It’s been a while since I’ve visited the pages of Gail Simone’s Batgirl. Not that I didn’t enjoy the book, mind you, but it was only ever a solid mid-tier comic for me, and budget concerns necessitated that a few of the books living in the middle ground get bumped so that I could afford the comics I enjoyed the most. And, you know, food and stuff.

I’m pleased to say that my brief stopover was a pleasant experience overall. I’ve always found Simone a competent writer, especially when writing Barbara Gordon, and this issue is no exception. I always enter a crossover event like “Night of the Owls” with some trepidation, because experience has taught me that not all issues that bear the crossover banner are equal. Some tie in with the event seamlessly, leaving the reader feeling as though he or she has read something important, something that has weight and substance with regard to the whole event. Others, however, feel forced, as though the event was shoehorned into a book in which it didn’t belong, leaving the book feeling quite unsubstantial. Batgirl belongs to the former category; in just 20-ish pages, Simone crafts a brief backstory for Batgirl’s Talon, and makes her into a character with which readers can almost sympathize. Almost. At the same time, Simone continues to delve deeper into Babs’ character, highlighting her unique contributions to the Bat-family and to Gotham City–all within the context of some awe-inspiring action sequences.

Others have mentioned the inconsistency of the art, and while I agree to an extent, I still found much to enjoy about it. All told, I had a nice visit back to Batgirl; not quite enough to make me want to stay, but enough to inspire me to visit more often.