Batgirl Volume 1: Batgirl of Burnside by Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr

Batgirl Volume 1: Batgirl of Burnside written by Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher and illustrated by Babs Tarr is the start of a new story for Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. This is also the first Batgirl comic that I've read.

Barbara Gordon is no stranger to dusting herself off when disaster strikes, so when a fire destroys everything she owns, she spots the opportunity for a new lease on life – and seizes it! Following the rest of Gotham City’s young adults to the hip border district of Burnside, Barbara sets about building an all-new Batgirl…and discovers new threats preying on her peers! As the new hero of Burnside, Batgirl gets started by facing twin sister assassins on motorcycles!

Although this is a volume one and a new start for Batgirl, it actually contains issues #35–40, meaning it doesn't quite work as a complete origin story for the character. I was not previously very familiar with Batgirl, and I was a little bit lost at the start when there are references made to her previous life. If I hadn't heard a Galactic Suburbia discussion about Barbara Gordon being in a wheelchair, then I think I would've been even more confused. (Note this volume actually takes place after Babs has been magically cured of her paralysis.) That said, the wheelchair aspect did become clear towards the latter part of the volume.

This is set in the DC universe, which is filled with city names that differ from the real world. There were a large number of fake social media references were actually very "now" and easy to follow. I suspect someone living under a social media rock may have felt a little bit lost, however. Another aspect I quite liked was that Barbara Gordon was doing a PhD while also being a superhero. I like the trend of clever female superheroes.

So, although the start could have been a little bit clearer more, it wasn't too bad and I would recommend this as a starting point for Batgirl. Keep in mind, though, that I am saying this is someone who hasn't read any other Batgirl comics. Having read this volume, I am interested in reading the next and have added Batgirl to my mental list of female superheroes that don't suck (which also contains almost all the other female superhero comics I've reviewed here, if you're wondering).

4 / 5 stars

First published: 2015, DC Comics
Series: Yes. Issues #35–40 of the 2011 run. Don't ask me how that logically translates to a Volume 1, although it is a sensible starting point story-wise.
Format read: Trade paperback
Source: Present or something like that

Lois Lane: Double Down by Gwenda Bond

Lois Lane: Double Down by Gwenda Bond is the second novel about a teenage Lois Lane set in a near future world. I have previously read and reviewed the first novel, Fallout.

Lois Lane has settled in to her new school. She has friends, for maybe the first time in her life. She has a job that challenges her. And her friendship is growing with SmallvilleGuy, her online maybe-more-than-a-friend. But when her friend Maddy’s twin collapses in a part of town she never should’ve been in, Lois finds herself embroiled in a dangerous mystery that brings her closer to the dirty underbelly of Metropolis.

Like the first Lois Lane book, this one also features weird science fictional phenomena, teenaged reporters and teenaged Superman on the other end of an online chat. It also still has a lot of story elements in common with Veronica Mars (the TV show), which isn't a bad thing.

In this story, we see Lois trying very hard to maintain her friendship with Maddy — not because anything exactly goes wrong, but more because she's terrified of stuffing it up. The friendships that were established in the first book are developed further in this one, including Lois's non-school relationships, like with her sister and SmallvilleGuy. This is all set against the backdrop of trying to solve some weird stuff that's been going on with Maddy's twin sister, who we only met briefly in the previous book.

The most enticing aspect of this book, for me, was the background developments relating to superheroes. For example, speculation about a "flying man" intensifies on the conspiracy theory messageboards Lois frequents. While we, the reader, know about Superman and much more of SmallvilleGuy's backstory than Lois does, the story never mentions anything that would be outside Lois's knowledge. This is a really interesting method of storytelling and only works because the audience is guaranteed to make the additional links. And I say this as someone not especially invested in DC comics, who hasn't read any pertaining to these characters and has only been exposed to a bit of TV (mainly Supergirl, which has done a similar thing with Superman's character so far, and The New Adventures of Lois and Clarke, whenever that aired on Australian TV a loooong time ago). You don't have to be an expert on the Superman mythos to enjoy this book.

