Welcome to Today & Yesterday Reviews!
With Convergence underway, it seems like a good idea to talk about some of the Pre-New 52 stories being “brought back to continuity”. Up first, Bryan Q. Miller’s 2009 Batgirl…
BATGIRL #1-7 (2009) 
Batgirl Rising
Written by Bryan Q. Miller; Art by Lee Garbett, Trevor Scott, and Guy Major; Cover by Phil Noto
Seemingly unable to fit in anywhere, Stephanie Brown promised to give up the role of The Spoiler. Final Crisis has ended. Titles in the Bat-family are shuffled as Dick Grayson is the new Batman, Damian Wayne is the new Robin, and Tim Drake is Red Robin. Cassandra Cain decides she doesn’t want to fight as a Bat anymore, and leaves her costume with Brown. Seeing this as an opportunity to start anew, Stephanie dons the cape and cowl. Doing so, she immediately encounters resistance on both sides; villains don’t take her seriously, and allies don’t believe she can manage the weight of being Batgirl. Despite all that, plus being a full time college student and living with her mother, Stephanie Brown wins her first battle and gains Barbara Gordon’s support. Praise for the role doesn’t come much higher than that, huh? Soon she gets to back up Batman and Robin and earns the respect of the Dynamic Duo. Well, at least as much as Damian has respect for anyone.
What I enjoyed most about these first few issues, as the rest of the series will continue on with, is that this isn’t just a story about Stephanie. Barbara becomes her mentor on how to be the best Batgirl and we get to be inside her head through this transition as well. They really share the load and it’s a bit of a trip down memory lane for Barbara and the reader.
CONVERGENCE: BATGIRL #1
Written by Alisa Kwitney; Art by Rick Leonardi, Mark Pennington, & Steve Buccellato; Cover by Rick Leonardi, Dan Green, & Steve Buccellato
We start out in the desert with Tim Drake and Cassandra Cain. The action starts soon as Catman sneaks up on Brown for their assigned fight (you’ll learn more about that later in the issue). I’ve only read Convergence #0, #1 and Batgirl; so far there seems to be a theme of “jumping into the middle of the situation.” If that’s what they’re going for, they got it, but it feels like hitting the ground running without knowing the path. Some of Brown’s humor returns, but there was something missing. I’d say that it was a fine first issue, but it’s also the first of only two issues.
