Some silliness involving Batgirl's identity notwithstanding, this is best of Hope Larson's "Beyond Burnside" opening arc yet. As the story unravels, we get to see how this mystery is perfectly suited for the specific talents of Barbara Gordon: her tech savvy, her eidetic memory, her big heart, and all her fighting skill have come into play along this journey. Now she's about to take on an unexpected antagonist: not merely a deadly martial artist, but perhaps an undead one? Read Full Review

Overall, another solid issue for Hope Larson's Batgirl, and one that gave us some significant answers right on time. Come for the charm of Babs' travel, and stay to solve the mystery and see what Babs learns from it all before she returns home to Gotham a stronger person. Read Full Review

This is a strong issue. The art is great throughout and a lot of fun to look at. Larson presents interesting motivations for the villains and ideas about the education system both of which work very well. As usual, Larson characterizes Babs very well. She is fun and upbeat but has her limits and can be tough. I recommend checking this issue out; it's a fun read. Read Full Review

Fans who stuck with this series are being rewarded with beautiful work from Rafael Albuquerque and Dave McCaig. Hope Larson's story ooze with classic Batman-ish cheese and mysterious new characters. Read Full Review

Batgirl kicks butt and delivers one of the most refreshing comics when it comes to visuals in ages. Read Full Review

In Conclusion: Barbara Gordon stakes out a place for herself as one of the Bat-Familys strongest members, both in mind and combat, as she rids Asia of a pernicious super villain's gang. Read Full Review

A more conventional issue of a Batgirl book that isnt conventional at all. Read Full Review

The plot in this first arc has become a bit convoluted as Batgirl continues to bounce from one Asian city to the next. What began as a simple tale of Batgirl taking a vacation and getting in touch with her inner warrior has suddenly become an international romp involving wacky villains spawned by the horrors of cram school. Read Full Review

It's things like this which bring this issue to a grinding halt at all the wrong moments. It's still telling a relatively cohesive story, but that story isn't particularly good. It looks okay on the surface, but the suspension of disbelief has crashed down with a dull thud. Because of that, at the end of the day the only thing keeping readers from ditching this series is a love of Batgirl as a character. But, as stated, there's no reason to care about her here. Read Full Review

Batgirl is still a fine continuation of Batgirl of Burnside, though it's lost some of its spark. Larson and Albuquerque are telling a nice story in the new issue, with a lot of action, but they've already squandered the unique setting they've worked so hard to use. Read Full Review

Now, however, what I want more than ever is a comic about a group of kids who flunk out of school only to be recruited and trained to be an international crime syndicate. Maybe a story about a bunch of kids donning masks for a life of international danger in the hope of a second chance and maybe a young girl still hopeful even in spite of the overwhelming cynicism of her coworkers. That sounds like it could be pretty good. Read Full Review

There are too many convenient plot holes and unanswered questions in this story, and some of the answers given in this issue are incredibly stupid. I don't really mind the ideas behind this story, but the execution seems ham-fisted and sloppy. Rafael Albuquerque's art on the book is phenomenal, however, and lends a lot of drama to otherwise head-scratching scenes. Read Full Review

At this stage I'm sticking with the book primarily to see if we get Barbara back into more familiar settings, give her something resembling a life, and provide more foundations for her. The world trip is an idea that works for some books and characters, and this is one of them, but with it being a monthly series and without the strong narrative that it needs, it all just comes across as uninteresting as a whole. The small slivers of enjoyment are there, particularly in the artwork, but that can't carry the book for very long and I know my interest is waning more than I'd like at this stage. Read Full Review

Not a great issue. I'm starting to find some holes in this story. Kai should know that Barbara Gordon is Batgirl because it doesn't really make sense that Barbara and Batgirl would be in Tokyo together at the same time.

This issue had Batgirl racing against time to protect Kai. As she had always suspected, Kai is a part of a biological bacteria smuggling operation that is supposed to help our villains pass a college entrance exam.

I liked the issue and I enjoyed seeing Barbara working through the mystery.

One think I really enjoyed in this episode was Batgirl's confrontation with Kai. It was nice to see Batgirl speaking up for herself and acting as her own protector.

I'm slowly reading this book issue by issue. I'm interested enough to keep reading and I don't want to wait until the trade comes out, I like having the issues. But I'm in no rush.

Pretty boring. Not a fan of this version of Batgirl (even though it's a little better than Burnside. Dropped the series after this issue.