Showcase Presents Batgirl: Volume 1
One thing I took away from reading SHOWCASE PRESENTS BATGIRL: VOLUME 1, featuring the first adventures of Barbara Gordon, librarian turned superheroine: It’s amazing how many criminals frequent the library. Daughter of Gotham City’s Commissioner Gordon, Barbara makes her own costume to step in to help Batman and Robin out with the lawless element every now and then.
But it’s amazing how little respect she gets, just because she’s smoking hot. Even after Barbara gets herself elected to the U.S. Congress – Congress! – Batman refers to her as “a cute, sunshiny little redhead.” Some battles you just can’t win, but then again, you’re making the hill ever steeper when you deliberately tear your tights to distract crooks.
In this collection of stories from the pages of DETECTIVE COMICS and other various DC Comics titles, the nerdy-by-day Barbara lets her hair down at night to become Batgirl, aka “the dominoed daredoll,” “the maid of darkness” and “the flame-haired woman of shadows.” Her adventures here – solo and otherwise – involve wigs that crack the wearer’s skull, jai alai players who fling live grenades, and going undercover as a go-go dancer. (Strangely, there’s one story included – “Die Small, Die Big” – in which she doesn’t even appear.)
And there are plenty of guest stars: Batgirl fights a shrunken Justice League of America (”My super-speed vibrations are giving her the shakes!” says The Atom). Batgirl meets Superman (”Who’d you expect … Twiggy?” he asks, dating the book). Batgirl revives an unconscious Supergirl by expelling air into her lungs via a tire tube.
Needless to say, it’s a lot of ’60s and ’70s fun, full of now-odd DC dialogue (”This small log will queer her game!”), ridiculous scenarios, annoying recaps and – most importantly, I’m not too ashamed to say – tight tights. –Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS BATMAN: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS BATMAN: VOLUME 2
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD BATMAN TEAM-UPS: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE ELONGATED MAN: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS GREEN ARROW: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE HAUNTED TANK: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY: VOLUME 2
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS JONAH HEX: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS METAMORPHO: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE PHANTOM STRANGER: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS SHAZAM!: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS SUPERMAN FAMILY: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT: VOLUME 1
Every time I go into a comic book store this and Essential Dazzler torment me with their glorious dated beauty as I pick them knowing I can’t yet justify their purchase. It’s only a matter of time befire I succumb.
Having these stories collected in one book makes for fascinating (and equally maddening) continuity-following. The big surprsie that her dad the commissioner knows of her masked alter ego would have been milked for years had she had her own title — here we can see it’s resolved in the space of a few stories. But seeing the gorgeous art of Swan and Kane (has a heroine ever looke dmore lissome and luscious without modern-day breast inflation), even relegated to black-and-white in the reprinting, makes the efforts of Heck seem all the more scratchy and crude.
[...] BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES: • SHOWCASE PRESENTS BATGIRL: VOLUME 1 • SHOWCASE PRESENTS LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: VOLUME 1 • SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE WAR THAT TIME [...]