And I read Batman #197 a few nights ago. Some prime Silver Age silliness right here!

Jealous of Batgirl, Catwoman is now trying to get Batman's attention by turning over a new leaf and becoming a crime-fighter!

Love the Frank Springer/Sid Greene art!

Is that the Cassandra Cain Batgirl? I read the Redemption TPB recently and also Batgirl #50 to #52, and I got the Fists of Fury TPB from the library, but I haven't read it yet.



Cass has grown on me over the years. I'm glad I'm reading a few more of her adventures lately.

I read Batgirl: Year One #5 last night, so I'm about halfway through the series, and I can't say I'm very impressed.

I like the art. I like the way the writers are focusing on Killer Moth instead of one of the more well known members of the Batman Rogues Gallery.

But there is too much dumb stuff. And some of the dumb stuff is pretty dumb!

I've already mentioned that Barbara Gordon is not a midget.

The set-up for the cliffhanger at the end of #3 is really dumb. I don't like Batman having to swoop in and save BG two or three times per issue, and Batgirl's "I'll show the BOYS I can do it!" attitude is making me cringe. (And I'll bet it was fairly cringeworthy in 2003 as well. Hey, Batgirl: Year One! The 1980s called and they want their cliché back!)

But I could forgive that stuff (mostly) and overlook it (mostly) if that reason for the cliffhanger wasn't so stupid.

Batgirl had decided she needs to learn to swing around Gotham the way THE BOYS do, so she doesn't practice or anything, she just orders some wire and grappling stuff through the mail and then jumps off the highest building in Gotham City. Because Barbara Gordon in the Year One Universe isn't very smart. The test says she's smart, but the actual writing doesn't support this assertion. So Batman has to save her.

I get very annoyed when people point at goofy stuff in old comics and act like the modern comic-book audiences are more sophisticated. Because modern comics are full of dumb stuff! And this is a perfect example of some dumb stuff on a modern comic that is woefully inferior to the source material.

Batgirl does not need to swing around Gotham City to get around. If she does need to do that, then there are better ways to train for it than throwing yourself off a building. Let's see, can we come up with a better way to get around Gotham City that doesn't involve throwing yourself off a building when you aren't trained for it and haven't tested your equipment? Maybe a vehicle of some kind? Like … a motorcycle!

Oh. Wait. Yeah, they did that in the Silver Age!

So instead of a whole detailed sequence about Batgirl throwing herself off a building and having to be saved by Batman, maybe the series should have included a sequence where Batgirl figures out (on her own!) that she might need a motorcycle!

If it's absolutely necessary for Batman to save her all the time, it would be very nice to develop this theme from a situation that makes sense. She's new at this, so she will make mistakes, so maybe Batman could save her from some bad guys who cause her to have an accident. If it's necessary! But let's try to move away from dumb stuff where Batman has to save her because she's deeply stupid and has absolutely no business putting on a mask and being a vigilante.

I also didn't much like Killer Moth and Firefly teaming up.

It was nice to see Polka-Dot Man for a few panels. What a whacko!

This came in the mail today and I read it slowly at a coffee shop.

The gist of it is, Batgirl had a bad experience against an assassin known as the Cormorant (in Detective Comics #491 and #492) and she's feeling rather lukewarm about soldiering on as Batgirl because she's noticed that Batgirling is dangerous. But she has to stop the Cormorant before she can hang up her bat suit.

There's also a serial murderer known as Slash going around and killing accused rapists/abusers who have never been punished for their crimes. Batgirl rather stubbornly sticks to the idea that these murders are being committed by Cormorant.

And a heretofore unknown (as far as I know) friend of Barbara Gordon shows up after years apart to chide Barbara about her Batgirl identity because it's so dangerous.

At the end, Barbara decides to give up her Batgirl identity and solve crimes with her analytical ability.

And guess what's advertised in this issue? The Killing Joke! On sale in April!

I've been disappointed in several of the post-Crisis Batgirl stories that I heard might be candidates for a Top Ten (notably Batgirl: Year One and Folie a Deux (in Legends of the DC Universe #10 and #11)). I liked "The Last Batgirl Story" a lot better than either of those. I don't like the idea of Barbara giving up as Batgirl, but it's not a bone-stupid idea or a tiresome cliché like some of the story elements I objected to in Batgirl: Year One.

Giving up as Batgirl actually seems like a common-sense idea! She mentions being in Congress, so this version of Batgirl is not the current "Barbara in her early 20s" Batgirl or the "I'm a very tiny Batgirl with no dang sense at all" Batgirl of Batgirl: Year One. I think Batgirl in "The Last Batgirl Story" is Barbara Gordon in her 30s, and she's been Batgirl for as much as ten or twelve years. And that would wear anyone out!

I like the way that "The Last Batgirl Story" is kind of like a police procedural, but with Batgirl missing the big picture because she is too focused on Cormorant. It develops naturally from a murder in the library to a much more complicated situation, with Babs doing the police work through much of the issue, but also able to administer the beatdown when the time comes.

I'm definitely considering this one a contender for my Top Ten Favorite Batgirl Stories list.

That's would be an interesting list to see and compile.

That's a fun story to read and that's one of Sekowsky better work as an artist and it's has that charm and appeal that I liked so much. I can see the goofiest that you've mentioned here Hoosier X and I've no problems with it. Justice League of America #60 is one of my favorites and always be.