Batman and Batgirl #21 Review

BATMAN AND BATGIRL #21

by Peter Tomasi and Cliff Richards

For those of you Batman: The Animated Series fans, Batman does punch a certain cop who's been begging for it ever since we first saw him.

So, Batman and Batgirl #21 continues the 5 Stages of Mourning arc, and I've got to say, this is the worst chapter yet. First off, Batgirl's inclusion in this issue seems completely unnecessary, and is pretty much useless. In no way does she move the story forward at all. Next, the Carrie Kelly subplot that I loved in the last two issues is completely dropped, with Batgirl's scenes replacing them. You can tell Batman and Batgirl #21 is filler, not only because nothing happens, but it feels like Tomasi didn't care that much for the character of Batgirl either. Her voice doesn't sound witty enough, and if you're going to tell me it's because she still thinks she killed James Jr., take a look at Batgirl #20, a much worse Bat-comic, in which she still cracks a few one-liners. However, the biggest sin of the book has to be Batman himself. He's COMPLETELY unlikable in this issue, it's incredible. The only thing he does in this, is punches people, breaks a computer screen, and makes himself  look like more of an asshole than usual. There's a fine line between angry and grieving father, and just being a douche, and he leans MUCH more towards the latter now. The last two issues, I could really see why he was pissed. It was justified, and his actions actually made sense. Here, it could just be 60's Adam West Batman is suddenly becoming Christian Bale Batman, and maybe that's why everyone's worried! I mean, even some background characters are poorly written. One thief, who's dumber than a doorknob, demands FOOD from the police, yet he's holding hostages in a 24/7 convenience store. Even Batman points out how stupid he is. The only thing I liked about this issue is that it's plain dumb fun. By the way, I think Tomasi is insulting me when he has Batgirl suggest to Batman that she becomes the next Robin. Really? Just, really?

Cliff Richard's fill-in art here doesn't look too bad, but it's nothing amazing. He imitates Gleason's dark art style, but you can immediately tell it's not him. He does a good job with the action scenes, and capturing motion, but when drawing the slower, and more emotional scenes, he falters, with some choppy facial expressions. 

Batman and Batgirl #21 is a MASSIVE bump in the road for this series. It's hard to believe, that 3 issues ago, it delivered an Eisner-award worthy issue that could bring grown men to tears. This book is easily a skippable chapter in the current arc. While this isn't the worst Batgirl story I've read (cough Batgirl #20 cough), this is still pretty bad.

STORY: 1/5

+ Mindless fun

- Batgirl is an afterthought, and isn't used very well

- Batman is a complete and uncharacteristic dick

- Nothing happens

- Stupid characters

- Don't. Just, don't even imply that Babs will be the next Robin.

ART: 3/5

+ Actually pretty good for filler

+ Good action scenes

- Inconsistent faces

- Falters during quiter scenes

VERDICT: 2/5