THE YEAR OF THE VILLAIN ‘The Offer’ has made its way over to BATGIRL, and it’s looking a little messy for our heroine. If that wasn’t enough for Barbs to deal with, BATGIRL #37 throws another plot thread into the mix.
*** BATGIRL #37 SPOILERS Below***
Whenever any major event happens in the comic book world, it’s a given that it’ll touch most character series as well. Well, here is the obligatory tie in issue for The Year of the Villain – ‘The Offer.’ That being said, you can honestly read this issue without any understanding of what is happening in that series. The only downside is that you might be slightly confused on why a typically blasé antagonist is going for Batgirl’s throat.
To be fair, the Moth really did need an upgrade. He wasn’t exactly a bad villain before this point, but he’s certainly more interesting when he’s not pulling his punches. And apparently he was very determined to make a name for himself here; by killing the infamous Batgirl. Or rather, he tried. It wouldn’t be very good for the series if she died right here, after all.
What was impressive about this issue is that they didn’t let the tie in railroad the entire issue. Instead, Cecil Castellucci, the writer, decided to simultaneously continue forward with the other plot that has been developing.
You may be wondering; how can you run two plots at once? Easy! While Batgirl is focused on one antagonist (Moth), let her other antagonists go off and do something else. Unfortunately, in this case, said antagonists seem to be in over their heads. It may very well turn out that they’ll end up wishing she had interfered. But only time will tell on that count.
It’s still strange at times to see Batgirl back in her classic black and gold crime-fighting suit. But then there are times when she goes up against a classic antagonist, and it just feels right. Batgirl #37 is one of those times.
There were a lot of flashy moments in this issue, thanks to the new tech that Moth got his hands on. It made for some very dramatic fighting, credit should be given to Carmine Digiandomenico and Jordie Bellaire for making the fight so much fun to look at.
Andworld Design handled the lettering for Batgirl #37, and it shows. There was a ton of dialogue and internal monologuing for this issue. Yet it was relatively easy to tell who was saying what. And give Andworld Design bonus points for altering the font and colors for the newly introduced character at the end. That was a nice touch.
Batgirl #37 took some risks in splitting up the perspectives like this, but it paid off. Jumping back and forth between a tie in plot and the main plot ended up feeling almost organic. And better yet, by continuing with Barbs’ quest, her readers didn’t end up feeling shafted (assuming that they’re not following the major event, of course).
It will be fascinating to see where this plot ends up leading. They’ve messed with Oracle in the past, but never to this extent. Any guesses on what they’re going to do with this new character?
