Batgirl, Vol. 6: Old Enemies

Batgirl (2016)

by Mairghread Scott, Paul Pelletier (Illustrator)

You can take the Batgirl out of Gotham City, but you can’t take Gotham out of the Batgirl! Join Barbara Gordan (Batgirl) as she pursues a political position to help steer her city in the right direction in Batgirl Vol 6.

It’s Batgirl for Congress! Plus, masked assassins and awkward exes! Barbara Gordon volunteers to campaign for an up-and-coming reformer candidate who wants to take on the GCPD. That puts Barbara in a tough spot against her father—police commissioner James Gordon. And just when things couldn’t get any more awkward, a former flame reenters Barbara’s life. Personal angst and a masked super-villain hunting a mystery target. It’s gonna be a long day, Babs.

From writer Mairghread Scott, it’s a new journey for Batgirl as she balances vigilante life with a political campaign in Batgirl Vol. 6. Colects #30-36.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Batman, Science Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 24, 2019

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hope DC is smart enough to keep Mairghread Scott around. I really like what she and Paul Pelletier have been doing on Batgirl; fun, exciting stories without any of the kitsch and kiddines of the Burnside stuff. Barbara takes a job as a social media expert with a congresswoman who has an assassin after her. Then we get a nice tie-in with The Batman Who Laughs when Batgirl finds out her psychopath brother has been let out of prison. The book finishes up with a nice story featuring some goofy old Bat villains, the Terrible Trio. Scott and Pelletier play them serious as a new gang trying to move into Gotham. It works quite well. Great art. Interesting stories. What more can you ask?

[Vinicius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parece que depois que a Hope Larson saiu da Batgirl ou por motivos dos eventos/fases da editora, a Batgirl melhorou dos 4 primeiros encadernados até chegar nessa sexta edição. Ainda não sei como serão os próximos 2 volumes que encerram o que saiu da revista da personagem no Renascimento, mas a evolução da personagem, que foi de uma Bárbara Gordon juvenil com tramas mais leves, para uma Batgirl com muita ação e enfrentando dificuldades, é algo notável.

Nessa edição, temos um arco bem complexo na vida da Bárbara, pois, conforme mostrado no volume anterior, ela retoma o contato com seu irmão, volta a morar com o pai por conta dos problemas em seu chip, precisa lidar com sua empresa, vida de Batgirl, faculdade e agora, lidar com política.

Com as eleições de Gotham chegando, os roteiros são certeiros em pegar algo que esteve em pauta recentemente que é o debate político dentro das famílias e como o mesmo pode desfazer relações. Isso é trabalhado com os Gordons, já que a Barbaba apoia uma candidata que pega no pé do DPGC por conta de sua corrupção interna, o que causa conflitos com o James.

Durante esse período eleitoral, Bárbara precisa lidar com um assassino que tenta matar a candidata que Bárbara apoia. A Batgirl trava diversos embates com esse vilão, o que rende cenas de ação bem boas, além de mostrar toda a habilidade da Bárbara, que vai além de ser nerdola de computador.

Após isso, a Batgirl precisa lidar com novos vilões em Gotham, que não tem suas identidades reveladas, mas são chamados pelos animais que eles usam a fantasia. Assim, a Batgirl tem uma luta incrível contra o tubarão, que a leva ao extremo e faz o leitor arrepiar nas cenas de ação.

Ademais, a Bárbara está sofrendo com problemas de sua empresa, bem como retoma contato com um personagem de seu pesado que ela o deixou "marcado".

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow I'm surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did.

This is basically one major story arc, then a small one, and then a two parter. The first one is a bit political, but hold your horses before you start screaming, it's done pretty well. Babs is working with the woman trying to change the city from the inside, while having to be against the police. It's actually pretty interesting how Babs deals with her father here. The one single shot issue deals with James and him getting out of prison. If don't know why or how check out the Batman who Laughs mini. Then last one is Babs dealing with getting kidnapped and escaping.

Overall, this feels just fun. It's not mindblowing but it remains fun through the whole volume and that matters. I was never bored, I enjoyed her adventures, and I actually liked the fight scenes here. Some of the art was off at points and nothing major changed, but the stuff with James was great. A 3.5 out of 5, I'll bump it to a 4.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mairghread Scott's second (and final, unfortunately) volume of Batgirl stories collects seven issues that pit Barbara against some deadly foes, including the vicious Cormorant, her brother James Jr., and the Terrible Trio.

