Review: Batgirl Stephanie Brown TPB Vol 2

Regular listeners to either The Definitive Crusade or it’s sister show The Dynamic Convergence should by now know of my love of Stephanie Brown.Â From her inception, which started as a throwaway character, she has clung onto the idea of being something better.Â This lead from Spoiler, to Robin, to death and then surprise not death before settling in as a successor to Cassandra Cain, becoming the pre-Flashpoint Batgirl.Â This volume collects issues 13-24, Bruce Wayne the Long Way Home and her guest story from the Batman: Leviathan special.

Bryan Q. Miller crafted a series that encapsulated the idea of hope in a much more natural way than achieved with Babs back in the cowl.Â Part of this is due to core strength of Stephanie herself.Â Despite all that she suffered, and she suffered a great deal with Batman’s machinations and the more physical aspects of her encounter with Black Mask she remained a light in the dark recesses of the Batman.Â For some, she was always a usurper, not fit to wear the cowl.Â Miller, however, saw in her a way to lighten at least one corner of the DC Universe.Â Miller’s writing is full of humour and shows the depth of the characters skill of interaction, with a great one issue team-up with Supergirl, an ongoing brother sister feud with Damian and inspiring a Grey Ghost.Â Throw in the perils of college life and trying to keep her Mom in the dark over her secret life and the need to be accepted by Bruce, Steph faces a multitude of challenges.Â The series, cut short by Flashpoint and the New 52, gets a fitting swan song, showing what Steph could have been.Â I should mention that the Leviathan special was written by Grant Morrison, who takes a step back from the surreal to deliver a story that shows Steph that Bruce has complete faith in her, which again adds to the sense of loss her fans felt thanks to the Flash and his timeline manipulations.

Chronicling the art of Steph are a number of artists including Pere Perez, Lee Garbett, Ramon Bachs, Derek Fridolfs, Cameron Stewart, Trevor Scott and Dustin Nguyen.Â Each have their strengths to be sure, with Fridolfs and Nguyen probably having a style that may not seem conventional, but conveys some of the unorthodox adventures that Steph gets caught up with.Â The pacing is great, reflected in the art.Â It may well be that as not a member of the “A List”, artists have been allowed to show their own style more.Â Sure, there can be pose problems and perspective issues at times,Â but this doesn’t detract from the storytelling.Â The color style varies through the tome, moving from a standard style, to painted and back again; another example of trying something new?

Had this collection only covered the actual series, I would have said it would be a perfect pre-teen book that parents could read with their kids.Â The inclusionÂ of school girl ninja’s may move this book out of that arena which is a shame.Â Still, overall, there is no better example of how to create a book that doesn’t feel the need to be uber dark, with a character that displays a level of emotional resilience that is truly heroic.

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

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Written by; Bryan Q. Miller & Grant Morrison
Art by; Pere Perez, Lee Garbett, Ramon Bachs, Derek Fridolfs, Cameron Stewart, Trevor ScottÂ and Dustin Nguyen
Published by; DC Comics

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network