That said, I do know enough to know that the setting of these Lois Lane books is different to that of other renditions of the same characters. I would really like to see more of this universe. Both because I want more Lois stories, and because I am interested in how the future will play out given the higher technological level of the present. How does Superman growing up with smartphones change things? How will Lois and Clarke eventually work at the Daily Planet together in a world of dying print journalism? How will keeping in touch online from their teens affect their adult relationship? Aside from the key issue of being Superman, there's a lot of honesty between then, and I can't imagine Clarke coming to work at the Daily Planet without SmallvillGuy revealing that part of his identity to Lois (which would then make her even more suspicious...). What about facial recognition (because, wow, that's a problem I have with Supergirl and her "disguise" too...)? These are all questions I would love to see at least partially answered in future books.

I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to fans of Lois Lane (duh) and Veronica Mars. Any magical superhero elements are really minor, if that's not your sort of thing, and the near future technology is much more prominent. You don't have to have read the first book for this one to work, but I do recommend doing so, if only for the progression of Lois's friendships and so forth.

4.5 / 5 stars


First published: May 2016, Switch Press
Series: Lois Lane book 2 of 2 (so far, but fingers crossed for more to come)
Format read: Hardcover
Source: Purchased at Minotaur

Gotham Academy Vol 2: Calamity by Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher

Gotham Academy Vol 2: Calamity written by Becky Cloonan and illustrated by Brenden Fletcher is the second collected volume of these YA comics set in a boarding school in DC's main comic universe (the one with Batman and Arkham Asylum in it). I have previously reviewed Vol 1: Welcome to Gotham Academy.

Olive has received information that her mother might be alive—and now, she and her friends must investigate! Of course werewolves, ghosts, and new student Damian Wayne won’t make it easy!

I did not enjoy this volume as much as the first. I spent a lot of the first couple of issues being confused about what was going on. And then, when things became clearer, it wasn't satisfying because I could see no reason for things to have been confusing in the first place. Also the existence of werewolves in a superhero universe seemed odd to me, but that's probably just my unfamiliarity with the DC universe (compared with Marvel) talking.

The larger, more overarching story in this volume is about Olive's mother and whether/how/why she was a supervillain. This is more interesting than the werewolf story and makes a bit more sense too... but I still think it could have been more coherently written. I am not sure if this is because we were supposed to pick up references to other DC comics (Google tells me Olive's mum has appeared in a few other comics that I haven't read), or what. It all made sense in the end — just — but I'm not sure it was worth the several pages of "wait, what's happening?" that I experienced near the start.

All that aside, I would still definitely pick up the next volume. I still like the characters and I think the series overall is still worth reading. The ending of this volume hints at how the story and characters (especially Olive) might develop in the future. I look forward to finding out how it goes.

On a side note, having a boarding school linked by secret tunnels to Arkham Asylum is pretty irresponsible. Furthermore, the existence of the latter is super ableist, wow. Even if it has been shut down/abandoned by the time Gotham Academy takes place.

I recommend this volume if you liked the first, but don't expect it to surpass the first in enjoyment. Although this is a bit of a step down, I'm not ready to give up on this series yet and will be picking up the next volume when I can.

3.5 / 5 stars

First published: March 2016, DC Comics
Series: Gotham Academy Vol 2 of ongoing series, containing issues #7–12
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

Harley Quinn Vol 1: Hot In The City by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti

Harley Quinn Vol 1: Hot In The City by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti is the first collection of "New 52" Harley Quinn comics which, I believe, included a redesign of the character. I'm not as familiar with DC oeuvre as I am with Marvel, but my understanding is that Harley Quinn started out as a Batman villain and now gets to be the protagonist of her own stories. I'm sure I'm skipping a lot of details there. This particular book was recommended to me as a good place to start with regards to Harley Quinn.

Fresh from BATMAN: DEATH OF THE FAMILY and SUICIDE SQUAD, Harley Quinn returns to her first solo series in the New 52! The writing team of Jimmy Palmiotti (ALL STAR WESTERN) and Amanda Conner (BEFORE WATCHMEN: SILK SPECTRE) unleashed Harley on an unsuspecting DC Universe, as she encounters various heroes and villains ... and leaves no one unscathed in her wake!

