Batgirl #13

[superfangirl1]

One page Joker tie in to A 'Death Of The Family' Prologue. The rest of the issue deals with the aftermath of the Nightfall group.

Comments

[simiansyndicate]

I believe I'm not the only one with this sentiment:

Ugh.

[needagasmask]

Ditto.

[needagasmask]

Not only did they pull this shit, but they also decide to have Not-Spoiler revealed to be Not-Stephanie. Seriously, the costume is almost identical to Steph's and who's behind it? A very young blonde girl with a villain for a father.

Nice way to rub salt in that wound, Simone.

[darkknightjrk]

I wouldn't say identical, since there's the grey top, gold mask and some sort of cross symbol, but yeah, in the panel where she first takes the mask off, it did throw me off for half a second.

[cythraul]

I never got a Steph vibe off her. (Never read anything where she was spoiler; I only know her from Miller's Batgirl run, but I know what the Spoiler costume looked like.) Does any of her behaviour resemble the Steph we know? Heck, wasn't our first look at Knightfall as the leader of three super-powered thugs? What about that scene would suggest Steph?

... For that matter, was Knightfall's identity supposed to be a surprise? From the first time we met her, I just assumed she was [NAME], whom we met before we met Knightfall.

And, as people are saying elsewhere on the internets, her costume (and her Villain Name) are really, really reminiscent of Azrael, moreso than Spoiler.

[aeka]

I honestly don't get why anyone would think Knightfall would turn out to be Stephanie Brown. Did people seriously miss the part about Knightfall being a homicidal vigilante who amputates people just to prove a point? Did we all read the same story, here? Nothing about this character spelled 'Stepanie Brown' to me.

Also, Brett Booth designed Knightfall's costume, not Gail Simone. You can't really fault her for something she didn't design.

[q99]

Keep in mind editorial has recently announced a ban on Steph. So if something was intended to be Steph, it had to be changed.

[darkknightjrk]

I can totally get why some folk would be annoyed by this, but when I saw it, I thought, "...Yeah, makes sense that if Joker was to go after Barbara/Batgirl(?), that would be where he would go." What really annoyed me was that since we've seen some variant of this a few times in this book already (including the issue last month), it loses some of it's impact.

[icon_uk]

Agreed. From an internal plot logic point of view I can see that this would make sense, it IS the moment to use this image and it should have been horrifying. But the overuse of the image in the past has diluted the gut punch that this should have been.

Then again, the Joker repeating himself EVER seems clumsy. If you tell a joke twice the punchline is lost.

[katya]

[mrstatham]

I think you're going to be seeing an awful lot of people on the left.

[icon_uk]

Hmmm... not sure I like "haters" being refered to quite so... dismissively.

Not liking something can be a perfectly legitimate and valid POV to hold, so people aren't necessarily hating for the sake of hating (which is, I believe sort of what the term "haters" usually refers to) but they might hate it because they genuinely think it's a bad story, or a story badly told (Which isn't necessarily the same thing)

[angelophile]

I always have been a bit of a Lefty.

[mrstatham]

When you'd likely HEAR said people at the door coming through with a fucking axe, you tell your mother to fucking RUN, Barbara.

As it is, I'm somehow tickled to see that Joker is apparently an equal opportunities employer when it comes to his henchmen.

[espanolbot]

Huge dudes who are willing to injure or kill people for fun and profit are hude dudes who are willing to injure or kill people for fun and profit, I guess.

[thosefew]

Is it an axe? In the last panel the closest thing to an axe is the sledgehammer the guy on the right is carrying.

[darkknightjrk]

One thing that's mentioned in this that I thought was interesting--it seems like this issue is going to be the one that starts Babs' wanting to be an expert in computers.

[icon_uk]

So it's official she never served as Oracle in any sort of capacity in the past then? (Sorry, I'm out of the loop on what's what with her timeline)

[katya]

I caught that as well. It was kind of badass for being, essentially, a character saying that they're going to spend a lot of time on the computer.

[runespoor]

...

That's a defining point of my relationship with the DCnU. I don't know what it defines. But it's a defining point alright.

It's not just making Babs Batgirl again. It's... yeah, saying the only way she could be a hero was when she could use her legs. I understand their wanting Babs to be Batgirl again. (I mean, I still broke up with their canon when they did, but I understand they can want that.) But why erase Oracle?

[eyz]

It's Killing Joke all over again!
Times 3!

[kingofmadcows]

What's up with Eileen's neck? Why was she standing right next to the front door when she suspects that there are bad people outside? Why would she call Barbara instead of dialing 911? And why doesn't Eileen know who to trust?

[icon_uk]

Why was she standing right next to the front door when she suspects that there are bad people outside?

Because that's where the phone (Which isn't a cordless) is?

Why would she call Barbara instead of dialing 911?

Because she knows Gotham cops, other than Jim, may be corrupt?

And why doesn't Eileen know who to trust?

Because she's a stranger in Gotham, she barely knows anyone.

[mullon]

Beating a dead horse? In a Batman comic? What a fucking a surprise.

[mortimerwclankitybritches]

anyone else betting that Jason Todd's tie in will have a crowbar theme?

[maxisanacorn]

I'm so sorry Katya you've been so disappointed in finding a positive atmosphere to discuss your new comics with, especially if you enjoy the current Batgirl book. Especially with that dog avatar it makes me feel really guilty as I have in the past been a vocal detractor to the current run - though I have my reasons...I as a writer feel Gail Simone is doing extremely poor and lazy writing on the book and sits as a weird read. I always have such a hard time sitting and reading it FOR ME due to the writing: I won't understand what's going on, etc etc. It's just a bit too grim for my tastes for a Batgirl book that isn't Cass.

I am an admitted Steph fan, but I'm also a Babs fan and how some Steph fans are acting right now is literally out of control. You can miss a character but throwing vitrol at Gail Simone (really it should be Brett Booth and the colorist) for EGADS making a character with a purple cloak and blonde hair. Also....it was pretty clear Clarise was Knightfall to begin with, and the name Knightfall, her costume all harken back to Bane breaking Batman's back arc, she's probably of the same order (if not it's all a big homage!). So why people are suddenly so up in arms about her resembling Stephanie AT ALL is just....weird....like....so what. She would have been scarier with a red cape and hood a la Jean Paul Valley but I sincerely apologize for how Steph fans have been acting. We're not all that fervid.

[ablackraptor]

The important thing to remember is the Vocal Minority. There's always going to be some who make the others look bad. Replacing their favourite character always brings the bitter side of people out with issues like this, and some tend to get a little too much.
Steph herself had to deal with a certain amount of hate from Cass fans when she took the title herself, as she did when she was Robin, and how Wally did when he took over for Barry and how Cass did get some heat early on from Barb fans who didn't take well to her (including accusations of her being a Mary Sue, for largely the same reasons some consider X-23 a Mary Sue (an accusation which made me stop following an artist on DeviantArt, though that was more because she also called her a, well, country without the 'o', 'r', and 'y') and any other small, pint-sized powerhouse), not to mention the early reactions to Jaime and Miles (I admit I'm partially guilty with the latter, though mines more to do with the fact I felt Miles being related to a criminal was a little iffy, and the way he came about comes off as tokenism, as his own character I do like him).