there are whole new kinds of weather when he walks with his new beat
So I just finished reading the final issue of Steph's run as Batgirl.
While I agree with this review and this earlier post about being upset by Cass's super conspicuous absence, I have to admit that I started crying when Steph's mom told her she was proud of her and didn't stop until well after I'd finished reading. My parental validation kink was completely engaged there. Oh, Steph... Oh, my heart.
And then Nell and her little girls, and how inspirational she is to them all and how they won't give up on her because she hasn't given up on them. One of the things I really like about Steph is her inability to give up, even when nearly anyone else would. I think that's part of what Bruce and Babs see in her. A lot of stuff can be taught, but that kind of will and determination is inherent in her personality (e.g., the way she threw off the black mercy even before the transfusion). And also Damian! I do like their relationship and if she weren't being benched, I'd have liked to have seen it develop more.
And then Babs, of course. ♥
I kind of love that Steph saw herself as Nightwing, with Nell as her successor as Batgirl. And was that Tim's kid she saw herself as the mother of? That is the impression I got, especially since he was also kind of conspicuously absent from this issue. I guess they did get some closure during the crossover, and I liked that except for the Blackhawks, it was almost entirely women that Steph saw herself with/in the context of, so I don't really care that much, but I did wonder, even while I was crying.
I also read Detective 881, which is Dick's last issue as Batman, and uh, wow, that was a lot of talky-meat that didn't really sustain any tension but was instead just villain monologuing about the hero's emotional journey blah blah blah. At least Babs got to stab his eye out. I feel like despite all of that, Dick was extraneous in this issue. James never seemed like a dark mirror for Dick (not to beat a dead Robin, but wouldn't that be Jason?); he seemed like all of Jim Gordon's issues wrapped up neatly in the body of his own son, whom he can't save, and who now represents Gotham in a way. I feel like this would have been better had it been solely about the Gordon family, though I suppose, logistically, in order to have the scene where Jim shoots his son, someone else has to show up to help Babs, and given that Dick is Batman and also her ex-fiance, I suppose he fit the bill better than anyone, since that makes him almost family. (Well, and also, his book, but whatever. I would have accepted Dinah there for similar reasons.)
Then I read the last issue of Red Robin. Oh, Tim, as much as I enjoy you for standing up to Bruce, you actually made me want to side with him in this issue. I dunno - I got the feeling that even while Bruce was being Sternly Judgemental, he was also really trying to help Tim see why even though he let the guy live, he was wrong. I was thinking maybe Bruce has actually learned something from the whole debacle with Jason. *gasp* Unlikely but possible.
Also, anyone who has ever read a story knows Tim wouldn't kill that guy. (and certainly not by letting him fall off a roof.) That would make him Jason, and they would never do that with Tim. It's not his place in the narrative or the family. So there was no real tension to it at all, which is unfortunate.
I don't know what all that claptrap about "it's my city now!" was supposed to mean, especially since Dick had a similar monologue at the end of Detective.
The thing is, I really want to like Tim more than I do, because he is a Robin, and also half of my DCU OTP and Kon thinks the sun rises and sets on him, and Dick and Steph love him a lot, but he's such a self-righteous little prick sometimes, which can only partly be explained away by his also being a 17yo boy.
Actually, in thinking about it, I feel like this is more a writing issue, where he often comes off like an authorial self-insert, combining with my very strong feelings about how Jason has been shafted repeatedly by the editorial staff at DC and how Tim comes off like the favorite. Even more than Dick, who has been allowed to have his not-so-shining moments, but in what I've read, he gets called out by the narrative for being a jerk while Tim doesn't. Tim starts to feel almost Bruce-like in the way he annoys me. Hmm...
Anyway, clearly I read them in the wrong order, because I think Detective and Red Robin suffered from how emotional I got about Batgirl. I really like Cass and Babs, but I think Steph will always be my Batgirl now. (I recommend reading the whole run - it's only 25 issues - I imagine they'll put the rest of it out in trade eventually, since it did sell well and make the NYT bestseller list once or twice.)
Ahahaha, iTunes just played When My Boy Walks Down the Street. This song is totally about Dick Grayson y/y?
