‘Batgirl’ gets new creative team, modernized look

Just revealed over on the MTV.com blog, a new direction and look for comic book mainstay Batgirl.

Starting with October’s #35, Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart and Babs Tarr take over the popular book and send the “Dominoed Dare-doll” (maybe time to get her a new nick name, DC) in a daring new direction, including a new look.

 

With her previous gear and costume lost in a fire, Barbara seizes the opportunity to reinvent herself with a new style that looks like a modernized take on Yvonne Craig’s look from Batman ’66.

Says writer Stewart in the interview with MTV…

“Batgirl has really been put through the wringer in recent years – after being attacked and paralyzed by the Joker, her brother turning out to be a serial murderer, the trauma of her family breaking apart and the series of gruesome villains she’s had to contend with, we figured she deserved a break from all that. Just prior to the start of our story she’s pushed to the breaking point and decides that she’s had it with misery and darkness and wants a change. She wants the opportunity to have some fun and live the life of a young, single girl in the city, so she packs up and moves to Burnside, the cool, trendy borough of Gotham, to focus on grad school.”

I do really dig the look of the costume. It’s a sleek, practical look, and the notes show that they’re committing to sticking with that. As far as Barbara, she’s proven to be a resilient character. She survived Batgirl, retirement, and a long career as Oracle. And while many (myself included) still feel the burn of losing a greatly developed character such as Oracle in the reboot, Bat-family characters like Babs have proven to be at their best when the status quo is yanked out from under them. The odds are in favor of the new book being some of the best Batgirl to date.

Brenden Fletcher and Cameron Stewart, who will be handling the story chores on the book, first worked together on last year’s ‘Assassin’s Creed: Brahman’. This will be Babs Tarr’s first work in the comics industry. Word is former ‘Batgirl’ scribe Gail Simone isn’t going anywhere, and will be announcing a new DC Comics project soon. Look! A solicit for Batgirl #35!

BATGIRL #35

Written by CAMERON STEWART and BRENDEN FLETCHER
Art by BABS TARR
Cover by CAMERON STEWART
MONSTERS Variant cover by KEVIN NOWLAN
On sale OCTOBER 8 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Barbara Gordon is no stranger to dusting herself off when disaster strikes… so when a fire destroys everything she owned, she spots the opportunity for a new lease on life — and seizes it! Following the rest of Gotham’s young adults to the hip border district of Burnside, Barbara sets about building an all-new Batgirl… and discovers all-new threats preying on her peers! It’s a re-invention of Batgirl from the boots up, by the incredible creative team of Cameron Stewart (BATMAN INC.), Brenden Fletcher (WEDNESDAY COMICS), and rising star artist Babs Tarr!