Batgirl, Volume 2: Knightfall Descends Review – Gail Simone

March 11, 2013
Noel Thorne
Comics
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The Curse of the Volume 2s continues for DC’s New 52 line and after some terrible second volumes for Justice League, Batwoman, Stormwatch and Suicide Squad, the promising Batgirl series has also fallen prey to weak writing and a storyline lacking fresh, exciting ideas in “Knightfall Descends”.

Batman readers will have noticed the familiar title of this book which brings to mind Batman’s Knightfall saga in which Bane broke the Bat. It’s not a direct reference as Bane isn’t in this book but it seems to be distantly linked: the main villain in this book is Knightfall, a crazy woman who’s wearing a shirt with a templar cross on it like Azrael aka Jean-Paul Valley who, in Knightfall, became Batman when Bruce was recovering from his broken back. Factor in all of the religious references and it looks like Knightfall might reveal a connection to Azrael.

One of the aspects of Barbara’s character I liked in the first book was the appearance of her mother, whose absence always seemed odd, like her little brother’s, and I was looking forward to her back-story because James Jr’s back-story was so brilliant. Sadly, Simone doesn’t match Snyder’s imagination – not even close. Barbara – Batgirl’s mum (and that’s another thing, Babs is named after her mum and her brother is named after her dad – what egotistical, slightly incestuous, parental decisions. No wonder the kids turned out so weird!) – reveals she left her family, partly because James Jr. was a nutjob even at 10 and freaked her out by killing the family cat. So her reaction to her son behaving in a troubling way was to leave her husband and daughter? For how many years? Yeah that makes sense…! To be fair Simone does also have Barbara say she had a mental breakdown, but it’s an unsatisfying back-story that marred the book for me as it was so disappointingly shallow and unimaginative.

Batgirl, Vol. 2: Knightfall Descends review

So then we get to the main villain of the story – Knightfall. Her plan is to do what Batman and co. already do but instead of sending captured villains to Arkham, Blackgate, etc., to just execute them and move on – no second chances. Which is a bit rough, eh? Her back-story though is just nuts. Knightfall is Charise Carnes the daughter of one of the most powerful families in Gotham, except when she starts dating an ordinary guy he turns out to be a psycho who winds up spending 3+ hours murdering her entire family in front of her – for no reason it seems, he’s just crazy. Also, somehow this most powerful of families doesn’t have security cameras, panic buttons, bodyguards, servants, or a whole phalanx of security to protect them from threats like this nutter. So the experience of watching her family killed in front of her makes her voluntarily go to Arkham Asylum where she “learned the craft of madness”, re-emerging as an extreme vigilante who dresses like a templar with a shadowy hood. Knightfall’s back-story makes perfect sense and isn’t at all convoluted.

One of the biggest failings of this series has been how dreary the bad guys are and Volume 2 does nothing to fix this problem. The first villain in this book is a dullard wearing an oni mask calling himself Grotesque. His motivation? To steal expensive wine. “The Night of Owls” crossover issue is included, which is decent but feels out of place in between the Grotesque storyline and Knightfall’s, especially as the Talons are far more interesting villains than either of them. So then we have Knightfall and her gang of twits who go by the names of Bonebreaker (she’s the brawler of the group in case the name was too subtle), a “bargain basement Hawkman” (Batgirl’s words) called Katharsis, and the brilliantly named Bleak Michael, who secretes acid instead of sweat! Together they are… the Disgraced! I know, I’ve already forgotten them too.

The other story aspect of the book was James Jr’s appearance which appears to be heading down the “Black Mirror” path – a highly original choice, especially as that storyline came out a mere 2 years ago – and the ending of the book is just pathetic, once more recycling plots that happened far too recently to be going back to them again so soon. See what I mean about the lack of fresh ideas? I like Gail Simone, she’s a great writer, and I really want to like Batgirl, but this is not a great book and a sub-standard follow-up to an interesting first volume. Given the turn for the worse the series has taken, the title should be “Batgirl Descends”!

