Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Illustrated by Pere PerezStephanie Brown has done her best to put her past behind her, but as the Repears’ mysterious client stands revealed, Batgirl’s going to learn the hard way that those who fail history are doomed to repeat it. This issue has it all: Secrets unearthed! Alliances broken! Splash pages!
The adventures of Stephanie Brown come to a close, and so with it goes one of DC’s most underrated titles.
But does it burn out or fade away? Let’s find out after the cut.
Before Bryan Q. Miller came around, I can’t say I cared about Stephanie Brown. She was a character in an over-crowded universe whose history was so full of strange continuity that only really makes sense when you shrug your shoulders and say, “Comics! Ha!” Miller changed all that, though; he turned Stephanie from a bit-player who none of the other writers cared about (let’s face it: all of Stephanie’s roles as Robin/Spoiler were as permanent sidekicks) to a fully fleshed out character with her own cast of friends, family, and rogues. In a universe where history is doomed to repeat itself over and over and over, Miller was persistant in distancing Stephanie to her own little corner of Gotham where she could flourish and thrive, and that’s exactly what happened.
That’s why it’s so sad to see this book go the way of the dinosaur. Stephanie Brown’s ongoing story doesn’t feel like it’s over, but it has to be. The DCnU is around the corner, and apparently there is no real place for her. It’s kind of awful, because now we’re left without one of the most enjoyable titles on the stands. Miller’s work with the various artists over the past 24 issues have seen this book stand out against every other Bat-title with it’s refreshing and uplifting take on the world of Gotham. Miller didn’t feel the need to drag Stephanie through the dirt and overload her with issues surrounding her death and failed relationship with the grand Tim Drake, but instead wrote a story about a girl trying to make it a man’s world and kicking all kinds of ass to do so. Where other Batbooks often end up as pity parties, Miller threw a party that everyone was invited to where you could have a comic that stood by itself amidst a world of heavy and convoluted continuity, and it was hosted by the wonderful and affable revamped Stephanie Brown.
So now we have the final issue. It’s not the final issue she deserves, but it’s the final issue she’s getting. Unfortunately, the title suffers from the same malaise that all the DC finales do in that this finale came too soon to let teams do the full story that they wanted to, and it shows. Batgirl finally confronts her mystery villain, but the final confrontation is sadly a bit anti-climatic and it just sort of ends. The real strength of the issue comes in which Miller and Perez play out, in a series of gorgeous splash pages, all the things that could have been: Steph’s graduation, Steph becoming the first female Nightwing (partnered up with a new black Batgirl), Steph and Damian teaming up as members of the Blue and Red Lantern Corps respectively, Steph and friends in a medeival clutter fighting off hordes – or, in other words, tons of stories that would have been amazing to read. Miller clearly had a lot of plans that are sadly left unrealized, and it’s such a loss for us as readers that we’re not going to see some of these drug-induced dream ideas come to fruition. It is, in fact, the very definition of “missed opportunity” for DC.
Nevertheless, for all the endings that the book could go out on, Miller and Perez are making the best out of a bad situation. Miller treats this finale as respectively as he can given the 20 pages he’s allotted, and Perez draws absolutely gorgeous sequences. It’s tough to have to give up on a book so promising that really stands on it’s own, and while I can’t imagine that it was easy for Miller to say goodbye to the character after putting so much very apparent love into the book, the finale doesn’t feel like an entirely half-assed “I don’t know what to do here” issue. It instead plays out with Vera Lynn’s classic “We’ll Meet Again” as Miller and Perez effectively jam-packs a litany of great ideas into the span of 20 pages. It’s a comic that openly acknowledges it’s sad and early demise, but it doesn’t spend it’s entire length as some sort of apology letter from the creative team – and for that, we thank you.
The final page teases, coyly, “It’s only the end if you want it to be” with a wink, and it feels bittersweet. It’s sucks to see a title as strong as this go out like this – with a fizzled out “final battle”, a series of teases, and an emotional farewell – but at the same time Miller’s emotional connection to the book and character ring true through the pages and back out to the reader. For those of us who have followed along since the book debuted in the wake of Battle for the Cowl, it’s a nice way to say goodbye. Batgirl has always succeeded as a light hearted romp, almost like the Spider-Man of Gotham books, and whatever is next for Miller and Stephanie respectively is highly anticipated.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy!
