Preview: BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY REBIRTH #1

BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY REBIRTH #1

(W) Shawna Benson, Julie Benson (A) Claire Roe (CA) Yanick Paquette

"WHO IS ORACLE" Chapter One: Batgirl and Black Canary are together again, working a case that strikes right at the heart of their partnership! Someone's uncovered the greatest secret Barbara Gordon ever kept: her time as Oracle, the most powerful hacker on the planet. And not only do they know her secret, they're using her name to sell dangerous information to criminals! Now one of those deals has brought some major heat to Gotham City...Helena Bertinelli is out of Spyral, wearing the hood of the Huntress, and making mafia blood run in the streets! Everything you thought was hidden will be revealed if the Oracle has their way...

In Shops: Jul 20, 2016

SRP: $2.99

Batgirl looks like she wants to steal all my cheeseburgers. Don´t like that art.

A backwards-looking story like this is one of the inherent pitfalls of the whole "Rebirth" thing. I'd prefer they move the characters forward.

That variant cover is awful, which is surprising since Ben Caldwell usually does such great work. It actually looks like it might have been separate sketches that were composited together. If you look closely (and, really, not that closely) you can see the white border around Canary's figure, where the image was cut (badly) from a separate background. And the use of the DC logo as a place mat seems odd, like it was just thrown in to fill space.

The interiors are okay, although it looks like the colorist is doing most of the heavy lifting.

And they need to do something about that mask. I'm fine with the costume overall, but the detached mask/cowl really bugs me. What's keeping it on her head in a fight or during a backflip? Hair pins?

Jeez, that art. Why does it look like she has buck teeth in one of those panels? I hope this isn't going to be the main artist of this series.

Really been looking forward to this book

Not feeling the art, but given time I think ti could find it's groove

Wow, this looks a lot better than I thought it would.

I'm not put off by the art like everyone else is, but I don't feel compelled to pick this up either.

What happened to the real Batgirl? The one of the previous Birds of Prey volume.

Looks meh. Hipster Babs needs to die

The style seems to borrow from the Shop theme of the Stewart/Tart run as well as the Wu/___ of the Black Canary limited series.

I see this more as a reintroduction of Bertinelli and Oracle into the core of New 52. It also sweeps the AI mind meld that was digital Babs goal from batgirl 35-40 happening in Batgirl 47.

This should at least tie into the Marx run on the series to not alienate anyone who bought the title...

lulz

@nerevarine_11 said:

I wouldn't say die, but put back in a wheelchair.

Yep. I won't be buying any Batgirl books until they get rid of the tumblr version.

It seems that Batgirl left Burnside but Burnside didn't leave from inside her which is awful. The art doesn't help either. I'll give the first issue of this (and the main Batgirl series) a try but it seems that it will be the first Rebirth title I'll downright drop. Hope the issue proves me wrong.

By now I'm only trying this out because I want to see Helena though I slowly fear she will only appear on the last page.

So Black Canary is now a Vampire? I hope this isn't a spoiller to Green Arrow.

@senglord: That run was awful.

@apokos7: While she is wearing that costume. Batgirl will try to leave Burnside behind.

@vitalius: Well, like I said, I certainly hope so.

When Helena and Batgirl are involved I usually don't need a lot of convincing, but this current iteration of Barbara just doesn't work for me and it drags the whole thing down with it. It seems they've wanted her to be one too many things over the past few years, and now her character can't help but feels disjointed.

Lol, Dinah looks like she is 12 on that variant. Anyway, I like the art and am legitimately interested in this but I think this is one of the Rebirth comics I'll have to wait on.

It was good. The art takes time to get used to. Also, Batgirl of Burnside or Hipster Batgirl or whatever you want to call her is awesome.

I agree. That run is what caused me to actually start liking Batgirl.

@goellterator: haha nice. She does remind me of the hamburglar LOL

@theexile285: Same here. It wasn't until she ditched Gotham City for Burnside when I finally took notice as to how likable and well written she is.

wtf

I'm reading this solely for Helena.

Good issue overall, I seem to like the art more then most.

Cheap Plug to User Review

I don't agree with that art, but it will have Katana (i believe) and rebirth hasn't let me down

@ninjaboss123:

Katana is a charter member of the Rebirth Suicide Squad, so I doubt she's going to be part of BoP. Maybe a guest appearance at some point, but I hadn't heard anything specific about that.

Art is not too bad... Just need to ease up on drawing wrinkles on her suit...

looks good.

No, that's a terrible idea. She doesn't need to be crippled again.

You're tight, she should have stayed crippled and mentored a new Batgirl.

I spent a good 5 min. trying to compose myself after reading this. It is going to be a long time before i stop wondering "How is the Hamburglar fooling everyone with that silly disguise".

@nightfang3: There is too much of a fridge element to Babs being crippled while there are two dead Robins swinging around the DCU with no problems whatsoever.

If they push for Killing Joke, the result will be a DC in third place for comic sales in out generation.

This is not the 1980s, a comic book/media company cannot survive on just men. And DC has dug themselves a massive hole for being a comic company that overwhelmingly catered to older white men.

I cant see this Batgirl and think that she at some point was Oracle!!!!!

DC caters to white guys? Can't relate, but I'm curious as to your reasoning here.

@scouterv: 93% of DC sales of comic books have been to men. And, if you look at the content of their Legion stuff in the 1970s, it was offensively racist as well.

Marvel/Image have by necessity courted a wider range of readers.

Marvel and Image have higher rates of growth because they each have a larger percentage of female consumers.

DC also has a more negative history with female creators than either of the other big three.

I have been a Marvel/Image person for 22 years, so I admit I am biased.

But, I have been a Batman fan since I was 5 years old. As long as DC does not ruin that family of characters, they can let their baser instincts run roughshod over the rest.

@scouterv:

Well, yes and no.

https://graphicpolicy.com/2016/07/23/demo-graphics-the-comparisons/

They are more popular with millenials on facebook...