New DCU... same old trope! YAY! :)

[icon_uk]

DC is releasing it's previews for the March Batfamily titles a little early

Seven issues must almost be a record! :)



NIGHTWING #7
Written by KYLE HIGGINS
Art by EDDY BARROWS and PAULO SIQUEIRA
Cover by EDDY BARROWS
On sale MARCH 21
Nightwing vs. Saiko! The truth about Haly’s Circus! A tribute show for the Flying Graysons! They’re all in this amazing issue! Of course, there’s no way they could be related…right? Plus: As the answers regarding Haly’s Circus are revealed, what do they mean for Dick Grayson’s future in Gotham City? And more important, his future as Nightwing? Be here to find out!



And in terms of a more... safe cover

Somehow this lacks the.... gracefulness I would hope for in such a group shot



BATWING #7
Written by JUDD WINICK
Art by BEN OLIVER
Cover by JASON FABOK
On sale MARCH 7
Batwing comes to Gotham City! Batwing and Batman race back to the city hoping to stop the killer Massacre from assassinating the last two members of Africa’s lost super-team, The Kingdom! Meanwhile, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin are already on the ground leading the search. Plus: The dark past of the Kingdom is revealed!
 

Comments

[maxisanacorn]

I just think Babs being shoehorned back into the Batgirl role is entirely unnecessary and people generally are only reading for nostalgia sake...dredging up all grown up viewers from the 60's TV show and younger people who watched BTAS,

I'm sure while it will do well for a while the numbers at Diamond showed it slipped from #13 in comics to #18. Already loosing readers (most the reboot probably has that from month to month, not really that big) but really Gail is going to have to let go with the constant TKJ references/crutch and actually start writing real engaging stories/more unrelated stories and show us how this new-old Batgirl is worth having around. Then when it gets more general, I think readers will leave, because this Batgirl is not even the sunny Babs Batgirl most Babs as Batgirl fans want.

For me right now its not a great read. I'm not caring about her when I should be. I keep thinking "Babs you're acting so fucking stupid, you're a six+ year veteran in the hero field even if you're only 22 now, regardless of age you're smarter and more seasoned than this- go back to rehab you are hurting people, you shouldn't be jumping off of buildings GOD". But yeah, Gail needs to drop TKJ crutch, it's getting annoying. And this book confirms to me that Babs might have some serious psychology issues; adrenaline junkie, her motives are very shades of grey and while part of that is cool (Gail writes messed up characters rather well); it is totally shallow compared to Stephanie Brown using the mantle to prove to the Bat Fam (at last) that she has the competency to be in the inner Bat-circle after 15+ years of getting told off/being dead. It also isn't as engaging as Cass whose obligation under the cowl WAS a death wish - her commitment to the Bat and to justice, saving people and to stop death outweighed her desire to live. Babs new opus seems to be just to prove to herself something she should honestly not care about anymore and her actions so far have proven to either be the most selfish thing ever, or the most noble if its really for the greater good (similar to Cassandra)

But the TKJ flashbacks really NEED to go.

Hey, Miller for Stephanie Brown Batgirl did an EXCELLENT use of flashback without bludgeoning the reader to death about it the character's past. Stephanie was tortured to near death by Black Mask. We weren't constantly reminded of it.

Miller had after she was shot in the head (more grazed by a bullet) she has a vision of him torturing her from her perspective. One panel amongst a montage. Nowhere else really in the book is Black Mask really ever mentioned again, but its flashbacks like that give character's weight and underlying depth without really killing the reader in reminding them of it. Seeing that becomes a nugget of gold, like "wow she still thinks about that". And WOW there's no narration needed.

It's like Bruce and Martha's pearls. How many times do we need to hear about how his parents are died, all we really need is an artful portrayal of pearls falling or something transposed to a picture of young Bruce being sad or shellshocked.

Honestly if you took out most of the TKJ references in this new Batgirl book that were explicit ( I mean they REPLICATE panels here its awful) and instead "suggest" them via art; a panel of broken glass, coffee cup and coffee on the floor, her glasses, the glass shards loosely making a smile shape : ANYTHING other than rehashing it, you'd have a better book. Its becoming like Mirror sticking the hose down that guy's throat and we're that guy.

Also looks like no more Hughes covers on Batgirl too, which honestly kills that appeal too.

So yeah, I liked Stephanie Brown as Batgirl only because it felt like a good natural progression, so yes I'm still bitter, but separately as a writer I am first and foremost more aggravated by the wonky writing from Gail. Her writing is usually so much better than this and I can't help to think that while part of her heart is in it, she's writing a character she's always wanted to write etc etc; another part of her heart it is not in it and it shows.

They should have just made it a team-book really. So far in the Bat books Batgirl was the only one who didn't really follow the changes in story. Hopefully Leviathan Rises or even issue 4 may patch that. Probably not.

[eyz]

I miss Steph... a lot more than an actual missing family relative...