Batgirl, Volume 2: Knightfall Descends by Gail Simone et al. is out now in hardback and digital editions.

Batgirl Volume 1 dealt pretty heavily with Barbara’s lack of confidence and struggle to re-adapt to the cape and cowl again while pitting her against villains that reflected her own inner demons. Volume 2 continues that pattern but it goes bigger. Much bigger. Not only do we dig deep into The Killing Joke, but we take a look back at Batgirl’s origin, Jim Junior’s childhood is brought up again, and we meet a new villain who could prove to be quite formidable in the future. It’s darker and it actually contains quite a few more pages than the previous installment to boot.

Content

Batgirl Volume 2 is a pretty dense book that delivers a surprising amount of content. We’re talking eight issues here! With #0, and #7-13 bundled together not only do you get the entire Batgirl vs. Knightfall storyline but there’s the confrontation with Grotesque, the Court of Owls tie-in, and last September’s prequel that took us back to Batgirl’s origin. And if you look at my review of volume 1 you’ll see that the earlier volume really wasn’t put together that well (my pages split from the binding). I didn’t have any of those problems here.

As for the stories collected within Batgirl Volume 2′s hardcovers, we actually start off with issue #0 rather than reading them how they were originally released. This is actually a really great way to kick off the book. Why’s that? Because it’s hopeful. Despite Barbara Gordon’s book being the “girly” bat title, there’s really nothing dainty about her stories. In fact, they might just be the most dark and depressing of all the bat-titles. She’s always flashing back to memories of the time Joker assaulted her or something creepy her little brother did and the villains she fights are really brutal. The only thing lifting us up from the darkness is Barbara’s incessant inner monologue which can be overly cutesy. It’s one of the book’s greatest strengths and weaknesses. Yes, it lightens things up a bit, but it can get annoying at times. This is especially true for those of us who still pine for a Barbara who is more mature and calls back to the Oracle days but that’s just not what the New 52 Barbara is all about. She seems to be much younger, less sure of herself, and slightly naive. As I was saying though, some seriously dark stuff has happened in the Batgirl series and it only gets more dire in Volume 2. Issue #0, although it has its gaps in logic here and there, gets the reader in a fun mindset so you’re ready to follow Babs along as she confronts some nasty characters, the first of which is even named Grotesque.

The two Grotesque chapters are the weakest of the bunch. In fact, these are easily the worst two issues of Batgirl that I’ve read. He’s this odd “Meta-Human” who uses electrical powers and has peculiar motivations. I never found myself that invested in that side of the story whatsoever. But beside that we have some mother/daughter moments that are either confusing or downright idiotic. Both women are named Barbara and they are drawn to look almost exactly alike. When I saw a flashback of a mother being shaken up by threats from a kid in elementary school I couldn’t help but laugh. It’s just ridiculous. So you see, I’m also thankful that #0 kicked things off in Volume 2 because starting off with #7 and #8 would’ve been painful.

Following that is the Night of the Owls tie-in, which I must say I found myself enjoying more here because it had so much more energy and sense of purpose that #7 and #8. Ignoring the fact that the Owl’s plan is really terrible what you have here is actually a pretty cool fight scene with Batgirl being a total bad ass and it’s a must read for Birds of Prey fans because this is the first appearance of the Talon that’s recently joined that crew. However, when the Night of Owls issue is over it’s…well, it’s kind of jarring. The way Batgirl’s contribution to that storyline ends doesn’t lend itself very well to the overall story being told in this book. We’ve just finished the Grotesque plot, then we see a city essentially being conquered by zombie ninjas and just as things are going from bad to worse you turn the page and we’re back to business as usual in Gotham without any update as to what’s happened. There’s a major gap there and I almost feel like the overall reading would’ve been better had that comic not been included. Sure, it would’ve sucked for the completionists out there but simply judging this book as a reading experience I found the Night of Owls tie-in to be out of place.

And then there’s Knightfall, which finishes the book off strong. Knightfall isn’t a very good name for a villain, but the character herself works. Well… what I said about the character’s name isn’t entirely true. “Knightfall” is a solid villain name, just not a solid bat-villain name. It would be like having the villain of Casino Royale go by the name Thunderball. It just seems kind of dumb to give a new villain the same name as an already famous bat-saga. It just breeds confusion.

