of. Surprise? The unveiling of Batman at the table. That was perfect. So few comics got me asking "Batman, how the hell are you going to get out of this?" but he did. Good lord, he did.
And can we talk about her roommate, Alysia? That secret that she had been meaning to say, because I am SO EXCITED FOR SOME GODDAMN REPRESENTATION. As to how it came about was a little weird. Was Alysia saying "I'll be okay, because I'm trans* and not a weak little girl" (And they said transgender, but I think they meant transsexual or something else.) I want to say, ugh who cares, there's finally SOME representation.
Now the whole thing with Danny/her brother has been one of my favorite things about this series. I don't know if that's been a thing before but holy cow is it interesting and dark and awesome. It's like everything I wanted out of the Dexter show to have happened. (Well, idk, did it? I only got to season five).
I'll cut this babble short here to turn to the next volume. *deep breaths*
I heard a lot about Death of the Family. Seeing it happen, good god, it was INCREDIBLE. It was a perfect use of some literacy device I don't know the name of. Surprise? The unveiling of Batman at the table. That was perfect. So few comics got me asking "Batman, how the hell are you going to get out of this?" but he did. Good lord, he did.
And can we talk about her roommate, Alysia? That secret that she had been meaning to say, because I am SO EXCITED FOR SOME GODDAMN REPRESENTATION. As to how it came about was a little weird. Was Alysia saying "I'll be okay, because I'm trans* and not a weak little girl" (And they said transgender, but I think they meant transsexual or something else.) I want to say, ugh who cares, there's finally SOME representation.
Now the whole thing with Danny/her brother has been one of my favorite things about this series. I don't know if that's been a thing before but holy cow is it interesting and dark and awesome. It's like everything I wanted out of the Dexter show to have happened. (Well, idk, did it? I only got to season five).
I'll cut this babble short here to turn to the next volume. *deep breaths*
sailor_rain's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5