{"id":3369,"date":"2009-04-25T06:00:22","date_gmt":"2009-04-25T06:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=3369"},"modified":"2009-04-30T22:08:58","modified_gmt":"2009-04-30T22:08:58","slug":"batgirl-fists-of-fury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2009\/04\/25\/batgirl-fists-of-fury\/","title":{"rendered":"Batgirl: Fists of Fury"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Kelley Puckett<\/strong>, Scott Peterson<\/strong>, Damion Scott, Vincent Giarrano, Phil Noto <\/strong>&<\/strong> various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-84023-820-4<\/p>\n

After Gotham City was devastated by an earthquake (Batman: Cataclysm<\/strong> ISBN13: 978-1-56389-527-2) it was abandoned by the US government in a prescient foretaste of what happened to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina (see also Batman: No Man’s Land<\/strong> Volumes 1-3, ISBN 13’s: 978-1-56389-564-7, 978-1-56389-599-9, and 978-1-56389-634-7 respectively). From the rubble, a few heroes struggled to protect the innocent. One of these was a new incarnation of Batgirl.<\/p>\n

The crisis ended, a semblance of normality returned to the battered metropolis, and the new heroine got her own series. Mentored by Babs Gordon, the wheelchair-bound crime-fighter called Oracle (and the previous Batgirl) who now runs the Birds of Prey, the new wearer of the cape-and-cowl is something of a problem.<\/p>\n

Raised as an experiment by martial arts super-assassin David Cain, she could not speak or communicate in any normal manner since her language centres were over-ridden by Cain to make combat her only method of expression. An apparent runaway, she was adopted by Batman as a weapon in his never-ending battle, but the more humane Oracle has become her guardian and teacher.<\/p>\n

Her learning disabilities alleviated by a telepath, Cassandra Cain is beginning to adapt to a normal world, but things are still skewed since she defeated Lady Shiva – the most dangerous person on Earth – in a martial arts duel. By beating someone even Batman never could, she’s forced her close circle of new friends to look at her in a different way, and the inevitable challengers for Shiva’s title are now dogging her tracks…<\/p>\n

This third collection of tales gathers together Batgirl<\/strong> #15, 16, 21, and 26-28: a seemingly disjointed array of stories that actually blend together surprisingly well.<\/p>\n

Puckett and Peterson’s scripts are always lightning paced, sparsely dialogued and both have perfect ears for the great one-liner. The art from Damion Scott, Vincent Giarrano, Phil Noto, <\/strong>Robert Campenella and Jesse Delperdang is light and brisk with a delightful flavour of anime – if not quite manga – about it, and three of the six untitled stories (don’t ask me why) run the range from the dramatic tale of a mad scientist’s murder ray, a boy’s desperate plea to stop his dad becoming a killer and a purely manic tie-in to the Last Laugh<\/em> company crossover event (Batman: the Joker’s Last Laugh<\/strong> ISBN: 978-1-84576-843-0) featuring a startling battle with intangible villain Shadow Thief.<\/p>\n

The remaining three adventures deal with the fallout of Batgirl’s defeat of Shiva (set during the time of Batman: Bruce Wayne Murderer? –<\/strong> ISBN-13: 978-1-56389-913-3): a fast-paced, captivating treatise on girl friends a la<\/em> Thelma and Louise<\/strong> (or perhaps Buffy and Faith) as Robin-in-training Spoiler briefly becomes Batgirl’s best buddy to train, talk trash about dads and generally take care of Gotham in the Big Man’s absence.<\/p>\n

Spellbinding, overwhelmingly rapid-paced and brilliantly executed, these tales are a breakneck, supercharged thrill-ride that concentrates on non-stop action yet still manages to be heavily plot-based with genuine empathy and emotional impact. A perfect book to remind you just why and how comics are so great…<\/p>\n