With all of the shake ups coming in the DCU later this Fall, taking Bryan Q. Miller and his wonderfully written Stephanie Brown out of the Batgirl suit is just criminal. No offense Gail Simone. That being said, the new Batgirl #1 is one of the 52 new titles that I will be picking up in September, but as I have said before this Batgirl book is the best book in the DC Universe. I’m looking forward to the last few issues of this adventure.
When you are a happening fresh-faced college gal on-the-go being dispatched to London on a top-secret Batman Inc. assignment sounds like a great plan. Stephanie Brown arrives only to learn that the Greenwich Mean has been stolen. In fact, the Greenwich Mean is an actual thing keeping a crack in time plugged. As all of London literally grinds to a halt, it’s up to Batgirl and Squire to save the United Kingdom and the World.
The best part of this book wasn’t the action and saving the Greenwich Mean even though that was great because Batgirl and Squire make quite the formidable team. But, the best part of this book was the after action with Batgirl and Squire sharing about what life is like living in the shadow of the Bat.
When it comes to Bryan Q. Miller’s take on Batgirl and Stephanie Brown this quote from Squire says it all:
“It’s me who should be jealous Stephanie… you most certainly are not a sidekick”
That simple statement sums up Steph’s career as a crime fighter really well, as Spoiler she played by her own rules and pushed Robin (Tim Drake) to be a better hero. In her brief stint as Robin she was learning but still worked best with autonomy. Finally, as Batgirl she flourished into a force for good and fully embraced her role as hero and protector.
Of course Batgirl wasn’t just sent to London just to save the day, and while she was late for her intended meet up with Batman at the hotel rendezvous, this story will is not over and will continue in Batman Incorporated #9. I’m pretty excited to see what happens with Stephanie Brown, International Woman of Mystery.