The best way I can think of to describe Harley Quinn is "Harley Quinn is your problematic fave." Or my problematic fave, at least. There is much about her basic character to raise an eyebrow at, starting with the fact that she is "crazy", skipping over the violence, and ending with her full-body bleach job.

In general this is a light-hearted comic. Harley Quinn's main aim in life, as far as I can see, is to have fun once the basic necessities are taken care of. This volume opens with her inheriting a building on Coney Island and needing to raise some money to maintain it. In pursuit of this she takes a job on a roller-derby team and as a therapist (which, as Dr Quinn, she is actually trained to do). She also gets involved with a large number of rescue pets and torturers (not simultaneously).

My favourite parts of this comic were those featuring Harley's best friend, Poison Ivy. Ivy has actual superpowers — unlike Harley — relating to plants and generally helps out with or is an accomplice to Harley's shenanigans. My other favourite aspect of this comic was the way in which Harley (and co) were not sexualised in the artwork. Harley has a tendency to wear skimpy clothes (see cover), but they are always her choice and she was not posed in any icky ways. Yay for the artists!

Ultimately, I think this Harley Quinn comic is designed to be entertaining so long as you don't think too hard about it. It is very violent, which might put some people off, and while it is "joke" violence, in a way, it is still pretty graphic. I plan to keep reading this series for the time being, and ignoring the part of my mind that points out all the problematic elements.

4 / 5 stars

First published: 2014, DC Comics
Series: Vol 1 of "New 52" run of Harley Quinn, contains issues #0–8 of the ongoing series
Format read: Trade paperback
Source: non-Amazon online book shop

Gotham Academy Vol 1: Welcome to Gotham Academy by Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher

Gotham Academy Vol 1: Welcome to Gotham Academy written by Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher and illustrated by Karl Kerschl is the first volume in a completely new series. I haven't read very much DC stuff before, so going into this I wasn't sure if I would be missing some background knowledge (I wasn't). I also thought it was going to be an academy for little superheroes, but as far as I can tell they were all relatively normal teenagers (which didn't make it a bad book).

Gotham City’s most prestigious prep school is a very strange place. It’s got a spooky campus, oddball teachers, and rich benefactors always dropping by...like that weirdo Bruce Wayne. But nothing is as strange as the students! Like, what’s up with Olive Silverlock? Is she crazy or what? Where did she go last summer? And what’s the deal with her creepy mom? And how come that freshman Maps is always following her around? And is she still going out with Kyle? P.S. Did you hear the rumor about the ghost in the North Hall?!

This was a fun read. The story starts off with Olive, a second year student, being told to show new student Maps around the campus. They're sort of friends, but Olive has some boyfriendish history with Maps's brother and is generally not happy to be back at school with everyone wondering what she did over the summer. At this point I found myself wondering if I had missed something by not reading some other earlier comic. I have to admit, if it had been an ordinary book or not part of a larger comics universe I probably wouldn't have questioned the slow reveal of her past, but as it was I wasn't sure if there was something else I should know until later. As it happens, we do end up finding out everything we need to know within this volume. The mystery is supposed to be mysterious and it's resolved by the time we get to the end. I really enjoyed this complete experience. It was refreshing to realise that no, I hadn't missed anything, and that I was holding a complete story in my hand.

So, if it's not a school for superheroes, what is it? Well an almost-ordinary boarding school, funded by Bruce Wayne, housed in a creepy old set of buildings (of course), that may or may not be haunted. Olive and friends find themselves on the trail of a ghost. Is it real? Is it a practical joke? How many school mysteries will they unearth in the process? What really happened over the summer and how does Arkham Asylum fit in with anything? You'll just have to read Gotham Academy to find out.

I really liked this YA, girl-centred book. I highly recommend it to fans of comics and YA stories. You do not need to know anything about the DC universe to enjoy it (not even the secret identity of Batman) because it's a new series with new characters. A great read.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: June 2015, DC Comics
Series: Gotham Academy Vol 1 of ongoing series, containing issues #1–6
Format read: eARC of rather disappointing quality
Source: Publisher via NetGalley