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Batgirl, Volume 1: Batgirl of Burnside by Brenden Fletcher, Irene Koh, Babs Tarr, Cameron Stewart
bgprincipessa's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up when they announced that a Batgirl movie was being made. It's fun, I enjoyed the strong female characters and the bit of diversity. I like the idea of a superhero who is also a newly-minted adult - Squirrel Girl is in college, Ms. Marvel is still in high school, most others are actual full-blown adults - so that was a nice change, but overall it just didn't grab me like some others have.
cat_thecatlady's review against another edition
4.0
while reading this, I couldn't avoid finding something odd about it. I'm still not sure what it was but it kind of all became clear in the end. does that make sense? the art was absolutely on point in every single panel, mindblowingly perfect. Babs Tarr is my idol
full review here: https://catshelf.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/graphic-novelmanga-review-34-batgirl-vol-1-the-batgirl-of-burnside-by-cameron-stewart-babs-tarr-and-brenden-fletcher/
full review here: https://catshelf.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/graphic-novelmanga-review-34-batgirl-vol-1-the-batgirl-of-burnside-by-cameron-stewart-babs-tarr-and-brenden-fletcher/
luna_rondo's review against another edition
4.0
More like 3.5 Stars. I love the art, but felt like the story was kind of all over the place.
sleepygirlreads_'s review against another edition
2.0
Originally posted on Brit's Book Nook
Thank you NetGalley and DC Comics for the review copy.
The title of this comic is a little confusing. It says Vol 1, which I understand because it’s a new author and it’s a new chapter in Barbara Gordon’s life; but it’s technically Vol 6 of Batgirl The New 52. This comic holds issues #35-40. I have not read any of the other Batgirl’s, old or new, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Luckily it was easy to catch on to. The only things that would be beneficially to know from reading the previous comics is who knows that Barbara Gordon is Batgirl, and you would know who Dinah is.
That being said, the beginning of this book was kind of boring because we didn’t really get to know Barbara. We just get thrown into her world. It’s a little confusing at first but it’s easy to get your bearing.
From reading other people’s reviews, Batgirl is supposed to be for children. I think the illustrators and writers forgot about that because the were some images that were a little racy, not good for the eyes of a child. Also, all of the women had the same figure, which was disappointing. I thought they would put in some variation but I think they thought that since Batgirl’s suit is no longer skin tight that it would be okay. It’s not okay; not all women have long legs and stick thin figures! However, I did like that some of the characters were of different race. Aside from all of these flaws the illustrations are top notch.
Now I’m going to try to keep my rant on the villains short. They seemed to be the only element that were child-like. They were very flamboyant and over the top. They were all super colourful and super sparkle-y. Their technics were different but they all acted the same. Except for the last one, it was like reading the same issue over and over again.
Basically, the only things that saved this book was the artwork, Batgirl’s sass, and Dinah’s awesomeness. I wouldn’t recommend this; but if you are interested in reading, I would suggest reading the previous Batgirl comics by Gail Simone first.
Thank you NetGalley and DC Comics for the review copy.
The title of this comic is a little confusing. It says Vol 1, which I understand because it’s a new author and it’s a new chapter in Barbara Gordon’s life; but it’s technically Vol 6 of Batgirl The New 52. This comic holds issues #35-40. I have not read any of the other Batgirl’s, old or new, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Luckily it was easy to catch on to. The only things that would be beneficially to know from reading the previous comics is who knows that Barbara Gordon is Batgirl, and you would know who Dinah is.
That being said, the beginning of this book was kind of boring because we didn’t really get to know Barbara. We just get thrown into her world. It’s a little confusing at first but it’s easy to get your bearing.
From reading other people’s reviews, Batgirl is supposed to be for children. I think the illustrators and writers forgot about that because the were some images that were a little racy, not good for the eyes of a child. Also, all of the women had the same figure, which was disappointing. I thought they would put in some variation but I think they thought that since Batgirl’s suit is no longer skin tight that it would be okay. It’s not okay; not all women have long legs and stick thin figures! However, I did like that some of the characters were of different race. Aside from all of these flaws the illustrations are top notch.
Now I’m going to try to keep my rant on the villains short. They seemed to be the only element that were child-like. They were very flamboyant and over the top. They were all super colourful and super sparkle-y. Their technics were different but they all acted the same. Except for the last one, it was like reading the same issue over and over again.
Basically, the only things that saved this book was the artwork, Batgirl’s sass, and Dinah’s awesomeness. I wouldn’t recommend this; but if you are interested in reading, I would suggest reading the previous Batgirl comics by Gail Simone first.
sailorgold_'s review against another edition
4.0
I love the artstyle! After the new 52, it feels so great to have so much color and movement on the page! I also love the fact that some of my fave characters are still here, and that we have some new ones that look really promising. I also think this Barbara Gordon is easier to identify with than the ones I’ve encountered in other issues, so this is very nice!
alice_digest's review against another edition
1.0
I expected to like this but wow, I really hated it. What have they done to Barbara! Why is Batgirl now an annoying hipster? And the villains in this are laughable, they're so cartoony its almost childish and yet there is a weird imbalance with the more adult content about drinking, hangovers, sex and dating apps.
