Bruce Wayne: The Road Home - Batgirl

Out of all the Bruce Wayne: The Road Home One-shots so far this is my favorite. Fans of the regular Batgirl comic will get what they've come to know and love including some great comedic back-and-forth between Stephanie Brown and Oracle (and Stephanie and Proxy), including one scene which teases something I've been waiting for DC to touch on for months - why isn't Batgirl in the Birds of Prey?

To get back to the story, Batgirl shows up to stop an intruder at Waynetech Research, one she seems sure is Amazo. If you've been reading these you know it's in fact Bruce Wayne moving behind-the-scenes as well as testing various members of the Bat-family.

It is interesting that of all the members of the Bat-family to learn Bruce Wayne is alive only Tim Drake and Alfred learn before Batgirl. Sometime during Bruce's absence, and with only a couple crossovers, this new Batgirl has become an integral and shining light of the Bat-family. I enjoyed Bryan Q. Miller allowing Stephanie to ramble on defending her right to keep the cowl, but not nearly as much as Bruce's reaction to Alfred standing up for her.

And I must give a huge shout-out to Pere Perez who knows how to draw this Batgirl in action (not to mention the humorous goof out of costume) with terrific results. There are several panels here worth going back and looking over multiple times.

Those unfamiliar with Stephanie Brown's past as the Spoiler and her less-than-friendly relationship to Bruce Wayne get s couple of quick flashbacks before she finally wins Bruce's respect only to... well, I won't spoil it. There's also a quick mention of former Batgirl Cassandra Cain, who I can't say I've missed, and what she's been doing in recent months. I'll agree with Bruce on this one, Stephanie Brown has done the name of Batgirl proud, "reminding me of the original Batgirl in more ways than one." Must-read.

[DC $2.99]