Cass and Steph didn’t head out to be interviewed by Grace O’Halloran for a simple person-on-the-street interview for her podcast. If she knew who they were in their masks, Grace might be a lot more interested in them. They didn’t head out to be a part of a podcast, though. They’re just looking for a good time. They’ll get more than they planned for in Batgirls #17. Writers Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad take Cass and Steph into the heart of a simple crime story that emerges from the shadows courtesy of artist Robbi Rodriguez and colorist Rico Renzi.

The weather is getting warmer. In the Hill neighborhood of Gotham City, it’s the end of winter at the Aparo Park Jubilee. Cass and Steph are simply dancing until something explodes. They both know that there’s gunfire. A sniper of some sort. They instantly spring to action, bringing refugees from the festival into a used bookstore. Then it’s time to put on the masks and investigate. Steph helps out a victim, but loses sight of the shooter. Cass has better luck, but the killer still gets away. Babs is on the deeper aspects of the investigation, but Cass and Steph want something more tangible: they want the sniper off the streets. 

Cloonan and Conrad have given Steph, Cass, and Babs a very solid sense of character development. They’re that much more competent and fluid as a team than they have been over the course of the first year or so of the series. Babs seems to trust the two younger Batgirls a lot more as well. The familiarity between the three crime fighters comes across with striking clarity. The humor fades into the background in the seventeenth issue of the series as Conrad and Cloonan amp up the cool between Babs, Cass, and Steph in the first part of a deeply engaging action crime story. 

In addition to lots of dark moodiness, Rodriguez and Renzi vividly differentiate the two different personalities and approaches of Steph and Cass in a story that brings to life the tense drama of a battle with a sniper lurking in the shadows. The intrigue feels palpable as the Batgirls train and engage a few thugs in battle. The action hits the page stylishly with some very slick angles. Steph serves as a stern, compassionate Batgirl with empathic blue eyes. Cass is the cunning warrior side of the Batgirls in sleek action that glides like a shadow across the page.

Conrad and Cloonan are clearly setting up for a deeper look into the nature of crime in their new “From Hell’s Heart” storyline. The black market arms dealers who serve as this issue’s minor villains add some depth to the themes that the writers are going to be exploring. It’s the sort of thing that’s been done countless times before, but Conrad and Cloonan seem to be tackling the theme with an impressive sense of overall composition that should be interesting in the months to come.

Grade: A