Written by Mairghread Scott
Illustrated by Paul Pelletier
Published by DC Comics
The beginning of this issue has Batgirl fighting against a slime-like creature!
It’s not a bad scene of the two of them facing off at all. It just doesn’t seem all that necessary.
And it seems like that rest of the issue follows suit along those lines. It makes the whole thing feel kind of dull.
We are now in Part Two of the “Old Enemies” storyline but honestly it feels like it’s been much longer.
Barbara has decided to work for an up and coming reformer candidate. Barbara wants to see her win and she works in her civilian identity in the candidate’s office.
The problem is, this candidate’s ideas fly right in the face of her father, Commissioner Gordon, and his position on the police force. We get to see Barbara working in the offices and it’s very dull.
Batgirl then patrols the city and comes across an assassin ready to kill her favorite candidate.
The assassin beats the hell out of her and runs away. It’s all terribly unexciting. The assassin himself is very generic and very generic looking. It’s a missed opportunity in my opinion.
Batgirl gets some DNA from the assassin and tries to track him down. It’s pretty much a waste though. From there, they have a cat and mouse game. Batgirl eventually comes up against him again and they tussle. That scene is even more dull than the previous one. By the end I couldn’t wait for it to get done as the cliches and the dull pacing feel endless and kept piling up.
Scott doesn’t do much for me on the writing front. I wish it was stronger because all it feels like is one lifeless scene after another. After a while it just adds up to a whole lot of nothing. And that’s a shame because there is actually some real potential there.
And Pelletier just does some of the most uninspired art I’ve seen in this issue. It felt like a chore to read. He makes everything feel plastic and flat. I feel like he’s just the complete wrong choice of this title. We deserve better.
RATING: C-
