Sunday, September 20, 2015

Batgirl Annual #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

All you really need to know about this issue is that Babs recognizes Dick in his Spyral disguise after getting a glimpse of his ass.  (In the end she decides that it wasn't him, since she thinks that he's dead, but she really should've trusted her instincts on that one.)

But, if you need more convincing, I'd say that it's also exactly the type of story that you want to see in an annual.  It's a very well plotted and scripted thriller where Babs tracks down a spy organization trying to get its hand on a doomsday device.  In the process, Babs runs into a number of members of the Bat-family, encountering not only Dick but also Spoiler, Batwoman, and the Gotham Academy kids.  Plus, Fletcher and Stewart pepper it with enough humor to keep it light.  (I loved Helena referring to Babs as the "Queen of Hipsterville.)  The artists -- a separate one for each chapter, making the transitions less jarring than they usually are in multiple-artist issues -- also inject the issue with a sense of fun.  (I'd love to see Bengal work on the main title.)

But, really, it's all about the ass, because it's that sort of tongue-in-cheek (yet still reverent) approach to these characters that makes Fletcher and Stewart's run so great.  (I just got the "cheek" pun after re-reading this post, and I'm keeping it in there in honor of the tone of this issue.)

*** (three of five stars)

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