Batgirl (2016-2020) Annual #1

Batgirl (2016) (Single Issues)

by Hope Larson, Vita Ayala, Mat Lopes (Illustrator)

Batgirl and Supergirl must team up to break into Arkham Asylum! In this all-new Rebirth annual Batgirl must seek Supergirl’s help to solve a mystery that leads them to the heart of the most insane insane asylum there is! But what they discover—and who they discover—in Arkham will lead to a much, much bigger story!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Comic Book

44 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 29, 2017

About the author

Hope Larson is an American illustrator and comics artist. Hope Larson is the author of Salamander Dream, Gray Horses, Chiggers, and Mercury. She won a 2007 Eisner Award. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Reviews

[Ruchi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first half of the annual with Supergirl and Batgirl more than the second half with riot black. It was fun to see Batgirl and Supergirl's interactions and the introduction to the phantom zone was intriguing. I wasn't the biggest fan of the art, Barbara just looked so...girly and a bit anime like (just not my taste for her visual appearance). But overall pretty good.

[Arianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not only are they making Barbara act like a child, she also has to hang out with children! And apparently she risks being... grounded until she graduates (she is in college and working on her dissertation). I really hate this stuff.

[cauldronofevil · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s Bat Appreciation Week! Really!

”Prison Break ” starts with Batgirl in National City watching Red Spur (a cowboy themed villain) sabotaging environmental monitoring equipment. Then Supergirl shows up and takes his hat. She starts to fry him with heat vision and he jumps off the roof and parachutes away.

Supergirl asks her to help her break into a Cadmus black site that has Wayne tech security. A girl (Gail) telepathically told Supergirl she was imprisoned and sent her a map. Mentally.

Supergirl needs Batgirl’s help to be subtle about the whole thing in case it’s a mistake.

They break in but set off an alarm. They turn it off, but now have a time limit. They run into a kid who uses this as a chance to escape. He has cold powers. He attacks. They knock him out. They carry the kid along and ask him about Gayle. He knows where she is.

They find Gail and she says she needs to go to the Phantom Zone. Some there can fix her. Gail zaps Supergirl and then disappears.

They escape. The story is continued in Supergirl #10.

There were some cute moments. But the art and the misdirection to another comic lowers it by one. 2 stars

”Rain Check”
The next story starts in Gotham City, Chinatown. We are told these events take place before Batgirl #1.

She has tracked won Riot Black and his doctor? Working on his cybernetic eye. They fight but Riot throws his doctor out the window as a distraction.

She saves the doctor who gives her the schematics for Riot’s upgrades, saying he forced him to help him. She gives the disk to Frankie to analyze.

After several costume-related postponements, she finally goes out with Alysia to celebrate their friend-a-versary. Of course, Barbara gets a call from Frankie saying that Riot Black is going to get a serious upgrade tonight.

Barbara makes an excuse to bail but it backfires because Alysia is going to come with her.

When they get inside the building, Riot Black confronts them.

”Come on, babes show us the goods!”

Barbara Gordon and Riot Black fight. Alysia gets a few good hits and Barbara hits Riot with a drone that Frankie sent. They hold out until the police get there.

I actually liked this story - trying to keep your secret identity from your friends while trying to fight crime is an oldie but a goodie. Fun art as well. 4 stars

The two together make this annual a 3 star book. Personally I wouldn’t recommend it because of the way the first story just craps out with no resolution.

[Annemarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt kinda uninspired. The first story felt awkward and kinda out of character-ish. It felt very fanfic-y.
I liked the second story better, and the art of it was amazing <3 but it still wasn't anything special.

[Dilan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

It was a nice read but nothing would change if I did not read it.

[Rilana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starting off this year right

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely preferred the Batgirl and Supergirl conversation and team-up.

[Brad Garlich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great annual with superb illustration by Ayala. Really enjoyed the dynamic after meeting Supergirl and thought the second story was fun too.

[Maranda Prigmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read and enjoyed the return of riot black. Illustrations of both characters and storyline was great.