2.08.12 Reviews (Bonus Edition)

Batgirl #6 (DC): Not on my usual pull list, but I picked it up for a coworker and thought I’d give it a spin! Ardian Syaf’s art is pretty dynamic. I like how the women are rendered and it seems like the style has settled down from the first issue I sampled and lost some of the more cheesecakey elements. Gail Simone’s script has quite a few touching moments from what is now very convoluted New 52 continuity, but I liked the emotional connection that builds between Bruce and Barbara. No idea who Alysia is and I started to zone out when the text got dense in the second half, but for the most part I enjoyed the interest that Babs takes in Lisly Bonner, aka: Gretel, because believing in her redemption means believing in her own due to their similarities. Grade B+.

Batman & Robin #6 (DC): Same caveat as above, not on my usual list, but ended up in my stash temporarily. Peter Tomasi has always struck me as a “solid” writer, but has never really blown me away, and that assessment holds true here. Patrick Gleason has the same type of awkwardness I associate with “DC House Art,” whatever that means. Mick Gray is a good inker. There’s one really good early line: “the dangerous ones set subversive goal and achieve them bit by bit…” After that it’s a pretty generic struggle over control of Damian, featuring generic tech banter and a generic villain in the form of the Ducards. I found the characterization of Damian to be particularly weak, and the writing exposes a fundamental misunderstanding of what Interpol is/does that seems to be so common in comics and movies. Overall, this feels like a paltry copy of the much better Batman by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo. Buy that book instead! Grade B.