Gail Simone also uses this story as an opportunity to bring in Batwoman. It’s a nice surprise and she writes her well. The voice and overall characterization of Batgirl and Batwoman are very distinct. The only things about this story that I found offputting is a problem that’s cropped up in Batgirl’s stories quite a bit: Meta Humans. I’m a pretty steak and potatoes Batman fan who likes to see as few super powered foes as possible so when the winged henchwoman shows up in this story just a few pages after the zombie Owl and the electric demon guy I was getting a bit tired of it all. However, the story itself is pretty entertaining and seeing Batgirl fight all these fantastical enemies was highly entertaining, leaves you with a nice teaser for what’s to come, and the whole thing is very well illustrated. I think that Syaf and Benes did an amazing job on their respective issues and the only moments I ever felt that the art could’ve been better is when Barbara shared a scene with her identical mother.

Supplemental Material

Greg Capullo’s tie-in cover for issue #13
Young Batgirl sketches and designs by Ed benes
1940s Talon sketch by Greg Capullo
Layout for Batgirl #9 page 13 by Ardian Syaf
Cover sketches by Ardian Syaf
Cover roughs by Ed Benes
Penciled art for Batgirl #13 second printing cover by Ed Benes

As you can see by that list they actually put some effort into the supplemental material this go-round. Still not commentary by the artists or Simone, but it’s still some of the best bonus material you’ll find in a New 52 hardback.

Value

I would say it’s definitely worth full price for Batgirl fans. Totally. $24.99 for eight issues plus all that bonus material in an attractive hardcover presentation seems appropriate. And even if you’re not that into the character of Barbara Gordon or a follower of Gail Simone I think that the $14.73 Amazon price would still be good enough to tempt you. There’s so much content here that it’s kind of hard to turn that price down if you’re at all curious about this series.

Overall

There are a few too many superpowered bad guys for my liking but overall I have to say that I enjoyed Volume 2 far more than its predecessor. I think any Batgirl fan will be immensely satisfied with this collection while everyone else will find at least one or two chapters very enjoyable. With so much content bundled together this hardcover has a whole lot to offer. Besides the skippable, two-part Grotesque story I think that Volume 2 does a fine job of taking you deep into Batgirl’s past and even offers a glimpse at what’s to come in her future.

Posted a day ago by Jordan DesJardins7

Former boy wonder Tim Drake said it best back in 1989; “Batman needs a Robin”. With the recent tragic events that took place in Batman Inc. #8, Batman is once again left without a Robin to fight by his side. While many fans will forever mourn the loss of Damian Wayne, others are already looking towards what the future may hold, or to be more specific,who.

In the coming weeks, the ongoing Batman & Robin series will be seeing quite a few big changes. The upcomingBatman & Robin #18 will be an entirely silent issue, marking the series final appearance of the recently deceased Damian Wayne. After issue #18, the series will cycle through some of Batman’s former sidekicks while Batman figures out who his new regular crime-fighting partner will be, with each issue taking on a new name to represent the hero fighting alongside the Dark Knight. With issue #19, the series will be retitled Batman & Red Robin and star Tim Drake, the third Robin. This issue will be followed by Batman & Red Hood, then Batman & Batgirl, Batman & Catwoman and finally Batman & Nightwing in late summer. These are the only issues that DC has announced so far, so there’s no telling what name the series will come to take when September hits!

