Batgirl #15 // Review
Cass keeps asking Nissa for the truth. Nissa isn’t exactly forthcoming...at first. There is, of course, a whole story that she's capable of telling her. And Cass is perfectly happy to listen. However, there is a question that she needs to ask at the end of it all. It’s a simple question with a simple answer, but it's not exactly the answer that she is looking for. It's something beyond to the answer. Cass learns a bit more in Batgirl #15. Writer Tate Brombal continues a journey with Cass that is brought to the page by artist Stephen Segovia and colorist Rain Beredo.
“What color is the sky?” It's a simple question. Cass asks Nissa. Nissa tells her that the sky is blue. There is a brief silence. “Even when you state a fact,” says Cass. “I can’t read if it’s truth or lie.” Cass might have come looking for answers, but she's not really going to be very satisfied with the way those answers fall on her ear. And so the intrigue continues. And there's a lot of frustration. And there's a lot of her blaming herself for things that have happened in the past. It said dark moment for Batgirl.
Brombal is working a lot with narratives that exist beyond the presence of the present. It's gonna be really difficult to get into for those who aren't already very well-versed in the backstory of what's going on. The problem is that even those who are already familiar with everything that the author is exploring aren’t necessarily having a good time with it. Too much of the drama of the story rests beyond what's actually going on in the panel. The drama doesn't feel as present on the page as it should. Theoretically there should have been a way for Cass to explore her backstory that would engage what's going on in her life just a little bit more. The presence of the present just isn't there.
The fact that the drama isn't a total drag to try to get through has a lot to do with the work of Segovia. There are tight close-ups on faces that seem to suggest a great deal of subtlety and nuance in motion and intention. Honestly, the level of drama that's coming out in the art is well beyond what's being drawn for the page by the author. It's possible that the script just doesn't deserve art. That's this good. All of this being said, they IS, in fact, action that meets the page. And when it does, it really kicks in a very dynamic wave that is given quite a bit of death and impact by the coloring of Beredo.
It's going to be nice to have Cass back in the states in her own book. She's spent so much more of a compelling character in.Birds of Prey series that has recently come to a close. And she is a really interesting character. She's a lot of fun. It just takes the right kind of writer to be able to bring her to the page in the way that's truly compelling. Brombal simply isn't doing a very good job with it.
