An American Batgirl in London
This month Batgirl takes a trip across the pond to team up with one of my favourite additions to the Bat-verse: The Squire!
The Good
I'm love-love-loving the interaction between Squire and Batgirl. Beryl seems to be the friend that Steph needs that isn't too serious, yet isn't an emotional waif. Both seem to work well off of each other, and make for a pretty interesting story. While I've read a bunch of Batgirl and haven't been impressed, this issue really grew on me due to its strong writing and the banter between the two girls.
I really like how the Squire isn't as familiar with Batman as we all are. There's a scene where she mimics the "ears" on Knight's helmet and when Batgirl mentions it as Batman, Beryl just says "Oh... I suppose he does have a pair too, doesn't he?" like it's something she's realized just now.
I enjoy how this was a self-contained adventure that started and ended in the same book. While it could've been stretched into two issues (at max), it really pays to wrap it all up: it wasn't a particularly complicated story, but it served its purpose in that it let Squire and Batgirl bounce off of each other.
The Bad
The time plot line was a bit contrived, but it wasn't totally horrible.
I mainly have a problem with the rampant "LOOK WE'RE IN BRITAIN SO LET'S DO EVERYTHING STEREOTYPICAL WE CAN" action that goes on in this issue. Yes, we get it, Brits are supposed to be all proper and love drinking tea: that doesn't mean that's all we have to see. I mean, one of my favourite ComicViners (Xerox Kitty) is from the UK; that doesn't mean I'm going to ask for her crumpets recipe every time I talk to her.
The Verdict
This book won me over as a good purchase: if you're looking for a great Stephanie Brown story with a little bit of foreign flavour injected, this is the place to do it. Sadly, the London story will continue in Batman: Incorporated #9, so readers are going to have to split their collection for the whole arc. A bit frustrating, but doable.
