With a host of artists including Bengal, David Lafuente, Ming Doyle and Mingjue Helen Chen in tow, Brenden Fletcher and Cameron Stewart take Batgirl on a tour through Gotham on the hunt for a new terrorist. This tour will have Batgirl cross paths with some of Gotham’s most notorious crimefighters on an adventure romp that shows just how much fun can be had with an inventive one-shot annual.
Read on for out spoiler free review of “Batgirl Annual” #3 to find out why you should not pass this book up.
Written by Brenden Fletcher & Cameron Stewart
Illustrated by Bengal, David Lafuente, Ming Doyle & Minjue Helen Chen
On her latest mission, Batgirl finds herself mixing it up with Helena Bertinelli of Spyral…but who is the mysterious Spyral agent who seems to be one step ahead of her at every turn without ever showing his face? She’s determined to crack this mystery – but Grayson is just as determined not to get caught! Plus: Batgirl visits Gotham Academy – and there are plenty of surprises in store for her!
This third “Batgirl Annual”, the first for the creative team that took over and revamped the character, takes a very interesting approach to the idea of an annual. Most annuals are simply one-and-done stories that can be told without disrupting the flow of the story happening in the main title. What writers Brenden Fletcher and Cameron Stewart do here is tell a largely self-contained story in four chapters, each illustrated by a different artist, that brings Batgirl into contact with other Bat-characters around Gotham, something we haven’t seen much of from the new direction the title has taken. Instead of keeping Batgirl cooped up in Burnside, this Annual shows that she is still an integral of Gotham by having her team up with characters from “Grayson”, “Batwoman” and even “Gotham Academy”.
There is one thing I want to mention before we really delve into each chapter of this annual. The larger story here involves Batgirl hunting a new villain in Gotham and slowly discovering a new part of their plan thanks to each team-up. It’s a great set-up and connects each new team-up so that the annual feels like it has a grander story instead of just a series of vignettes tied together by Batgirl teaming up with another character in Gotham. However, it seems clear that this new villain will play a part in the main “Batgirl” title as many of the plot points here are left unresolved by a sudden ‘To Be Continued’ ending. This is the only part of the annual that I found really disappointing as, while I’m glad the annual is going to have consequences for the main title in the future, it was a really sudden and rather flat ending to the story. Even with the larger page count this annual had, I kind of wished that it had a couple pages more to have a less sudden and more fulfilling ending.
With that out of the way, though, let’s get into the good stuff. The first chapter of the annual is likely the one that most people care about as it is also the one featured on the cover. Illustrated by Bengal, this chapter features Batgirl inadvertently teaming up with Spyral agents Helena Bertinelli and an in-disguise Dick Grayson to infiltrate a tower block full of terrorists. If you’re thinking right now that infiltrating a tower block full of bad guys will lead to some The Raid/Dredd-style action, you’re completely right. That’s easily the best part of this book as Bengal excels at the nitty-gritty, up close style of action that comes with the setting. Bengal’s style uses a lot of panels on the page, with a lot of close-ups and inset panels to emphasis details, and this contributes a lot to the claustrophobic and intense action throughout the chapter. While the payoff of this chapter may not be all that fulfilling to some – it thought it was a cute joke, honestly – the set-up is intriguing enough and the focus on action makes this a great opener for the annual.
The story then switches gears a lot as David Lafuente illustrates the next chapter that has Batgirl running into Stephanie Brown’s Spoiler. This chapter is much shorter than the last and focuses much more on comedy than action. Lafuente’s exaggerated expressions and figurework leads to a comedic interlude between two much more dramatic chapters that helps break up the story nicely. Lafuente is no slouch, though, and puts just as much work into this chapter as any other artist on the annual. The brief “fight” (if you can call it that) between Barbara and Stephanie is really well put together and shows a lot of each character’s personality through their actions, showing Babs as much more disciplined while Stephanie is eager, but not as well trained. It’s a cute meeting for the two characters and breaks up the annual nicely with a less serious, more fun chapter.
Continued belowThe next chapter returns the more serious route as Batgirl runs into Batwoman, as illustrated by Ming Doyle. This is the closest I’ve seen to Ming Doyle drawing a conventional superhero story (“Mara” isn’t quite what I’d call conventional) and her style definitely works here. The more heavily inked style Doyle uses is a great fit for a dynamic character like Batwoman and infuses the chapter with a grand, climactic atmosphere as Batgirl gets her final showdown with the villain, Gladius. Framed by flames and at night, Ming Doyle knows how to make this fight feel epic. It feels like the kind of fight that would take up an entire issue at the conclusion of a story arc. Unfortunately, it only gets six pages here and while it’s definitely impressive, I wish we could have seen more of it. Though, I guess when you’re only complaint is that you want more, that still counts as a compliment, right?
Finally, the last chapter is something of an epilogue as Mingjue Helen Chen brings Batgirl to Gotham Academy. Batgirl encounters Olive and Maps here while trying to track down the object that Gladius has been hunting this entire time. Chen’s artwork is just as perfect for the characters and world of Gotham Academy here as it was in “Gotham Academy” #7 and adding Batgirl to the mix only makes it better. Her art is full of atmosphere and feels completely different from every other artist on the annual. The style evokes a lot of Disney comparisons, but it feels like Disney filtered through Hiyao Miyazaki with characters from Batman lore and that is so cool I feel like dropping my reviewer facade and just nerding out about how much I love it. It’s this story, however, that suffers the most from being the final chapter as it has the flattest ending and left me wondering “Wait, is that it?” which is a shame because the rest of the annual is so strong.
Over, “Batgirl Annual” #3 continues to prove that DC’s Annuals are some of their strongest output. With an experimental structure that breaks up one story into four parts and having it illustrated by four different artists, Brenden Fletcher and Cameron Stewart cement their take on Batgirl into the world of Gotham City by having her team up with characters from all over the city. The artists picked for each chapter are also perfect and their styles not only compliment each other, but give each chapter a unique feel from a up-close action story to a comedic team-up to a dramatic final fight and finally, an adorable epilogue. While the ending is somewhat sacrificed by the focus on letting the reader know that this story will be continued, the journey to get there is a blast and shows just how fun and varied one character can be in different settings.
Final Verdict: 8.6 – A fun adventure through Gotham City and one I can’t wait to continue if the ending is to be believed.
