BATGIRL #15

Review by: TheNextChampion

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

407
Pulls
Avg Rating: 4.2
 
Users who pulled this comic:
Users who reviewed this comic:
Written by BRYAN Q. MILLER
Art by DUSTIN NGUYEN & DEREK FRIDOLFS
Cover by DUSTIN NGUYEN

Size: 32 pages
Price: 2.99

If I think of it long enough; I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a Batgirl series before. It’s not that the idea of a Batgirl can’t bring out good stories. It’s just that I cannot think of a time where I personally enjoyed a comic no matter who is under the cowl. I attempted to read this new series in trade form a couple of months ago and I didn’t enjoy it. There was nothing really wrong with it; it was just ‘there’. (I refrain from using ‘it’s a comic book’ since that seems to be a big no-no on this site) Now though, things have changed. This series has an incredible artist to jump aboard on a new arc for new readers to get involved. Can I finally enjoy a Batgirl book?

On an art standpoint, almost certainly yes. It’s been a while since I have seen Dustin Nguyen in a Bat-book. It doesn’t matter if this is Batgirl, Batman, Red Robin, etc; as long as it’s a Bat-book then Nguyen can make it look beautiful. First you have the opening pages which really made me stay interested with the rest of the issue. Nguyen’s ‘Little Bat’ drawings are always funny (and cute) so it was nice to see that in action on the opening pages. For the rest of the issue, you get some amazing pages with Stephanie fighting some goons. Nguyen always seems to know how to draw the landscape of Gotham so well. So where ever Stephanie is in the suit; it looks so great to see the cape flow in the chaos. The sequences with Stephanie outside the costume….well it could look a little better. She definitely looks almost alien in some of those panels. But for the most part, you stay for the fight scenes with Nguyen and he definitely delivers.

This is my second attempt at reading Batgirl and it definitely has hit a chord with the readers on this site. Maybe it’s just me but…..I’m sorry I just don’t see myself caring about Stephanie. Nothing about this really screams ‘This is a great comic book’ in terms of writing. It’s not horrible mind you, and in fact don’t let the score of 2 bother you guys. It’s Average at best (which makes it higher then a 2, but the rating system topic is for another day) and at the end I cannot even tell you what happened in this issue. Stephanie just seems to be the typical teenager here and while I can see why that’s a positive; for me I can’t see what makes her different from other ‘stock’ characters. You could have any type of teenage girl in here is what I’m saying. At least that’s how I think of it when I read Bryan Q. Miller’s script.

I really loved the art in this from the moment I saw the cover. You know what you’re going to get out of a Dustin Nguyen comic and he ultimately delivered. But the overall story in here is just….well it’s just boring. I find myself not caring about the characters involved and it all feels so generic when it comes to Stephanie outside the costume. I can definitely see why people are going ga-ga for this series; but for me I just find myself thinking this is just an ‘Average’ book at best in terms of writing. I’ll definitely give the trade a shot though; if only to see more of Nguyen’s art.

Story: 2 - Average
Art: 5 - Excellent

Comments

  1. Nguyen has been on Streets Of Gotham ever since his run on Tec ended.  Where you been? 

    If you want some Nguyen on Batman action, there are like three trades of Streets Of Gotham out already, and two of them are pretty good.

  2. If it helps any, this might’ve been the weakest issue of the series.

  3. This was sub-standard DNguyen work no doubt sorry to say, still one of my fave artists, but never seen him this sloppy.  If you ever read Manifest Eternity, that’s DNguyen at his best.

Leave a Comment