Batgirl #46-47

[informationgeek]

Yeah I’m really conscious of that, we do have these overarching plots we have to serve, but Cameron and I are conscious of new readers coming in at any point, and making this series and the other two series I’m writing, Gotham Academy and Black Canary, not feel bogged down by the long histories of the characterizes, by all these decades worth of stories that came before. I never want to discount any of that or make it seem like those points of continuity never took place. But I just think each issue needs to feel like a fresh place for a new reader to start, that they can come in and get something out of it. - Brenden Fletcher

"I would argue that the people that enjoy this don't know the real Barbara Gordon at all. They like this because they don't know any better. She has been around since 1967. That is 49 years. This current run is a blip of her total history. Stewart's run accounts for about 2% of her accumulated existence. When I evaluate her, I evaluate her against herself. His run is absolutely not a fair representation of the character by any means.

Maybe this is a Batgirl that certain people can relate to, but is it really the kind of Batgirl we want them looking up to and emulating.

A lot of these characters are more real to me than people I know in reality. Batgirl is like my sister for crying out loud. And right now, Stewart is telling lies about her. You think I'm just going to stand by and watch somebody badmouth my sister. I protect my own. Since Batgirl is a fictional character, she can't defend herself. She needs people like you and me to defend her. If you really had her back, like your name implies, you wouldn't be defending this."- Brandon Mulholand, reviewer for Batman-News

Writer: Cameron Stewart& Brenden Fletcher
Artist: Babs Tarr for #46 and Eleonora Carlini & Moritat for #47
Colorist: Serge Lapointe



We start with #46...



Later...









Then over to #47...









Then there's a big scene where Babs and Steph break into the police station and try to locate some information. I'm skipping that and getting straight to the point at the end since that's where the plot important stuff happens.

Comments

[jlbarnett]

well, I disagree in general because I think it can drive away an audience before you're even sure you've got a new one, plus trying to make things "modern" can date a book

[ebailey140]

So, by your argument, we should never have had the Bronze Age Batman, or any versions that came after. We should have forever been locked in the Silver Age, pretending all these decades haven't passed.

But, they risked driving away the remaining Adam West fans by moving into the Bronze Age. They risked driving away the remaining Bronze Age fans with the mid-1980s reboot. These were the right things to do. Remember, the version that is your favorite displaced something earlier. Why was it OK to do it for all these decades, but not now?

Does modernization date a book? Sure. Silver Age comics look of their time. Same with Bronze Age, 80s, and 90s comics. The style you're comfortable with? It looks dated to new readers. That's just how it is.

The thing is, the book's selling better than it did before it was brought into the modern era.

[jlbarnett]

did they try to make it modern though? Or did they try to make it timeless? Remember, not every fan likes the era they started reading best.

Otherwise why would things like Showcases ever sell to modern fans?

[ebailey140]

Unless it's a story set in the past or far future, superhero comics have always been set in what was then modern times, designed to appeal to then modern readers. For example, there's the classic O'Neil & Adams run on Green Lantern. Hal's and Ollie's road trip was very much about the times the stories were published. Often, always being contemporary REALLY makes some classic comics dated, like why Reed Richards and company were in such a rush in the first Fantastic Four story. They had to get to the moon "before the commies. . 80s comics would have Reagan in the White House and characters watching new episodes of Magnum PI.

When you read most old comics stories, you can tell, really quickly, the period it was produced in. There are reasons for that.