Gail Simone is writing the best Batbook right now--that has probably been true since the beginning of New 52, but Snyder really gave Batman a long-needed and refreshing overhaul with the Court of Owls, which I still consider the best pure "Gotham City" story in the setting's history. But when it comes to mixing the comic medium with the psychology of the non-superpowered folk, Gail Simone keeps the story of the renewed Barbara Gordon at the top of the class in terms of plotting, quality, and sel...

In my review for Vol.3 Death of the Family I talked about how things would change going forward and how exciting I was to read all about it. (view spoiler)[And as we know from Vol. 3 Barbara finally snaps and kills her brother. (hide spoiler)]Her father is then left to pick up the pieces and hunt Barbara down for murder. He basically tells Batman to step out of the way and not protect her or cover of her. Although at this point the relationship between Barbara and Bruce is so broken that I don't...

Very well done. Working too hard to create arch-villains (well beyond just villains), and a number of them, but the "ecosystem doesn't really support them -- where's Batman to help, or Batwoman or any other defender of Gotham.

Gail Simone's Batgirl continues to be an amazingly well-written book. Yes, it is dark--it is very dark in this case, but Barbara Gordon is stronger than darkness. She might be going through the gauntlet, but Simone makes every moment meaningful and worth it. I'm just sad there's only one more volume from her.

When it comes to many of the “New 52” titles I haven’t thought much of a lot of the writing, but Gail Simone continues to surprise me with Batgirl. This volume was a complete page turner with plenty of suspense. As I am still working thru my backlog of graphic novels I find that Batgirl is one title that is worth reading.

(B+) 77% | GoodNotes: Flat and mushy, it’s an unabating primal scream: prone to punching out of problems, and ill with chronic anticlimax.

4.5 starsAlso posted at Addicted2HeroinesI have such a girl-crush on Gail Simone!And if DC ever decides to take her unwillingly off of this title, I have no doubt I would boycott the bastards.This volume focuses on two different stories that crisscross and intersect very well, in my opinion.First, we get and introduction to the new (and I think vastly improved) Ventriloquist.Second, we see the fallout from the last volume, Batgirl: Death of the Family. Mainly, that Barbara isn't sure she can kee...

Gail Simone's Batgirl has been consistently impressive, and this volume is no exception. At the end of the previous volume, Babs killed her brother, James, to prevent him from killing their mother. Something like that will really screw a girl up, you know? Much of this volume is taken up with Babs working through this the only way that somebody like her can: entirely alone. She can't exactly confide in her therapist, after all. And for completely understandable reasons, she doesn't feel like she...

Bullet Review:It's so nice to pick up a comic and have almost every single issue be amazing. This is Batgirl. Well - minus the final issue of this volume. Didn't care for the art or the story - must be some what if story? No clue, don't wanna read a million other comics to find out either.

The new Batgirl of 52 is no longer Oracle nor bound to a wheelchair.In this installment she deals with a ton of personal issues and follows on the heels of a female villain with a dangerous, talking puppet.Wonderful artwork with grittiness and shadow applications. OVERALL GRADE: B plus.

This was a solid followup. Volume 3 was better but some things I did love in here. This is broken into two parts. First half revolves around a crazy puppet master chick with a doll who can, you guessed it, talk and kill people. Sounds dumb right? Actually it's the best part. Super exciting and fun and the villain is creepy as fuck and perverted so makes it entertaining. Then we have the second half where Knightfall go after Gordan cause he knows too much. Inbetween we got some fun little moments...

Babs is having a terrible time. I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first 2. Probably because I felt like the Ventriloquist villain dragged this down a bit. This is the aftermath of Babs' fight with her brother James in the last volume. I didn't think he was really dead because this is a comic book. She feels guilty and Gordon is on the warpath for Batgirl. For an interesting concept like that, we don't get as much on it as I would have thought. I'm used to Gordon being a big part of Batgirl'...

This story arc had some positives, but the things I disliked about it outweighed them. It's about my personal tastes and not about the quality of the storytelling.I liked Barbara/Batgirl’s struggle with guilt because she thinks she was forced to kill her psycho brother James Jr. to save their mother. She feels unworthy to wear the Bat emblem and call herself a heroine, and it’s good to see that kind of self-doubt in a heroic character. Jim Gordon’s determination to bring Batgirl to justice for k...

Another great volume to a great series. Last volume Batgirl crossed the line in killing her sadist of a brother James Gordon Jr. Not only must she deal with her own guilt but the wrath of her father Commissioner James Gordon. Yes he knows what his son was, but he was still his son. As penance Barbara give up the Batgirl costume and realises being Barbara Gordon is not really so bad. However Barbara is not the kind of person to take $hit from anyone no matter what clothes she wears. With the appe...

BE YOUR OWN DAMN HERO 💪

OK well, this started off a little ho-hum for me, but then Gail Simone kicked in, and I had a real female hero to read about, with real issues, not the usual crap that writers seem to think 'girls' do. I let this one simmer a bit since I read it (about 10 days ago), and yes, I think I'll still have to support 4+ stars. Never has Batgirl felt so relevant to me or to DC at large.Then I read this: http://io9.com/batgirls-new-uniform-m...Not only is Gail Simone done, but they are revamping...to make...

Babs just can't catch a break!This volume deals with the aftermath of her fight with her brother, James, and how she copes with it. Barbara decides to retire her cape, feeling she is no longer worthy of wearing the bat sigal. Due to recent events, and later events, Babs' relationship with her father is estranged. Jim is usually a big part of Batgirl stories but it was interesting to see his love for Barbara and disdain for Batgirl. His reluctance to learn her true identity surprised me for some

This comic was hands down excellent

Batgirl's journey under Gail Simone continues in this fourth volume. It opens with a battle against the Ventriloquist, a creepy new take on the character that preys on Barbara's shaken state of mind and yet is eerily hilarious at the same time thanks to the Ventriloquist's dummy's perverted sense of humour. The Ventriloquist Villain's Month issue is also pretty good, giving us some backstory, but it feels a little late since it comes after the main story involving her.The second arc in this volu...

More of the same. World: The art is okay, it's the same old same old for me. It's too dark in my opinion. The world building is okay for what Simone has done here, it makes sense in her world and it's just more doubling down on what the New52 was. Story: Yeah not my favorite because of the tone. This is my second time reading this and now they I look back at it there were a lot of deaths in the short time of the New52 and it was dark and close to torture porn. I don't like the contrived story of...