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/357499.html.
people have commented there.
While I agree with this review and this earlier post about being upset by Cass's super conspicuous absence, I have to admit that I started crying when Steph's mom told her she was proud of her and didn't stop until well after I'd finished reading. My parental validation kink was completely engaged there. Oh, Steph... Oh, my heart.
And then Nell and her little girls, and how inspirational she is to them all and how they won't give up on her because she hasn't given up on them. One of the things I really like about Steph is her inability to give up, even when nearly anyone else would. I think that's part of what Bruce and Babs see in her. A lot of stuff can be taught, but that kind of will and determination is inherent in her personality (e.g., the way she threw off the black mercy even before the transfusion). And also Damian! I do like their relationship and if she weren't being benched, I'd have liked to have seen it develop more.
And then Babs, of course. ♥
I kind of love that Steph saw herself as Nightwing, with Nell as her successor as Batgirl. And was that Tim's kid she saw herself as the mother of? That is the impression I got, especially since he was also kind of conspicuously absent from this issue. I guess they did get some closure during the crossover, and I liked that except for the Blackhawks, it was almost entirely women that Steph saw herself with/in the context of, so I don't really care that much, but I did wonder, even while I was crying.
I also read Detective 881, which is Dick's last issue as Batman, and uh, wow, that was a lot of talky-meat that didn't really sustain any tension but was instead just villain monologuing about the hero's emotional journey blah blah blah. At least Babs got to stab his eye out. I feel like despite all of that, Dick was extraneous in this issue. James never seemed like a dark mirror for Dick (not to beat a dead Robin, but wouldn't that be Jason?); he seemed like all of Jim Gordon's issues wrapped up neatly in the body of his own son, whom he can't save, and who now represents Gotham in a way. I feel like this would have been better had it been solely about the Gordon family, though I suppose, logistically, in order to have the scene where Jim shoots his son, someone else has to show up to help Babs, and given that Dick is Batman and also her ex-fiance, I suppose he fit the bill better than anyone, since that makes him almost family. (Well, and also, his book, but whatever. I would have accepted Dinah there for similar reasons.)
Then I read the last issue of Red Robin. Oh, Tim, as much as I enjoy you for standing up to Bruce, you actually made me want to side with him in this issue. I dunno - I got the feeling that even while Bruce was being Sternly Judgemental, he was also really trying to help Tim see why even though he let the guy live, he was wrong. I was thinking maybe Bruce has actually learned something from the whole debacle with Jason. *gasp* Unlikely but possible.
Also, anyone who has ever read a story knows Tim wouldn't kill that guy. (and certainly not by letting him fall off a roof.) That would make him Jason, and they would never do that with Tim. It's not his place in the narrative or the family. So there was no real tension to it at all, which is unfortunate.
I don't know what all that claptrap about "it's my city now!" was supposed to mean, especially since Dick had a similar monologue at the end of Detective.
The thing is, I really want to like Tim more than I do, because he is a Robin, and also half of my DCU OTP and Kon thinks the sun rises and sets on him, and Dick and Steph love him a lot, but he's such a self-righteous little prick sometimes, which can only partly be explained away by his also being a 17yo boy.
Actually, in thinking about it, I feel like this is more a writing issue, where he often comes off like an authorial self-insert, combining with my very strong feelings about how Jason has been shafted repeatedly by the editorial staff at DC and how Tim comes off like the favorite. Even more than Dick, who has been allowed to have his not-so-shining moments, but in what I've read, he gets called out by the narrative for being a jerk while Tim doesn't. Tim starts to feel almost Bruce-like in the way he annoys me. Hmm...
Anyway, clearly I read them in the wrong order, because I think Detective and Red Robin suffered from how emotional I got about Batgirl. I really like Cass and Babs, but I think Steph will always be my Batgirl now. (I recommend reading the whole run - it's only 25 issues - I imagine they'll put the rest of it out in trade eventually, since it did sell well and make the NYT bestseller list once or twice.)
Ahahaha, iTunes just played When My Boy Walks Down the Street. This song is totally about Dick Grayson y/y?
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/357499.html.
people have commented there.