We open with the titular Old Enemies, which introduces Barbara's newest job as a social media director for a new congresswoman, who of course finds herself targeted by an assassin. There's also the return of Jason Bard, who I never expected to see again, let alone in Batgirl's life after his role in Batman Eternal, but this is all pretty surprising, in a good way. Babs' new job gives her some new story avenues to explore, and even Cormorant, who's fairly generic as a bad guy, gives Babs a run for her money.

The one-shot story between arcs is a tie-in to The Batman Who Laughs mini-series; James Gordon Jr. is always a good villain, I don't think I've ever read him written badly, and Scott's interpretation, as well as Barbara's reactions to him really sell this issue. It's not essential as a tie-in, but it's nice to see this interconnectivity between series when it could easily have been overlooked.

Lastly is the three part Terrible story, which isn't terrible at all, but brings Barbara into conflict with the Terrible Trio of Fox, Shark, and Vulture. Again, fairly generic as villains, but Scott makes them far more threatening than you'd expect, to the point that they're actually sticking around under the next writer's pen as well.

Paul Pelletier pencils the two three-part stories, and Ive said it before, and I'll say it again, but DC criminally underuse Pelletier. Not that Batgirl isn't a good gig, but he's such a solid and reliable artist that he should really be getting bigger books at this stage in his career. The James Jr. issue is split between Elena Casagrande and Scott Godlewski, who have been doing the rounds as fill-in artists for a while now; Casagrande found herself a slot over on Go Go Power Rangers for a while, and I'd like to see DC trust Godlewski with something more consistent as well. This is one good looking book, overall.

Old Enemies fleshes out Barbara's world in some unexpected ways, and Scott never lets something straight forward become old hat. Under her pen, Babs fights villains who should feel one note, but are much deeper than they first appear, and I'm genuinely disappointed to see her leaving the series so soon. Hopefully the next writer is just as good, if not better.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 🌟

Barbara starts working for a congressional candidate who is being targeted.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing the "good story" streak started in the last Volume, Batgirl is proving to be returning to the somewhat status quo it had around 5 or so years ago (before the whole "younger in Burnside" fiasco).
This Volume contains three stories:
1. Old Enemies - Jason Bard, former police commissioner, is hired to help run security for a Congressional candidate, and Barbara doesn't trust him. So, against her father's wishes due to the congresswoman's stance against the GCPD, Barbara joins the campaign. Too bad someone has hired Cormorant to assassinate the candidate and Batgirl will have to save the day.
This story was a little too political for me, but I think that's only because I am so burnt out on politics from the real world...
2. Another brief tale about Babs' Brother, James, getting out of Blackgate, having been deemed Rehabilitated. Mostly this story revolves around Barbara trying to figure out if he's really changed. (having read ahead in other titles.... I'm sure the Batman Who Laughs could tell you the real answer...)
3. Terrible is a story about three animal mobsters (Fox, Vulture, and Shark) and how their latest scheme gets Batgirl involved. Very nice knock down fight story here, but with a moral spin when Fox helps Batgirl so she can help people escape a fire.

Overall a pretty good Volume. Volume 7 soon!
Recommend. Mairghread Scott is doing a great job with this title!

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic plot: Batgirl joins a political campaign to thwart election interference and discovers a deeper conspiracy.

This was a really good arc. It was paced very well, with some interesting twists and reveals that set groundwork for future shenanigans. By the end of this arc, Batgirl is in a very different place from where she began, and that will definitely make the story interesting moving forward. The character development alone makes this book very worth it. The art was good, and I really enjoy the sheer glee on Batgirl's face when she's diving off a building. There is a joy in this book that isn't seen in other Bat books.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Merely adequate villains drag down an otherwise interesting Batgirl volume. The Cormorant and the Terrible Trio are silly and directionless. Meanwhile, Batgirl dealing with politics, her energy business, and (potentially) her love life are much more intriguing than watching her punch a guy in a shark costume.

Maybe not a great sign for a series when I'm most excited for the non-superhero portions of the book, but that's no real surprise with a Batgirl series that's been spinning its wheels seemingly forever. Old Enemies almost touches on police brutality/reform, which was a welcome surprise. More of that please! Let's get political!

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott's run on Batgirl comes to an end, and prematurely so to my mind. There are three stories here, the first of which is about an assassin trying to kill a senatorial candidate in the run up to an election. The final story follows up on this, as well as setting up some changes that will presumably form the basis of the next writer's run. In between, there's a one-issue story about James Jr. which doesn't achieve much or go anywhere - again, it may just be setting things up for the future. That aside, there's a good mix of action and characterisation here, and in the first half, in particular, it's not always clear who the real villains are. Scott continues with her rather dark take, with some surprisingly graphic violence for a regular comic, combined with some good reflections on Batgirl's double life. The ending feels abrupt, with things stopping midflow, but overall, the good points outweigh the bad.

