Batgirls #11 // Review
The Killer Moth is upside down in a dark place. He’s trapped. Luckily, he’s about to be rescued. He might not like who he’s about to be rescued by, though, as writers Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad continue to establish an extremely appealing three-woman Batgirls team. The deeply enjoyable series enters its 11th issue with art by Neil Googe and inkers Scott Godlewski and Wayne Faucher. Color comes to the page courtesy of Rico Renzi. The mix of action, drama, and wit makes for a fun combination in the third part of the “Bat Girl Summer” storyline.
GCPD clearly didn’t know what it was doing. They tried to get ahold of the Batgirls by bat signal. Lucky for them, it worked. They have information about a killer who has been terrorizing Gotham City. Some of them want the Batgirls in on the investigation. The Batgirls invite a whole bunch of others into the investigation. With everyone knowing what GCPD leaked to the public, it’s only a matter of time before the Hill murderer is caught. Meanwhile, there’s a small matter of a date at the Gotham Zoo. It’s a casual social thing that ends up involving work for the Batgirls...work that will naturally lead to danger.
Cloonan and Conrad have been deftly increasing tensions over the course of the series thus far. With the 11th issue, they give the team a little bit of breathing room at a zoo. Steph and Cass have a bit of a moment to relax amidst increasing stress in and around Gotham. Cloonan and Conrad cleverly work an extended ensemble of characters. Everyone in the reach of the Batgirls seems interesting in a different way. Typically with an ensemble as big as the one Cloonan and Conrad are working with, there’re one or two characters who simply aren’t as intriguing. Conrad and Cloonan manage to keep everyone fresh and distinct. It’s quite a balancing act.
Neil Googe’s art is a classy, expressive amplification of drama and action. Though it works well in the casual environment of the Gotham City Zoo, it works best in action sequences without a whole lot of atmosphere in the background. (Aside from a few establishing shots, Googe’s backgrounds lack depth.) Once Cass and Steph launch into action, Googe’s sense of motion and aggression moves fluidly across the moody page. When the energy gets rolling, it’s great fun to see Googe’s art dance through Cloonan and Conrad’s script.
Cloonan and Conrad have been playing around the edges of the Gotham City milieu. There’s an intricate and nuanced understanding of the psyches of all three members of the team. With the eleventh issue, they dive directly into something far more central to Batman-related storytelling. They do so in a way that maintains the cleverly witty dynamic between Cass, Steph, and Babs. Conrad and Cloonan are expanding Gotham City much more than many of the other attempts that are currently on the comics rack.
