Batgirl #5
Right off the bat let me say that this was a solid issue that is well worth reading. The interaction between Batgirl/Stephanie and Robin/Damian, two polar opposite characters, is just great. Writer Bryan Q. Miller really nailed both characters dead on. Robin/Damian is angry, contemptuous and condescending to Batgirl/Stephanie but he is still curious and maybe even attracted to her a little in a schoolboy crush kind of way. Batgirl/Stephanie for her part tries to reach out to him to find common ground on which to build a friendship or at least a workable partnership.
These aren’t the only great character building or character revealing parts of the issue. The reader is treated to great moments between Dick and Barbara. Then a few pages later we get another great moment with Barbara when her father tries to set her up with a guy from the police department. We also get to see Stephanie at college trying to balance the two very different sides of her life.
While this is not a great issue, it is an enjoyable character development focused issue with just enough action in it to keep it from becoming boring. At the same time Miller is able to move the story along just enough to keep this issue from bogging down the series as a whole.
Overall, I think this issue is well written with solid art to go along with it. The artist did make one careless slip-up on page six of the story. See if you can spot it when you get this issue.
Keith Forney