[Kris Ritchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I am in the minority here, but I just do not like Mairghread's take on Babs. First, her relationship with her father seems much more strained than in the past and tbf I really enjoy their scenes normally. I also don't buy for a second that Barbara would just roll over and give up her company, without at least some speech or last minute gesture.

Other than the James Jr. issue, I found this volume's plot to be very tedious. Good riddance to this creative team.

[Jürgen Van Holder · Rating 1 out of 5]

Story was a bit ruined by Barbara just giving up her company to a bunch of real sharks (not the villain ones) and the next issues show that she doesn't get GCE back. Also the new colour of her costume means she's back to being a batman clone and not the strong independent and critical of batman batgirl. Hope its just a temporary insanity of the writers, otherwise I'd rather wait on a reboot.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batgirl: Old Enemies picks up where the previous volume left off, collecting the next seven issues (Batgirl #30–36) of the 2016 on-going series. It collects the following stories: "Old Enemies", "Blow Out", and "Terrible".

"Old Enemies" is a three-issue storyline (Batgirl #30–32) which has Barbara Gordon goes undercover at Luciana Alejo's Congressional Campaign – her major platform is to weed out the corruption at Gotham City Police Department, which strains her relationship with her father, James Gordon, who leads the GCPD. While undercover, she is trying to find out who exactly is trying to kill Luciana Alejo and the person behind it with the aid of Jason Bard, who framed her father for murder.

"Terrible" is a three issue storyline (Batgirl #34–36), which has Barbara Gordon as Batgirl taking on the second incarnation of the Terrible Trio who are a trio of criminal masterminds that animal masks to commit their crimes: Fox, Shark, and Vulture. "Blow Out" is a one-issue story (Batgirl #33) that has Barbara Gordon as Batgirl going against her own brother – James Gordon, Jr., who is a psychopathic murderer.

Mairghread Scott penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it was written rather well. Scott manages to balance the political aspects of her first story without being overbearingly so. Cormorant is fairly interesting, however quickly forgettable, as there are many assassins in the DC Universe and Cormorant doesn't really stand out. The return of the Terrible Trio and Scott has created an interesting take on them.

With the exceptions of Batgirl #33 which was penciled by Elena Casagrande and Scott Godlewski the rest of the trade paperback was penciled by Paul Pelletier. Since he was the main penciler, the artistic flow of the trade paperback flowed exceptionally well. For the most part, his penciling style was done extremely well, which I think saved the trade paperback.

All in all, Batgirl: Old Enemies is a good continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series.

[Batgirl_ALT_21 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this series is going in a completely different direction since Vol 5. Not going to lie the 'political' move has been done before and with no original new takes on the subject it comes off as a cheap delivery only meant to stir up controversy between Commissioner Gordon and has daughter Barbara. Not to mention that the congresswoman elective is a knockoff from the 'Robin Wars' series. Now that would have actually have made way more sense to use a continuing character instead of whatever plot device this woman serves 😒. In addition, the plot regarding James Jr. & Barbara was weak at best and redundant from the 'Batman - Black Mirror' run from pre-New 52 🙄. I was expecting tension, difficult conversations, and perhaps even a heartfelt apology from either Jame Jr. or Commissioner Gordon but instead, we had a stupid family fight that lasted 2 pages with no resolution or continuing plot point. Finally, The Gordon Clean Energy arc, Jason Bard, & the'Terrible Trio' were poorly executed. If you are going to start referring to past events like GCE or Jason Bard then at least have additional characters or plot points to back it up 😡. Luke Fox could have stepped in to resolve the whole GCE crisis to assist Barbara & Alysia with the British take-over or Dick from Spyral could have been notified to handle this whole ordeal to find some loose dirt. Heck, even Alfred or Julia Pennyworth would have been more resourceful by pulling up an old Military contact 😒😡. Finally, the Jason Bard issue should not have been reduced to a simple 'feud' as it was portrayed here. Jason Bard framed Commissioner Gordon for MASS-MURDER that doesn't just slide with someone as strong-willed and bad-a$$ as Barbara Gordon when it comes to her Dad's good name!! Come on, be better because Batgirl deserves it 😡🦇!!

[Joel Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection continues a story with Jason Bard, who has some bad blood with James Gordon, Sr. Yet, like other stories in the Rebirth era, we don't get the backstory or even a reference notation to a previous storyline or issue.

