Batgirl writer Hope Larson continues to bring the funny and the feels while Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips return the focus back to their main character in Kill Or Be Killed.
Batgirl 10
Written by Hope Larson
Art by Chris Wildgoose, Jon Lam and Mat Lopes
When a book kicks off with a ping pong match between Batgirl and the Penguin, you know you have something special on your hands. Batgirl, of course, is playing ping pong against the father of her current beau, trying to figure out if he’s a supervillain or just misunderstood. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait too long for the answer.
He had an intern dump Barbara! Wait, is that something I could have done when I had interns? Not that I would ever do such a thing, of course…
Anyway, that’s not really what gives Ethan Cobblepot away as a supervillain, but the last page, where he’s in a costume and telling his dad that he’s taking over the Penguin’s criminal empire pretty much gives it away.
It’s not all relationship issues and discussions with the in-laws, though. Batgirl tries to convince Commissioner Gordon to take some fights at Penguin’s club seriously and has a heart-to-heart with Nightwing and brunch with her friends. All this over the course of about 21-22 pages. That’s pretty impressive.
Adding to the amazing writing is the wonderfully expressive art. Every expression Babs has is just on point in this issue and you can see the story of each panel by looking at her face. Batgirl continues to be a great read in the Rebirth era.
Kill Or Be Killed 8
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Sean Phillips and Elizabeth Breitweiser
Last issue, Brubaker took a break from the ongoing narrative of Dylan, a non-traditional grad student who was cursed by a demon to kill one bad person per month by focusing on Dylan’s girlfriend. They’re back to Dylan this month, and he’s having a hard time finding a bad guy to kill with the police hot on his tail after his last kill.
You can feel Dylan’s desperation as he becomes increasingly paranoid about his research and his ability to get a kill while the NYPD is doing everything in its power to catch him.
It will always be a little weird and a lot awesome seeing the place where I work used in other media. Outside of the fully black and white cover here, Phillips and Breitweiser do a pretty good rendition of a New York Daily News cover.
With the conclusion of each issue, the story can go in so many different ways and seeing how it unfolds is part of the fun.