Batgirl, Volume 1: Beyond Burnside by Hope Larson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book marks the DC Rebirth beginning of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl as she travels through Asia, meets an old high school flame, and encounters a country-spanning mystery, which is resolved in the second to last issue. In the final issue in the book we get a fun meeting with Poison Ivy on a plane.

The art is decent, the actual mystery story is, on its own, okay, and held my attention. I liked the character and the story showed some good research had been done.

My problem with the book is that I didn't see the point of it. My hope with the Rebirth books is that they would serve as an easy jumping on point for new readers. This book fails at that. Why is Barbara travelling Asia? What does she do in Burnside? Who is her best friend in the wheelchair she calls a couple of times? I've got the Burnside books on my to-read list, but if I have to read them before I know what's going on with the character, then the point of Rebirth is somewhat lost with Batgirl.

I did like the character, so I will probably pick up Volume 2, but this book doesn't work as a jumping on point.



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