Batman has rarely gone without a Robin for long. Since the first Robin appeared back in 1940, Batman has pretty consistently always had a partner fighting alongside him. Aside from a few minor gaps in between sidekicks (or even the time a few years back with no Batman and only sidekicks during Battle for the Cowl), the existence of a Robin has grown to become a necessary piece of Batman’s crime-fighting puzzle. Now that Damian Wayne has departed off to the big Batcave in the sky, shouldn’t be too long before we see someone else filling out that iconic red, green and yellow uniform. But who will be taking on the role next? Will one of the former boy wonders step up to the challenge? Or will we be seeing a brand new face behind the domino mask? Let’s take a look at the possible candidates for the role of Batman’s next sidekick-

Robin 1: Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing-

When it comes to Robin, Grayson was the original. The very first to bear this heavy mantle, Dick Grayson is considered by many to be the most iconic version of Batman’s sidekick. Grayson eventually aged out of the role, citing that “you can’t be the boy wonder forever”, and took up a new name and costume as Nightwing. In his new role, he made a point of setting off on his own adventures without Batman, although he would return to help his former mentor regularly. Later, when Batman was ‘dead’, Grayson begrudgingly took up the mantle of the Dark Knight himself.

The odds of Dick Grayson becoming Batman’s next sidekick: 100,000,000,000:1

Grayson did his time in the sidekick role, and has since graduated to become his own full-fledged hero. Nightwing is his own man at this point and his proven time and time again that he can hold his own amongst the big leagues. It wouldn’t make any sense for Dick Grayson to be anyone’s sidekick after spending several years with a sidekick of his own when he served as Batman. It also doesn’t help his chances that DC recently announced Nightwing is relocating to Chicago in the near future.

Robin II: Jason Todd, aka The Red Hood-

Jason’s story is a tragic one, with his time as the boy wonder having been cut short by a madman with some explosives and a crowbar. Jason was the first Robin to die in the role, and while he has returned to the fray these many years later as the gun-toting vigilante The Red Hood, his death still left a long-lasting effect on the Dark Knight and the rest of the Bat-family. Since his return to the living, Jason has spent the last few years walking a very thin line between being a hero or a villain; with his most recent adventures with his team, The Outlaws, taking place a little further onto the ‘hero’ side of things.

The odds of Jason Todd becoming Batman’s next sidekick: 100,000,000:1

While Jason may be leaning more towards heroism lately, he’s hardly the clean cut hero that Batman would be willing to work with. Jason and Bruce have been at odds with each other ever since his return, even though they seem to have patched things up now for the most part. Even in a recent issue of Jason’s Red Hood and The Outlaws series, Batman noted to Todd that “I may not approve of your style, but you can’t argue with results”. So while Jason is finally comfortable being in the same room as Bruce again, and even worked with him as a member of Batman Inc. (while operating under the disguise alias Wingman), the two are hardly on the best terms with one another.

Batgirl I: Barbara Gordon

Barbara was another of Batman’s original sidekicks. She’s been working with Bruce since his early days as the Caped Crusader. Barbara was out of commission for some time after the events of The Killing Joke, and spent several years of her life wheelchair bound after a bullet pierced her spine. During that time she was the Bat-family’s go to resource for any information they could possibly need as she became the eyes and ears on the data-front as The Oracle. She has since regained her ability to walk, and gotten back into the swing of things as Batgirl.

The odds of Barbara Gordon becoming Batman’s next sidekick: 100, 000:1

Barbara only recently came back onto the scene as a costumed hero again, and after the traumatic events she went through during the recent Death of the Family arc, it wouldn’t be too shocking to see Babs working on her own for a little while. Much like Dick Grayson, she’s “earned her stripes”, so to speak. She’s often been an independent hero, and has been doing this longer than most of Batman’s former partners, so seeing her become a regular sidekick again would be a little out of the norm.

Batgirl II: Cassandra Cain, aka Black Bat-

Cassandra’s tale is a bit of a complicated one. Raised to be the worlds greatest assassin (much like the recently deceased Damian Wayne), Cassandra used her stint as Batgirl to become something greater than that. As a masked hero she realized how much good she could do for the world. While her appearances in the post-Flashpoint New 52 universe have been limited, she is currently a Hong Kong based agent of Batman Inc.

The odds of Cassandra Cain becoming Batman’s next sidekick: 10,000:1

Cassandra would certainly be an interesting choice. She’s grown rather distant from most of the Bat-family and is fairly similar in style to the late Damian Wayne; albeit considerably more graceful. As her appearances have been fairly limited in recent years (and her being completely left out of the recent Death of the Family story arch), it seems pretty unlikely that we’ll be seeing Cassandra taking up a place by Batman’s side anytime soon.

