Batgirls #7 // Review
Seer is being chased by people who want her dead. The Batgirls are in a position to help save her, but it will not be easy. (The team isn't terribly fond of Seer either.) Allie's and enemies jumble in Batgirls #7. Writers Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad continue an enjoyable run with some of Gotham City's coolest crime fighters in an issue rendered for the page by Jorge Corona. Colors are handled by Sarah Stern. Having cleared their opening storyline, Barbara Gordon and company are off to an engaging opening to a whole new story that builds quite well on the elements established in the first six issues.
The Hill Ripper is still on the loose. The Batgirls have been trying to track down the serial killer. They may have a lead in tracking the murderer down from an unexpected source, but they might not like the circumstances. And on top of everything else, the Saints have broken out of prison. Now they're involved in something awful at Gotham City's ritzy Iceberg Lounge. The team has to break into one of the most exclusive places on the eastern seaboard. Barbara Gordon has a plan to get in…through the front door.
Cloonan and Conrad have mastered the action sequence for Batgirls. One Batgirl narrates the action with cocky wit while she engages in some kind of swashbuckling with the other Batgirl while the distinct power and humor of Barbara Gordon come in as support from a command center. It's such an appealing mix of different perspectives that come into play in a single action sequence. Action sequences like the one that opened the issue feed into the overall plot arc with careful attention paid to character development for everyone involved. It all works so well. The challenge for Cloonan and Conrad moving forward will lie in keeping the format fresh as the issues progress.
Corona's style has settled quite nicely into its corner of Gotham City. The rubbery action has clever kinetics all its own. There's a kind of darkness in it, but it's playful. Stern's colors amplify a fun sense of humor that Corona lashes across the page under the power of Cloonan and Conrad's breezy action scripts. As always, drama has a weight and presence on the page that never quite overpowers the monthly party with Babs and the Batgirls.
In addition to delivering an appealingly fresh, new take on the Gotham bat crime-fighting trope, Cloonan, Conrad, and Corona Are developing an interesting new take on the nature of a rogues' gallery. The team has its own little corner of Gotham City to work with. It's a provocative microcosm with a lot of exciting potential that could filter around the central action's edges. The extended three-woman crime-fighting team is a very appealing mutation of the traditional Batman concept. It will be interesting to see where it goes in the coming months.
