This parallel universe story continues showcasing Barbara Gordon as Batgirl and her cousin Carrie Kelly as Robin. (See The Dark Knight Returns.) After bluffing to Barbara’s father (interestingly depicted as wheelchair-bound in an homage to Babs’ Oracle identity) about a girls night out, the pair don their super costumes, enhanced by tech from Natasha Irons a.k.a. Steel and interupt Poison Ivy, who is set to kill a couple out on their first date. Ivy has backup, however, as Catwoman and Harley Quinn join the fray. In the background, Duella Dent, “The Joker’s Daughter”, calls the shots and Babs is taken captive.
The villains team up with Cheetah, who battled Wonder Woman last issue. Meanwhile, Robin goes to get Steel to help her free Batgirl, who quickly finds herself in over her head… literally!
The art in this issue was not to my liking. It’s okay and has a kinda indie vibe. But there are a few panels with really wonky anatomy and overall, the aesthetic is just too crude and rough for me. I actually own a lot of the Ame-Comi statues and one of the coolest things are the cutting edge redesigns of the character’s costumes, but the art, by Sanford Greene fails to capture the coolness of the original designs. For instance, Catwoman has these rather inexplicable panels on her thighs, held in place by straps. On the statue, it looks okay, but here it seems really odd.
The writing is okay, though. The idea of making Carrie Babs’ cousin is a fine reconciliation, although Carrie, with her black hair, looks nothing like the Dark Knight character. (Then again, I guess she’s not really the same person.) The storyline isn’t revolutionary, but it’s entertaining enough and the dialogue is enough to offset the less than pleasing artwork.
This is kind of an anthology book, so the next volume will feature different art, but a continuation of this story, so we’ll see how I react to that. This book is entertaining enough.
AME-COMI GIRLS #2
Written by Jimmy palmiotti and Justin Gray
Art and Cover by Sanford Greene