Robin III: Tim Drake, aka Red Robin-

The third to fill the role of Robin, Tim Drake was the one that brought the mantle back to glory after Jason’s death. Tim became Robin not because he was recruited, but because he earned it by deducing Batman’s secret identity all on his own at the young age of thirteen (although this was pre-New 52 canon, and his backstory has been dramatically altered in his current iteration). Drake is the one that told Batman he needed to have a Robin, and made his point by taking up the role and showing him exactly why. Tim was forcefully ‘graduated’ out of the Robin role when Dick Grayson became Batman following Bruce Wayne’s death. Dick felt that he could never view Tim as a sidekick, and viewed him more as a partner that had earned his respect as his own hero. This lead to Tim taking up the mantle of Red Robin. In the New 52 universe, Tim never used the codename Robin and only ever operated as Red Robin.

The odds of Tim Drake becoming Batman’s next sidekick: 1,000:1

Tim loved the time he spent as Batman’s sidekick, but in the recent years since he split off from the Dark Knight, he has more than come into his own as an individual hero and the leader of the Teen Titans. That’s not to say Tim still doesn’t have some major part to play in the fallout after Damian’s death. While it’s unlikely Tim will just come running back to Bruce’s side to take up his old job, Tim will probably be making more regular appearances in the Bat related titles in the coming months (although I’ll delve a bit more into that later).

Robin IV: Stephanie Brown, aka Spoiler, Batgirl III

The daughter of D-grade villain ‘The Cluemaster’, Stephanie Brown initially became a hero to spite her father. Initially operating as The Spoiler alongside Tim Drake during his time as Robin, Stephanie came to have a clumsy yet natural feel for crime-fighting. When Tim resigned from his position as Robin, Stephanie leapt at the chance to take up the mantle, even if only for a brief period of time. She was only a Robin for a few short weeks before reverting back to her Spoiler alias and meeting her untimely demise at the hands of The Black Mask. Months later, Stephanie would resurface and reveal that she had faked her death and gone “off the grid” for a while. When Bruce Wayne died and Dick Grayson took over as Nightwing, Stephanie became the new Batgirl for a time. After the events of Flashpoint, Stephanie doesn’t seem to exist anywhere in the current DCU.

The odds of Stephanie Brown becoming Batman’s next sidekick: -52:1

Poor Stephanie. Someone high up at DC really must hate this character, which is kind of a shame considering the massive outcry from her very vocal fan base demanding that the character make a return soon. Alas, Stephanie has supposedly been labeled as a ‘toxic’ character, who is not to be used under any circumstances, so the odds are stacked against her on this one.

A New Robin:

There are infinite options ahead of us when it comes to a brand new Robin stepping up to the plate. While there are a few potential candidates already, such as the already heavily rumored orphan girl Harper Row, it really seems likely that it’ll be someone we’ve never seen before. While Harper Row would make sense, she almost seems too obvious.

The odds of an entirely new character becoming Batman’s next sidekick: 50:1

While it’s entirely impossible to predict who exactly will be the next Robin, it’s very likely that it’ll be a new character joining Batman’s fight for justice. My personal theory relies heavily on Tim Drake, but not in the way you would expect. Again, Tim was the one that said “Batman needs a Robin”, and while he himself has graduated and moved on, it doesn’t mean he still doesn’t believe in that. Tim has forever been the ‘brainy one’ of the former boy wonders. Dick had his acrobatics, Jason had his fighting skills, but Tim was the one that was a detective. I think Tim Drake is going to be on the lookout for a new Robin for Batman whether Bruce is ready for that or not. This is all wild speculation, but seems like an entirely possible turn of events.

Regardless of who becomes the next boy (or girl) wonder, it’s an exciting time to be a Batman fan! Who do you think will be fighting crime as the second half of Batman’s dynamic duo in the near future? Let us know in the comments below!