Review: BATGIRL #5

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BATGIRL #5
Written by Hope Larson
Art by Rafael Albuquerque and Dave McCaig
Published by DC Comics
Release Date: November 23, 2016

Batgirl faces off with Teacher in Shanghai, but she’ll have to find victory within before she can win this battle!

Hope Larson brings her first arc on Batgirl to a satisfying conclusion, as Babs confronts Teacher and tries to find a way to beat an opponent who can anticipate her every move. Most of the issue is spent on this fight, with a fun internal interlude and just enough denouement to resolve the various plot threads that have run throughout this arc.

For me, the most fascinating aspect of this arc, and it comes into sharp focus in this issue, is Larson’s handling of Barbara’s eidetic memory. Eidetic memory is an ability that gets thrown around fairly liberally in comics (off the top of my head, Batgirl, Batman, Superman, and Bane all have it, and I’m sure there are more), and it typically amounts to little more than a useful plot device, a way to explain a character’s otherwise-implausible recollection of small details at convenient moments. It’s a cool detective trick that otherwise has no impact on the character.

Larson, by contrast, really grapples with what it means for Barbara to have eidetic memory; it’s not just “that suspect had an unusual tattoo,” it’s also remembering the ingredients list you read on the wrapper of a candy bar you ate when you were ten, even if you might not need to recall that at the moment. It’s refreshing to see Larson really examine Babs’ memory seriously, as something that helps her, but which can also interfere with her life. I’ll be interested to see if she continues to explore this aspect of Batgirl going forward.

There’s really an amazing amount packed into this issue, yet the action flows very smoothly throughout so it never feels like it’s getting bogged down. Larson and Albuquerque use dynamic panel layouts throughout the fight to give a very strong sense of motion and the passage of time, and it makes a complicated fight scene feel fluid and natural. It pulls you from panel to panel without ever feeling so frenetic that you lose track of what’s going on.

Albuquerque’s art is vibrant and expressive, a perfect blend of realism and exaggeration, especially where facial features are concerned, that gives the whole book an air of exuberance. One of the particular geniuses of Babs Tarr’s Batgirl costume design is the giant eyeholes on Batgirl’s mask, which allow a skilled artist like Albuquerque to make great use of Barbara’s eyebrows to enhance the emotion of her facial expressions. Albuquerque’s style has proven a great match for the tone of Larson’s Batgirl.

McCaig’s colors are also worth noting. He uses a slightly softer pallette that sometimes gives the art a faded look, but couples it with strategically deployed chroma dot-style backgrounds that evoke feelings of Silver Age fun. It’s a perfect pairing of art and colors.

Batgirl #5 is a fitting end to an auspicious first arc.

The Verdict: 9.5/10

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