A review by elthechameleon
Batgirl, Volume 1: Batgirl of Burnside by Brenden Fletcher, Irene Koh, Babs Tarr, Cameron Stewart

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

The fashion and aesthetic of this comic is very wonderful, but there are two major faults with this book:

1. The portrayal of the bisexual character as promiscuous

(by mentioning she hooked up with the guy Babs liked)

was really upsetting and felt very antithetical to the idea of reimagining Batgirl. 

2. I’m very ambivalent about the final villain.

Reading this book in 2023 with the AI boom is very strange. This book is weirdly prescient, and I’m not sure how I feel about the portrayal of AI in this book as anthropomorphic and part of Batgirl’s brain uploaded into a program. The fact that AI is used as a good, helpful partner in the end concerns me somewhat about what the book is trying to force or insinuate. It felt similar to the movie, Heart of Stone, that came out on Netflix that felt so deeply, pro-AI, that it misdirected the true dangers (misinformation, polarized, individual silos of news and media,  devaluing of creative labor and copying it without pay…). Aren’t marvel comics always political though? I forget this. Perhaps I should have known better. I also don’t quite understand how Babs stopped being disabled? Or perhaps she just needed a longer recovery?

Oh - and forgot. I hated the Copaganda.