Batgirl

That’s it for Superman Box 2!  There are two Superman stories in my I have yet to read for this project, but they’re too good to store away in the attic.  I’ll get to them later.

Box summary

Time spent reading: 18 hours 55 minutes

Issues read: 187

Issues cut: 29

Highlights (Good or better): Action Comics 761, 766, 775, 844-846, 851, 858-863, Action Comics Annual 11, Superman: Up in the Sky 1-6, Superman Smashes the Klan 1-3, Superman: Red Son 1-3, All-Star Superman 1-12

Project Summary:

Time spent reading: 36 days, 10 hours, 16 minutes

Issues read: 7592

Issues cut: 889

Batgirl 1-7

I’d been meaning to buy this after I found out that Lee Garbett did a Batgirl run earlier in my career.  Imagine my surprise today when I found out that I already owned the first trade.  How could I have forgotten?

Turns out it’s because Lee Garbett is a lot better today than he was ten years ago.  Not a knock on him, I’m thrilled that he’s now one of my favorite artists, but his work on Batgirl lacks both the unique style and stunning beauty of his more recent work.

Also, Bryan Q Miller’s writing is completely unmemorable.  All the points are by the book: struggling to fill the shoes left by her predecessors, love/hate relationship with her mentor, juggling school and vigilantism, facing fears surfaced by Scarecrow, relationship with a cop on the force, tons of speechifying... There’s so much to yawn over, with no real twists or quality writing to make it stand out.   

Well, there are a few moments:

Well written Damian can be funny.

Love this Phil Noto cover.

I may not love the title, but I love Stephanie's costume.

The purple highlights are so choice.

Not enough to keep it around, I have plenty of prettier Garbett art to look at.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck (Cutting)

Batgirl 1-3

With the New 52 (Still don’t know what that’s all about), Barbara Gordon can walk again, and is back as Batgirl.  No idea what happened to Stephanie Brown.  Like the previous series, Babs is wondering if she can do the job and struggling to keep up with the physical and emotional demands of being Batgirl.  Gail Simone’s writing isn’t that much better than Miller’s, hence my quitting after three issues, but Ardian Syaf’s art keeps it in the collection.

I love this costume too, with the armor bits.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice