COMIC BOOK REVIEW - Batgirl: The Darkest Reflection

By The Masked Medic

When you think about it, of all the members of the Bat-family, the one who ironically shares the majority of her name with Batman, is the one character who I feel has been the most independent of the lot. With WB supposedly scouting for a Batgirl film, it’s easy to see how she could provide the big screen with another badass female hero.

‘The Darkest Reflection’ essentially is a two-part story. The first half of the novel deals with Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, coming to terms with the fact that she’s no longer in a wheelchair. Now back on the streets as a vigilante again, she faces off against a villain called Mirror, who targets people who should have died but survived so he can deliver death to them himself. The second half is a story about a meta-human villain who has the ability to hypnotise people and is attempting to target men, in particular, who she deems are doing wrong. When Bruce Wayne becomes one of her targets, Batgirl has to step in to save the day.

In terms of character development, I thought this was a really good novel. It deals with Barbara coming to terms with the change in her identity once more and I personally thought it had been done well. I also really appreciated that it very much was a solo venture and didn’t rely on supporting characters!

The artwork was vivid and I liked the contrast between the colours of the novel. The covers, however, I was not particularly fond of. Overall, I thought this was a good novel and I’m looking forward to reading more!

Favourite Panel:

You tell him Batgirl!

Favourite Character:

Batgirl. Obviously in this novel, she was awesome!

Rating:

• Story Arc: ★★★

• Character Development: ★★★★

• Artwork: ★★★½

• Enjoyability: ★★★½

• Re-readability: ★★★

Level: Intermediate