I do not like the new bat suit, the doc martens and leather jacket combination is so try-hard hipster it upsets me. All the integration of social media - it's everywhere - into the art and the story grated on me too. I'm clearly too old for this, I felt like to was trying hard to be cool and I hated it. The idea of Batgirl being on Instagram is just wrong to me.
The villains are ridiculous and really shouldn't have been as a much of a challenge to Barbara. I don't know who my *favorite* was.. the cos-players from an obscure anime show or the crazy cross-dressing artist guy. There was also a little homage to the Bling Ring burglaries. They all added up to reveal the 'real' villain which felt like a story so overdone it was almost a face palm.
Barbara is pretty winy and selfish. I feel like shes has a total personality transplant. Black Canary is in this but has the unreasonable, bitchy adult character always nagging at Barbara for various reasons. She is justifiably upset that Barbara's usage of her storage lock up without asking lead to all her stuff being lost in a fire. She always has a grumpy face in the art and her function is mostly to stop the cool college kids from having fun. This bugged me too. Oh then she just randomly joins a rock band.
Also not a fan of the art style, that's my personal preference.
REALLY not for me, I was almost offended by it!
Such a shame because I really enjoyed the Gail Simone [b:Batgirl, Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection|13228436|Batgirl, Vol. 1 The Darkest Reflection|Gail Simone|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361895856s/13228436.jpg|18420381] and now that's dead in favour of Histper Batgirl.
Just glad I read it and work and didn't buy it myself!
I do not like the new bat suit, the doc martens and leather jacket combination is so try-hard hipster it upsets me. All the integration of social media - it's everywhere - into the art and the story grated on me too. I'm clearly too old for this, I felt like to was trying hard to be cool and I hated it. The idea of Batgirl being on Instagram is just wrong to me.
The villains are ridiculous and really shouldn't have been as a much of a challenge to Barbara. I don't know who my *favorite* was.. the cos-players from an obscure anime show or the crazy cross-dressing artist guy. There was also a little homage to the Bling Ring burglaries. They all added up to reveal the 'real' villain which felt like a story so overdone it was almost a face palm.
Barbara is pretty winy and selfish. I feel like shes has a total personality transplant. Black Canary is in this but has the unreasonable, bitchy adult character always nagging at Barbara for various reasons. She is justifiably upset that Barbara's usage of her storage lock up without asking lead to all her stuff being lost in a fire. She always has a grumpy face in the art and her function is mostly to stop the cool college kids from having fun. This bugged me too. Oh then she just randomly joins a rock band.
Also not a fan of the art style, that's my personal preference.
REALLY not for me, I was almost offended by it!
Such a shame because I really enjoyed the Gail Simone [b:Batgirl, Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection|13228436|Batgirl, Vol. 1 The Darkest Reflection|Gail Simone|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361895856s/13228436.jpg|18420381] and now that's dead in favour of Histper Batgirl.
Just glad I read it and work and didn't buy it myself!
asiyah_h's review against another edition
I love this book so much! I read Gail Simones version of batgirl and I have to be honest I never finished it because it was to dark for me. But this book gets a fresh start on batgirl who is the same and very different in many ways. I love how Barbara's past is still very much a part of her, a part of her that she acknowledges. There was time in her life were things were confusing and depressing but she wants to move on, and I love it. She still makes mistakes, and she still has some learning to do, but she's back and ready to roll.
The art is amazing my only complaint is that Batgirl looks a little to young in my opinion. This book isn't for everyone older fans of Batgirl might not appreciate the new more modern take on Batgirl and her adventures, but it was perfect for me.
The art is amazing my only complaint is that Batgirl looks a little to young in my opinion. This book isn't for everyone older fans of Batgirl might not appreciate the new more modern take on Batgirl and her adventures, but it was perfect for me.
pastaylor's review against another edition
4.0
My first foray into contemporary comic books. A little aggressively current (i.e. everyone is on their phones and writing codes and it is a little like Girls meets Batman), but enjoyable.
sapphisms's review against another edition
2.0
Completely erased all of the hardwork DC put into Barbara Gordon to make her a realistic and fully-fleshed character. The Killing Joke (and all of its sexual assault and paralysis contents) are constantly referenced throughout the entire volume- without any form of respect to the fact tht Barbara was assaulted. She very briefly ends up in a wheelchair but is, by some miracle, able to walk again because of an experimental surgery. Ableism is abound, despite the fact that they have a black disabled character (who seems to only exist to be a springboard for Barbara's ideas and act as the computer-oriented character). Barbara seems to have forgotten all of her computer smarts and is diluted into an offensive millennial stereotype- . Qadir and Nadimah, who were both thrown in there for Muslim and Arab representation, are hollow characters that only exist for the purpose of boosting Barbara (almost offensively, Qadir exists solely to provide tech support). Barbara and Dinah's relationship was so toxic that it's a wonder how they were ever friends.
Two stars for art and the fact that Barbara's Batgirl suit was appropriate.
Spoiler
that she becomes 'obsessed with fame' and hooks up with every guy she comes in contact with are only two examplesTwo stars for art and the fact that Barbara's Batgirl suit was appropriate.
jagussow's review against another edition
4.0
Batgirl's treatment in Killing Joke got you down? This is the book for you. Aside from a slight retcon into that dark chapter, this book is breezy and fun.