DC Comics announced Thursday that a new creative team will be taking over the Batgirl comic this October. The new storyline has Barbara Gordon losing everything in a fire, forcing her to start completely from scratch, including her costume.
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| Photo via MTV News |
In a series of standalone, single-issue stories that will be connected by a longer story arc, Batgirl will stand on her own to take on a variety of new villains (her first task is a sleazy Internet blackmailer).
Barbara assembles her new costume herself, modifying clothing from thrift stores that "reflects her youth and style," Stewart mentioned in an interview with MTV News. Featuring leather instead of spandex, it dons a snap-off cape and snapped gloves and what looks like yellow Doc Martins. "Unlike Batman or Batwoman, she no longer needs to stay in the shadows, and in fact learns to embrace the spotlight."
Fletcher and Stewart stated that Batgirl deserved a break from crime fighting and needed a change to focus on graduate school.
Before DC Comics relaunched with the New 52, Barbara Gordon was left bound to a wheelchair following the events in The Killing Joke, leading her to become the information guru and hacker known as Oracle in Birds of Prey. She later regained the use of her legs and returned to her vigilante position as Batgirl. Stewart lets us in on her new outlook on life:
Batgirl has really been put through the wringer in recent years—after being attacked and paralyzed by the Joker, her brother turning out to be a serial murderer, the trauma of her family breaking apart and the series of gruesome villains she's had to contend with, we figured she deserved a break from all that. Just prior to the start of our story she's pushed to the breaking point and decides that she'd had it with misery and darkness and wants a change. She wants the opportunity to have some fun and live the life of a young, single girl in the city, so she packs up and moves to Burnside, the cool, trendy borough of Gotham, to focus on grad school.
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| Lets fight crime, but first, let me take a selfie! |
"Barbara allows herself to be immersed in youth culture for the first time, exploring the social side of life in Burnside," Fletcher told MTV. "That's not to say there isn't mystery, of course! Try as she might to live a 'normal' life, Barbara very quickly finds herself drawn back into the world of crime fighting."
Their take on Babs, which was said will have a lighter tone of fun, adventure, and mystery, will mix the best elements from Veronica Mars, Girls, and Sherlock, leaving the rest of the Bat-family to deal with the darkness.
As far as featuring other Gotham super-residents, Stewart said that aside from those Barbara was formerly close with, the new comic is a clean break, meaning don't expect Nightwing or Poison Ivy to make an appearance any time soon.
Batgirl #35 will be on sale on October 8. Check out the full synopsis below.
BATGIRL #35
Written be CAMERON STEWART and BRENDEN FLETCHER
Art by BABS TARR
Cover by CAMERON STEWART
MONSTERS Variant cover by KEVIN NOWLAND
On sale OCTOBER 8, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US, RATED T
Barbara Gordon is no stranger to dusting herself off when disaster strikes…so when a fire destroys everything she owned, she spots the opportunity for a new lease one life—and seizes it! Following the rest of Gotham's young adults to the hip border district of Burnside, Barbara sets about building and all-new Batgirl…and discovers all-new threats preying on her peers! It's a re-invention of Batgirl from the boots up, by the incredible creative team of Cameron Stewart (BATMAN INC.), Brenden Fletcher (WEDNESDAY COMICS), and rising start artist Babs Tarr!
What do you think of the redesigned costume and new storyline? It's definitely intriguing, to say the least, though it really plays on the hipster style that goes with the neighborhood that's reminiscent of Williamsburg. Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
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