Graphic Novel Review: Batgirl Year One

Scott Beatty‘s Batgirl: Year One is a pretty amazing introduction to Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. I really, really loved it.

While there are other Batgirls out there (at least three), Barbara Gordon is my Batgirl–just like Dick Grayson is my Robin, although Damon is certainly prying his way into my favorites. I grew up watching Batman: The Animated Series, so many characters are definitive for me. While I know she’ll eventually have to give up her cowl after Alan Moore and the Joker are through with her, and she’ll then go on to become the Oracle, it was easy to forget that while reading this vibrant, well-told tale of her beginnings as Batgirl.

This is a brilliantly told story in every way. It’s funny, yet serious when it needs to be, and Babs’ characterization is solid. She’s strong and wildly intelligent, yet she hasn’t really found her place in the world. Her relationship with Batman and Robin is tenuous at first, but Robin vouches for her and basically forces Batman into accepting her. Another excellent touch is the double foreshadowing that’s peppered throughout. She thinks of herself as Cassandra, a Grecian oracle who sees the future but no one believes her–she’s perpetually out of place. This also portends the coming of Cassandra Cain, the next Batgirl.

I loved it, and would place it high on my recommended reading for anyone getting into DC Graphic Novels or who cut their teeth on Batman: The Animated Series.