DC Pride Book Club Week 4: Batgirl (2011-) #19-24, 45 🌈

[Jay_Kay]

From what I recall, they’re still working on a Batgirl movie – in fact, the screenwriter of the BOP movie is working on Batgirl as well. But yeah, I would imagine that a lot of her look will depend on how they decide to portray Pattinson in The Batman.

Anyway, the questions!

“What were your favorite scenes?”

In terms of feel-good moments, the stuff with Alysia is definitely much needed for this very dark story, especially her helping Babs with her date and the shopping trip (before the Mohawk McDouchebags showed up).

In terms of drama, I think the best is probably the confrontation between Babs and James Jr. in the beginning. It’s a huge moment for Barbara as a character, one that I think still has weight even knowing that James lives on after this moment. Similarly, everything leading up to and the moment of the scene in the warehouse, with Barbara, Ricky, the gangbangers and Jim all colliding together in a messy, painful mess. With Barbara, the key relationship with her character, more so than with Dick or even Bruce, is with her father, and seeing these two unknowingly(?) hurting each other and hurting the ones they love is so tragic. It was a little hard to skip past the conclusion to that story to read the wedding issue, to be honest!

“Did it take some time for you to warm up to the story or were you hooked instantly?”

I mean, when you have this bright, optimistic hero being forced to “kill” her own brother to save her mother, how can you NOT get hooked on that?

“What made Alysia’s and Barbara’s relationship special to you?”

Barbara Gordon is a character who has a lot of expectations put on her. Both her father and Bruce see her as someone who can and will be their better and expect the best from her. But with Alysia, Barbara can let her guard down (as much as any superhero with a working secret identity can, at any rate) and just be Barbara, flaws and all.

“Were there any themes you were able to pick up that resonated with you?”

A few come to mind. With the Gordons, it’s that sometimes you can’t help but hurt those you love. With Barbara and Alysia, it’s that no matter how dark things can get, there is always light, even if it’s but a small flicker. With Ventriloquist, it’s that the obsession of fame and outside validation can leave you empty and broken inside.

[nu52]

“What were your favorite scenes?”

My favorite scenes for light heartedness were the ones where Dick showed up and he and Barbara went on a rooftop chase together. I really enjoyed that.

I also loved the scene where Barbara faced off with James, Jr. It was really tense. All of the Gordon’s were there. The repercussions from that encounter were felt for the entire next arc and beyond.

“Did it take some time for you to warm up to the story or were you hooked instantly?”

I was hooked pretty instantly when reading this story the first time. I was binging through it. On the reread, it did take me more time to get into it. I don’t know why, exactly. By the time I got to #24, I did want to keep reading and was hooked again. Reading #45 was far easier for me to get invested in. I supposed I enjoy the Burnside era more than Gail’s run.

“What made Alysia’s and Barbara’s relationship special to you?”

For me, what made Alysia and Barbara’s relationship special is how they remained friends even after they moved apart. When comics introduce new characters, they give them a lot of lip service about being “best friends” and then when a new writer comes in, that relationship fades away. I thought that would happen with Alysia, but the team on Burnside actually continued to weave in Alysia and kept her bond with Barbara going. I like how Babs can feel safe with Alysia and Alysia can trust Babs.

“Were there any themes you were able to pick up that resonated with you?”

A theme that stuck with me was the one of having better communication can spare you a lot of grief. Had the Gordon’s spoken to each other more, James, Jr. wouldn’t have been able to pit them against each other. Jim Gordon is placed in danger because Knightfall misunderstands his intentions. Ricky gets shot because he decides to run instead of communicate with the police. Barbara gets mad at Dick because he seemingly wasted her time, but he was just trying to reach out to a friend. Alysia is in danger dating James, Jr. because Babs doesn’t come clean about that part of her life at first. Just one small misunderstanding can lead to an entire series of events that could have easily been prevented.

P.S. I kept thinking to myself, why does the wedding band have a diamond on it? It’s not an engagement ring. Then, in the panel when Alysia and Jo get married, the diamond is gone, LOL. That wedding was adorable.

[nu52]

I really enjoyed how full of drama and stakes this scene was. Though sometimes, I felt the faces in the Batgirl book were “off,” this was one of the cases that I thought it was done really well. I just love the lighting. The red and blues are gorgeous.

[nu52]

I like how the two that are ready to go after Batgirl have their back turned and are mostly in red, while the one that will end up helping her out is in mostly blue.

Plus, who doesn’t love a good staring out into the ocean scene?

[Mae]

Those are some excellent panels, I agree. Like you said, the art could be a bit off in this run, especially with the faces. Babs often didn’t look like herself (must be all the stress, poor thing!), but in general I thought it looked really good. The pastels of the Burnside run are so beautiful though!

[Jay_Kay]

Yeah, the art in the Gail era has its ups and downs. Honestly, I think my favorite artist of this time was Ed Benes.

[Mae]

So what’s everyone’s favorite Batgirl costume? I know this is outside the scope of this topic, but still? I think some of the black and gold covers during the New 52 run are simply breathtaking, I love that pale gold color so much. It’s feminine but also cool-looking.

[nu52]

I really like this one

[nu52]

I’m not sure if I like the Burnside costume or if I just like the art. I wasn’t much of a fan when they were drawing it in Rebirth.

[nu52]

I still have a soft spot for the Year One costume

[nu52]

Her current Rebirth costume is drawn beautifully, especially by Clay Mann

[nu52]

I mean just look at how this is drawn

[Mae]

Yeah that’s the one I love too, the black and pale gold. It’s so cool, and I hope it can translate to the big screen!

[Jay_Kay]

Definitely like the New 52 and modern looks, but when I think of Barbara as Batgirl, first thing that comes to mind is her look in the animated series.

[nu52]

Whenever I think of Babs from the animated universe, I think of the Commissioner.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/dcanimated/images/e/ee/Commbgordon.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080207182527

[nu52]

We’ve reached the end of June! Discussion for this week’s selection will be wrapping up, but that won’t be the only thing coming to an end (for now). It’s been a lot of fun hosting DC Pride Book Club for the past four weeks. Thanks to everyone that joined in during Pride month to celebrate LGBT+ characters. I loved reading all of your insightful thoughts on the selections and enjoyed just getting to know a lot more of you that I hadn’t really interacted with much before. Happy WorldPride everyone!

[Mae]

Thank you for this, @nu52!

[Mae]

I love this little tidbit in @HubCityQuestion’s new DCU column: https://www.dcuniverse.com/news/love-war-queer-romance-dc-comics-bombshells/

“Though Simone’s run ended 3 years into the New 52, she’s spoken in the past about her unrealized plans for Alysia to, however briefly, experience her own turn as Batgirl. In ‘Bombshells,’ Alysia finally gets that chance, alongside a whole team of Batgirls inspired to action by Kate Kane. At the end of the war, we see Alysia embarking on a new romantic journey with fellow Batgirl, Nell Little — another Gail Simone creation.”

I would love to know more about Gail’s plans for Alysia and her plans for Batgirl in general. And now I’m even more convinced Alysia should be part of any future Batgirl movie!

[Jay_Kay]

Cool, though I’m petty sure Nell was technically created by Bryan Q Miller during his Stephanie Brown as Batgirl book.

[Jay_Kay]

But yeah, thanks @nu52 for hosting this book club! I had a lot of fun reading these books and discussing them with you guys.