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Sep 09, 2009 Web Exclusive By Mark Redfern

Much of the anticipation in the buildup to Batgirl #1 centered on speculation about the identity of the new Batgirl. The first issue wastes no time in the reveal; Batgirl removes her mask on page 8 after a bust-up with some illegal street racers to show that she is Stephanie Brown. Those readers not familiar with Brown, this reviewer included, may express a collective “Who?” But apparently the characters of Brown and her former crime-fighting alter ego, The Spoiler, have both been around since 1992 and Brown also spent a brief time as Robin. Issue one explains that Brown is now a college freshman. As The Spoiler, she fought alongside the last Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), who has given up the title now that the original Batman is presumed dead. Cain has asked Brown to take over the Batgirl mantle.

Plot-wise, that’s pretty much it here, although in one nice touch, it seems that Barbara Gordon (the original Batgirl, who has been confined to a wheelchair for a while now) will play a part in this new Batgirl comic. It remains to be seen how writer Bryan Q. Miller will do anything unique and interesting with the student by day, crime-fighter by night premise. Penciler Lee Garbett does a pretty good job. In terms of Batgirl’s costume, it would be nice if her mouth were exposed as part of the regular costume, the way it is on Phil Noto’s great cover and later in the issue-for some reason it always bothered me that the previous Batgirl’s costume covered her whole face.

So Batgirl #1 gets things off to a decent start, but in terms of both story and art, Batwoman’s kicking a lot more ass over at Detective Comics right now. (www.dccomics.com)

Author rating: 6/10