Posted on: September 9th, 2010 Comically Challenged: Batgirl #14
Oddly enough, there were a couple of books this week that I wanted to write about. I had to make a decision. And if you were to ask me what my motto in life is, it would be “Decisions are for suckers.” So I’m doing two. Deal.
I’ve said this before, there are times I feel that comic book creators take their books too seriously. Believe it or not, I think they’d like to have fun with their stories but they take on the obligation to write some deep, involved, meaningful story every time. To that I say, “Give me Grizzly Sharks! Give me Hit Monkeys! Give me Batgirl and Supergirl fighting Dracula!”
I’m fairly confident I haven’t reviewed a Batgirl comic on the Squid. Fairly. I didn’t like Bryan Q. Miller’s Batgirl at first. Stephanie Brown was giving the Bat costume a go and everybody seemed whiney and bitchy. I don’t need any of that in my books. But it got better. We started growing as heroes, Oracle sort of dropped her superiority complex, we began using witty banter, we teamed up with Damian Wayne, it actually evolved into a super great book. Issue #14 hit the stands this week with a one-and-done story about a Batgirl/Supergirl Team-Up. And if you were paying attention, Dracula is involved as well.
Stephanie and Kara have an impromptu girls-night and end up going to a screening of a Dracula movie in 3-D. Through some wild comic book science, a lab-experiment-gone-wrong causes 24 Draculas to come out from the screen and reek havoc on Gotham. What can stop these tangible light projections? Stakes. Sciency stakes. Sweet!
Warning: This book is funny. Could you really expect it to be serious just judging from the plot synapsis? I laughed, nay, I lol’d several times during this book. I just used ‘lol’. I don’t throw that around too often, people. The book opens with a freaking “That’s what she said.” joke! First page! Comics are fun. I especially love the interaction between Batgirl and Supergirl; the pacing and dialogue beats are perfect. This is exactly how my friends and I talk. No big monologues, no plot recaps or intense reflection on the situation at hand. It’s just quick, fast-paced banter. I understand it; it is my native tongue. It makes the books seem more real to me. Even when we’re killing Dracula #14 on a Segway. On a SEGWAY! Those things are hilarious without vampire drivers!
What more do you want from me? I give you two girls, being funny and killing vampires. It worked for Buffy and her various companions! Spend the $2.99 and go have a good time.