Tarr gets a lot more versatile this issue, tightening and loosening up where needed to get the most impact and sense of motion out of her action scenes. We also get to see her boldest and most animated faces yet, which comes out in force in the final pages with Alysia's long awaited return. Read Full Review

The villain resolution is a bit too pat (it's right out of the Reed Richards "let me just invent a gizmo that will solve your problem" school), but it's still a solid issue. Read Full Review

Batgirl #42 is another great issue of this fun, uplifting comic. Batgirl's superheroics are a ton of fun, using her smarts, her skills and her good nature to see a bad guy properly defeated. She's great with her friends, she's great with Batman; she's just all around great. This is fun comics and I love it. And Tarr's art is just so perfect for this title. Upbeat, energetic and dazzlingly colorful, Batgirl deserves to be a gold standard for how DC Comics should be from now on. This is the sort of comic that reminds me why I love superheroes so much! Read Full Review

I really enjoyed this, mainly for the art, but the story was solid as well. Read Full Review

Better action. Better Batgirl this issue. I'm still not 100% for this version, I think she comes off as a bit too young, but it's definitely hitting all the right notes for those that are or are lining up for her. As far a comic I really can't complain too much, it's at the least well made and for that it scores highly. Read Full Review

This issue was a fun, fast read that pushed the Batgirl/Batman drama into a whole new direction, ended Livewire's brief reign of terror and will make longtime Batgirl fans so happy.  The art and story really came together to make this an homage at the same time it sets up the future of the book.  I really enjoyed this issue and recommend the last two issues to everyone, even those turned off by Stewart, Fletcher and Tarr's new direction of the character. Read Full Review

The end result is an issue that is not as bad as it probably should have been. The novelty of the James Gordon Batman is already rubbing off, especially as DC is doing bigger things with Bruce Wayne elsewhere. The strange direction started off well enough but seems already to have stalled. While there was enough to hold this issue back, it still worked on a couple of different levels, both with the choice of villain and in the novel way that they chose to tell the story. It wasn't as good as what has been seen recently in this title, but still wasn't a bad effort. Read Full Review

There's ample potential when it comes to exploring the new Gordon family dynamic, and so far this series is doing a great job. This issue is fun and lighthearted, but also uses the complicated history between Jim and Barbara to great effect. Livewire's role in the story is pretty generic, but this issue is less about the villain than the Batgirl/Batman team-up. Read Full Review

The great thing about Batgirl #42 is how Babs Tarr's art continues to impress this deep into her run as artist on the title. Read Full Review

While there are some missed opportunities as far as the dynamic between Jim and Barbara Gordon, the sheer technique shown by the Batgirl crew makes this for a fun read, one that most people likely won't have the persnickety objections that I do. Batgirl still remains one of the brightest and most fun books in the DC lineup, and if the biggest complaint is that its most action-packed issue is too action-packed, it's a great problem for readers to have. Read Full Review

BATGIRL #42 shifts the focus almost entirely to Barbara's super-heroic work as Batgirl, so if that's an element that you've been missing it's definitely an issue for you to check out. However there's still enough character progression and spectacular art to keep regular readers happy. Read Full Review

Overall, the artwork ruled (as per usual), but the writing seriously let this one down. Every writer (or writers in this case), is entitled to a few bad issues, I'm going to say this is one of Stewart and Fletcher's. I really hope the next issue will be better. But in any case, Babs Tarr seriously rocked with her artwork, so if there was an excuse to read this one, it would be to see the amazing pieces of art Tarr has created. Read Full Review

This issue goes a little deeper than the previous and ultimately works out better for it. Given how well this first team-up worked out, Barbara's further interactions with the Batman will be something to see. Read Full Review

An unsurprising story with average art and odd coloring makes this a disappointment. What a bummer. Read Full Review

additionally, our new Batman is a GCPD issues Mech. Who reports to the police and is fully sanctioned. Like another familiar man in an iron suit, Jim doesn't like unregistered superheroes running around his city. And knows sooner than later the powers to be are going to point their new bat toy at Bruce's old companions. In a touching moment Jim disables his suits security cameras to confide his respect for Batgirl in what she and her companions have done for the city in their time, and gives her a running start. Read Full Review

The showdown between Livewire, Batgirl, and Bat-Chappie is entertaining, but feels like pretty standard fare. The action lacks genuine dramatic tension and the resolution depends on a deus ex machina bit of unexplained technology cooked up over night. If you're enjoying the regular series, here's some more of it. Otherwise, this book adds almost nothing to the ongoing narrative. Read Full Review

SPOILERS
It’s interesting, for the first time, this title did a little recap page of the last issue on the first page. It was a montage of events that looked like memories all hovering over Batgirl’s head.

I loved this parallel that this issue made in this scene where it addresses a question I had from the previous issue. Last issue I thought it was weird that Gordon Batman would want to take Batgirl in. In this issue, he tells her, he doesn’t want to, but is being forced to. Here’s the parallel I was talking about; he tells Batgirl that she should lay low cause it’s the only way he can keep her safe. As he is saying this to her, in her head, Barbara is recalls a memory where her father denies her wanting to join the police force cause it’s his job to keep her safe. She suddenly feels the protectiveness of her father, even as Batgirl, and that if keeping her safe was a priority, it would break his heart to know that she was really Batgirl . I really liked that moment!

There was a panel I just didn’t really get. I didn’t get what they were referring to with the line “haven’t even called,..” “always the smartest guy in the room,..” and the large sneaky grin Barbara had on her face. Maybe I missed something, or too thick-headed ha ha. Maybe Frankie is referring to the fact that she did something Barbara would normally take credit for, saying that Barbara normally calls herself the “smartest guy in the room?” But what is Barbara all “hee hee” with that grin for?

Another panel I thought was interesting is where Batgirl and this guy, sorry forget his name, have this flirting moment. I didn’t realize she liked him, and I guess neither did she, and they have this slightly odd moment.

My review is too long. CONTINUE at www.kcrrlives.wordpress.com, https://kcrrlives.wordpress.com/2015/11/12/comic-meanderings-this-week/ more

Tarr's art continues to infantilize Barbara, but we have a few egregious examples in this one. The first one comes during a cringe-worthy "tee hee" moment, where Barbara pulls some shades out of thin-air and has a cartoon-style smile. The second and third are the panels during her fawning over Qadir, where her expressions in the two panels with completely bright pink backgrounds break the limits of sickly-sweet and enter straight-up vomit-worthy territory. The final one is a combination of the panels where she's winking at her father at the beginning and end of their fight against Livewire. Meanwhile, after a reprieve last week we're back to the writers destroying Barbara's character. A large portion of this issue consists of Batgirl's interaction with her own father, so you might think she'd be careful to avoid exposing her identity by coming across as too familiar, but no, not here. In fact, she acts more like her father's daughter than she usually does under the cowl, to the point of asking for a high five after she helps her father take down Livewire. Barbara Gordon's meant to be an intelligent woman, but as usual under this creative team, she comes across as a little more basic than that. more