Batgirl #33 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

[Sigh.]  This arc is supposed to be Simone's farewell to the series, wrapping up Barbara's war with Knightfall.  I'd be all for that, if it made sense.

First, part of the problem with this issue is that Simone displays some really sloppy writing by relying too often on clichéd plot devices.  Barbara fully embraces the "heroes fight the first time that they meet" trope by whaling on Huntress, until Canary convinces her to stop, since the Huntress doesn't return fire (so to speak).  Then, Simone employs the "confidante says that she knows the hero's identity only to reveal that she's mistaken" trope by having Alysia tell Barbara that she "knows" that she's...an undercover cop.  (Whew.)  Simone at least injects a little originality in her tropes by having it be the woman in bed with two hot men when she scripts the "underling disturbing the boss in a moment of hedonism" trope.  I could continue, but I think that you get the picture.

But, beyond just some lazy scripting, I'm still not sure where we're going, a problem considering that we only have one issue left in the arc.  I've read all #36 issues of this series (including the two annuals and the #0 issue), and I still have no idea what Knightfall wants.  We learn that she's ordered all criminals to leave Cherry Hill, and that she's assembled an army to accomplish this task.  But, it doesn't really make any sense.  Why just have them leave Cherry Hill?  Won't they just, like, cross the street into another neighborhood?  Does it really take an army to achieve that?  How does that achieve her larger goal?  Also, shouldn't Barbara be helping her to do that?  Is Barbara now pro-criminal?

I think that I'm canceling this series.  I know that we've got this splashy new creative team coming on board to give this series a lighter tone, but I just think that the damage has been done.  This series used to consistently be one of my favorites, but it's drifted into such nonsensical territory that it's hard just to get through the issues now.  It's clear that Simone's war with her editors weighed down the story that she wanted to tell, and I'm glad that Barbara is getting another chance.  But, I'll just have to read about that in "Batman Eternal."

* (one of five stars)