Batgirls #7 - DC Comics

BATGIRLS No.7, August 2022

For those Batfans able to negotiate their way through Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad’s surprisingly sedentary storyline for Issue Seven of “Batgirls”, it was probably very clear just why “DC Comics” needed to ‘pump up’ the enthusiasm for the book by largely focusing its solicitation upon the mysterious identity of the serial killer known as the Hill Ripper, rather than what this twenty-two page periodical genuinely contains. Yet whilst such a debatably dishonest ploy might have tricked a few ill-fated bibliophiles to pick a copy up off their local store’s spinner rack, the actual narrative to “Bad Reputation” will arguably have ensured that few readers would make a similar mistake again.

Indeed, considering that this magazine contains the murderous mercenaries known as the Saints and Barbara Gordon’s arch-nemesis Seer, as well as a covert mission to infiltrate Oswald Cobblepot’s felon-filled Iceberg Lounge, many devotees must have been bitterly disappointed that nothing much action-orientated occurs within its cover. Sure, the publication opens dynamically enough with Kira Kosov apparently racing for her life across the rooftops of a night-time Gotham City. However, even this short-lived, adrenalin-pumping act is soon shown to be nothing more than a sham to lure Tarsus, Assisi and Valentine into Oracle’s trap.

Furthermore, this comic’s collaborative writing team appear to unashamedly test their audience’s willing suspension of disbelief by skirting over the fact that the Saints had previously been well and truly defeated by the Batgirls, courtesy of a single line stating that the supposedly imprisoned “ex-Magistrate splinter cell” simply “vanished” from police custody before they could be booked in at Central Station. Quite possibly such an ‘unusual’ escape would be much more forgivable if incoming artist Robbi Rodriguez had actually been given an opportunity to draw their escape. But instead, the co-creator of Spider-Gwen is disappointingly tasked with simply pencilling numerous panels featuring alcoholic news reporter Grave O’Halloran talking nonsense or Barbara getting dressed up for a date with Dick Grayson; “I don’t care! How am I supposed to kick butt in a dress?”

In fact, the illustrator’s layouts must have come as something of a shock to those readers who have been collecting this ongoing series from its start, as the American’s heavily-laden line style somewhat shocking jars with the much more quirky drawing technique employed by his predecessor Jorge Corona – a striking contrast which is probably made all the worse by this book having Corona sketch its cover.

Story: Becky Cloonan & Michael Conrad, Art: Robbie Rodriguez, and Colors: Rico Benzi