Batgirl #29 Review

After the emotional resonance of previous story arcs, Batgirl's current vampire-driven arc is a bit of a letdown. That isn't to say that it lacks any merit -- Batgirl #29 is, by turns, humorous and heartbreaking, but writer Gail Simone set the bar high enough in past issues that good just doesn't hold a candle to great. That being said, if you're a Strix fan (and you should be), this book is definitely worth the read.

As we saw last time, the cops have rolled up on Batgirl and Strix during an encounter with Silver and Miss Targa, his exceedingly strange assistant. They escape the confrontation relatively unscathed, but hunt brings them to blows with each other - literally. And while Silver's particular brand of psychosis is never specified, his tendency toward something resembling paranoid schizophrenia is fleshed out with a tragic backstory involving the death of his mother. And while he's undeniably insane, there's a shocking plot twist thrown into the mix that leads us to believe that maybe he's not as wrong as his mental state would have you believe.

Fernando Pasarin's pencils have all the energy we've come to expect, and the glee in which he depicts Silver's vampiric visions is palpable. Jonathan Glapion's inks and Blond's colors enrich the issue with a vibrant palette that sometimes feels a bit too saturated and tonally consistent. Overall, it's a solid issue, and while Strix and Babs have some quality moments together, particularly on the last page, but the book lacks the sense of narrative urgency that had been carrying the series through some of its more challenging arcs.

Melissa Grey wears Green Lantern pajamas to bed and writes stories for a living. She can be found on MyIGN at MelissaGrey or lurking on Twitter @meligrey.

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