Book Review: Batgirl: The Greatest Stories Ever Told

I took this book with me yesterday while I went to vote. The line was very long and having something to read made it seem as if the line were moving faster.

Book: Batgirl: The Greatest Stories Ever Told

Description:

Batgirl takes center stage in this collection, which includes her 1967 debut and various stories through the 1990s.



Rating: 5 stars

My Review:

I read this some time ago and after re-reading it again yesterday, I still found this seven story collection of Batgirl stories to be a great read. What I love about these stories is, you got to see a smart and competent Barbara Gordon out there fighting crime as well as dabbling into politics.

The first story was Batgirl's first appearance titled "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl" which was originally published in Detective Comics issue #359. It had Barbara creating her Batgirl persona as a costume for a party. She was only going to wear the costume to shock her father at the party. However, instead she ended up donning the costume to try to help stop Bruce Wayne from being abducted from Killer Moth. The story also had her teaming up with Batman and Robin to put an end to Killer Moth's plans.

The second story, featuring issues: "The Orchid Killer" and "The Hollow Man" had Barbara trying to stop a killer who goes after red haired women. You got to see her using her detective skills to track down leads and also go undercover to stop the killer. Detective Jason Bard also made a cameo.

The third story, featuring issues: "The Unmasking of Batgirl", "Candidate for Danger" and "Batgirl's Last Case" had Barbara going into politics after dealing with a criminal whom she thought had reformed. Her disappointment had her considering running for Congress to try to make a bigger difference. As Babs was campaigning she had to deal with lack of funds and sabotage. Barbara also recieved some assistance from Jason Bard in her attempt to make a difference. She fought hard and in the end she won. This story showed how to make politics interesting.

The fourth story "The Invader From Hell" had Congresswoman Batgirl teaming up with Robin (Dick Grayson) to fight ghosts from our historical past in Washington, DC. Even though Babs maybe in Congress, she didn't forget any of her training as Batgirl. I love when Batgirl and Robin team up, they work so well together. This was one of those crazy zany stories that you don't really see anymore. It was interesting as well as funny.

The fifth story "Startling Secret of The Devilish Daughters" also had Congresswoman Batgirl and Robin teaming up again. Barbara was visiting Hudson University - where Dick Grayson attends - to receive an award as Congresswoman of the year. However, a theft of the award had both Batgirl and Robin going up against various daughters of infamous criminals and trying to find the stolen award.

The sixth story "Photo Finish" was published in 1997, is when DC Comics started writing more darker themed stories. Photo Finish had a younger Robin (Dick) meeting a slightly older Batgirl in a mall while Batman fought with Catwoman on the roof. In this story, both Batgirl and Robin didn't seem quite competent but somehow with sheer luck they both ended up taking out the robber. Even though they both made a lot of mistakes that didn't stop them from trying to stop the bad guy and it had a cute ending, with Robin looking at the photo booth pictures of the two of them.

In the last story "Folie a Deux: Part 1 and 2" had Barbara going off to college and trying to stop a bank robbery along side her father Commissioner James Gordon. There was a lot of emotional issues in this from both Barbara and her father in which they were both dealing with her growing up and becoming an adult. As well as the Comissioner dealing with the memories of the death of Barbara's parents.

These stories were just a handful of Batgirl stories, but they gave you a good view of Barbara and showed how smart and fearless she was. She may make mistakes like she did in her early adventures but you could still see that she was going to become a great hero. I really enjoyed reading these stories, I thought they were really good.