BATGIRL Vol. 3: DEATH OF THE FAMILY

BATGIRL Vol. 3: DEATH OF THE FAMILY

Writers: Gail Simone, Ray Fawkes, Scott Snyder

Artists: Daniel Sampere, Ed Benes, Admira Wijaya, Greg Capullo, et al.

$24.99, DC Comics, 224 pgs.

ISBN 978-1401242596

The infamous Joker returns to wreak havoc in the lives of Batman and his allies! Batgirl--aka Barbara Gordon, daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner Gordon--has a harrowing history with the Joker: years ago, an encounter with the Clown Prince of Crime left Barbara in a wheelchair. Only after a miraculous rehabilitation was Barbara able to resume  her crime-fighting career as Batgirl, but the Joker's return threatens to be her psychological undoing. To make matters worse, Barbara must also deal with the return of her estranged mother and of her brother James, who just happens to be a homicidal maniac.

The series is equal parts soap opera, character drama, and superhero epic, but writer Gail Simone juggles these components with style. Barbara's "voice" is never better than when she's written by Simone, and this series has been consistently enjoyable since it launched as one of DC's "New 52" in 2011. This third volume is a little uneven as a result of the multiple authorial voices (the Joker's storyline ran through all the Batman-related titles, some stories from which are included in this volume for the sake of clarity), but the detours don't detract too much from the overall narrative. There are too few good female leads in mainstream superhero comics, but Batgirl remains among the best.

TIPS FOR LIBRARIANS: This book is a prime example of why I regularly implore librarians to stop labeling every graphic novel with a YA sticker! One can compare modern superhero comics to PG-13 films: the PG-13 rating doesn't mean 13 year-olds are the target audience; it means that no-one under 13 should see the film without parental supervision. It's an important distinction, and one more librarians have gotto understand. Today's comics aren't labeled in the way the traditional book trade labels things (by genre and audience); they're labeled as a form of content advisory. There's a big difference, and some of this volume's nastier content illustrates the point nicely. I go into this subject in greater detail in my free e-book, Graphic Novel Collection Development, which you can download from my website, WWW. CMICHAELHALL.COM .    

READERS ADVISORY NOTES: This isn't the best place to get new readers to jump aboard the series. While it's a great read, it takes place in mid-continuity. Start them with volume one. This series should appeal to any Batman fan, fans of female-driven comics, and fans of Gail Simone's other comics work (of which there's quite a lot).

CONTENT ADVISORY: Superhero action/violence, some horror violence, mild language

Review©2014, C. Michael Hall.