Due to this bad blood, Bard and Barbara clash, especially when they're both working for the same mayoral candidate, Ms. Alejo. (I didn't catch a first name).

Batgirl also has to protect this mayoral candidate from people like the assassin Cormorant, a big brute hired by someone that wants to get said candidate out of the way.

He gives Batgirl a tough time, and I like how the writers and artists show her using extra strength to take him down and show the 'battle scars' when she's Barbara Gordon.

James Gordon, Jr. shows up again. Barbara believes him to an extent, claiming he's on the right path, and gets him out of the mental ward. Even though he hasn't killed this time, this gets repetitious and annoying.

I liked the storyline with the trio of villains: Vulture, Shark, and Fox. And overall, this book is my favorite out of the Batgirl Rebirth collection.

Lastly, I like the variant covers by Joshua Middleton and Derrick Chew, but my favorite is Chew's art for issue #32.

*** out of *****

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mairghread Scott wraps up her Batgirl run in a solid, if not groundbreaking, way. The art throughout is consistently strong, and the dialogue mostly hits the mark. Sharp when it needs to be, emotional when it counts. The standout issue for me was the one that dives into the tense and complicated relationship between Barbara and her brother, James. If you're familiar with their backstory, it's not hard to understand why Barbara reacts the way she does. That emotional weight really lands.

Beyond that, there are a few fun issues with Batgirl taking on multiple villains, which lean into the classic superhero vibes. It’s great to see Barbara get knocked down, both physically and emotionally, but as always, she refuses to stay down. That resilience is part of what makes her so compelling.

Nothing here reinvents the wheel, but it's still an enjoyable ride. Standard superhero fare, sure, but well executed. A solid 3 out of 5.

[Scott Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part of this album was that Barbara's conflict with her dad and Jason Bard actually gave her some character moments that were Barbara's and not Batgirl's.

The art is settled in and gorgeous throughout the volume, which isn't always the case at DC lately, especially with a volume as large as this one, but this one runs without a single fill-in artist and no filler storytelling either. Barbara get's back out of Dad's house, and if a bit of grumpiness between her and Daddy/Jim is the price of separating them a bit that's fine by me. Also some cool new villains introduced in the last of the arc and some interesting stuff with Bard throughout in the Barbara mode. A truly solid bit of storytelling.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebirth era DC is so aggravating... even titles that are generally good, like Batgirl have this sort of 'Rebirth has made EVERYTHING canon again.. and yet then make certain things not canon anymore thing going on. Which makes the whole think with Jason Bard interesting... but not.

The two story arcs and pretty strong. Even the kinda sorta crossover issue is done in such a way as to be blink and you miss it. The book even finds a way to make the Terrible Trio- or at least a new incarnation of it- into a serious threat.

[May · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm going to use this space to complain about Bab's hero suit. she keeps getting hit in the eyes with pepper spray or things like that and she never aquires some goggles or something. not to mention that her nose heals faster than normal noses 'cause she got her nose broken a couple of times and was brand new the next day (or using some incredibly good make up). a face shield would prevent both getting pepper sprayed or getting her nose broken. besides, that mask hides nothing.

[Christen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection hit the right notes. I feel like I'm finally happy with where the writers have taken Babs. Like she's being taken seriously as a character, there's weight to her concerns and sense of purpose in and out of the Bat family, while still maintaining an element of light that I always associate with her.

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a little more than just self-contained. Given that you know Batgirl in the first place, you could almost read this one as a stand-alone graphic novel. I do have the concern that the Batman hasn't shown up in these pages - Batgirl is always in HIS stories one way or another. It should be the same here.

[Agnol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot more than I’ve liked some of the other recent volumes. The focus on smaller scale villains and more personal interactions is nice, and I like how it gives Babs room to be something other than just “female Batman.”

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I’ve read a lot more than I’ve reviewed... so one sentence takeaways! (Roughly.)*

Solid comic book action, solid Batgirl... and intense curiosity about what's going on with James, Jr. Ooh... what's next for the Gordon family? (*insert dramatic music*)

[SW · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as issues

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great run, but I was bummed by some hanging plot threads which hopefully will be picked up by the next writer.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. James is one of my least favorite villains.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. My favourite character. Absolutely flew through this. So dark and gritty. Loved it!

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright, kind of all over the place with quality of writing and art. Some sections were fantastic and some below average.

[Lissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this so much. Just - everything about this was excellent.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This arc was really good! I didn’t expect to enjoy since the last let downs from the other volumes however I really enjoyed where this was going and just how it paced itself!

[Ming · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plots do the job, but unfortunately the villains are kinda lame.