Batgirl #7 Review

Writer: Hope Larson / Artist: Christian Wildgoose/ DC Comics It’s a new day for Batgirl, recently returned to Burnside after Hope Larson led Babs on a traveler’s adventure through southeast Asia. In this second arc the series is switching gears — after a buffer from issue #6 that helped serve as a transition point — by delving into the reverse culture shock any traveler feels after returning home after a long time gone. The theme announces itself early as gentrification-focused social justice and capitalism versus the exploitation of the poor and vulnerable. Admittedly, this seems a rather weighty and sensitive issue for a white hero take lead, so if a warning alert rang in your head you are not alone. Still, readers can hope for a thoughtful approach that nods to an understanding intersectionality that leverages the diverse cast surrounding Babs’ character and tackles the theme with as much sensitivity as it does fun.

Also new to the series is Christian Wildgoose, replacing Rafael Albuquerque with a style not radically dissimilar but slightly more realistic and detailed, which actually serves the plot direction well, even if unintentionally. The return to Burnside has a “back to life, back to reality” feel that’s subtly supported with the change in artistry. So far so good, as Batgirl #7 is low in action but still fun to read as a reintroduction to the neighborhood, a landscape obviously much narrower than her travels through Asia, places we will likely visit more than on…