It should not secret who the new Batgirl is. Cassandra Cain seems to have run her course. She’s gone from a tortured and conflicted ex-League of Assassin puppet to a some what stable member of the bat-family who was chosen to lead The Outsiders. Due to circumstances explained in the book, she gives up the bat-mantle and passes it on to Stephanie Brown (who died wearing the Spoiler costume after a short stint as Robin when Tim Drake left the Robin costume to hang out with his dad). Luckily, Stephanie Brown returned to the land of the living before the current Blackest Night story line running in DC Comics. Otherwise, this book would have a every different plot line. Instead, Stephanie’s got her own book and is kicking drug-dealer butt.
The crux of the opening storyline is two fold. On one hand, she promised Tim Drake (was the third Robin but now Red Robin) she would give up crime fighting. Drake (and Bruce Wayne) thought she wasn’t trained enough to continue the fight on her own. The second issue at hand is why does she enjoy crime fighting? Is it the sense of responsibly or the adrenaline rush?
Plus, Stephanie’s late-night antics bring her under the attention of…well if I told you, you wouldn’t have to read the book now would you? And this character I decline to name is who cemented the draw for me. Every “new” hero needs a mentor or someone watching his/her back. Stephanie’s guardian angel is the next best thing you can get to having Bruce Wayne giving you instructions in your cowl.
I like the feel of this book. It’s got all the fixes to satisfy my addiction: young hero on the path to excellence; a wise, mentor leading the way; a supporting cast that is well-rounded and from both the hero side and average Joe side; and a hero I like. I enjoyed Stephanie/Spoiler as a supporting character for Tim Drake’s Robin book and tried to follow her stories when she appeared in other bat-books and Young Justice. So, maybe I’m a bit biased but I’m glad Stephanie stepped into the Batgirl costume instead of finding a way to get Barbara Gordon back in tights. Let’s see how Stephanie handles the bat-mantle and where her path takes her.
Digital_Matrix_with_Nate
With so many Bat titles to choose from, I found this one to be “meh”. I do like the covers though.
The covers are striking. I almost hate to ask, but how did she get resurrected? A Superboy reality punch, maybe? >=D
It’s a long story but her death was faked. She wasn’t ever really dead.
I guess it comes down to, then, did she fake her death or did someone make it look like she died?
Ok, so this is hard to explain but if you care to you can read the wiki at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Brown_%28comics%29
There was a comment recently in one of Dan Dido’s ‘back of the book columns’ discussing The Spoiler and her death and return. Kind of seems like this was all part of the plan. Make her Robin so her ‘death’ has a greater emotional impact. Bring her back and have her become Batgirl.
I thought I had heard rumors of Barbara coming back out to take up the cowl? Tells you how good my info is.
I think that was just fodder to throw people off track. But…