I was able to get the second and third installments of both comics so I am going to be commenting on both in this blog:
Batgirl:
Batgirl is interesting but I am not very interested in continuing on with the comic. While I find the use of texting and dating site as a means of narrative communication with readers to be an fascinating concept, I find the stories themselves to be simply alright. Needless to say, Batgirl was a bust. Perhaps it is because of the style of the comic. There is no reason for me to continue reading the comic unless I was a die-hard Batgirl fan (which I am sad to say I am not). The stories are one comic stories, meaning there is no overarching story.
I really wanted to like Batgirl but I found her attitude towards society to be rather flippant. Granted I have only read three of her more recent comics, but Batgirl seems to be more of the angst teenager that Peter Parker started out as. However, where Parker's stories of be being Spiderman were intriguing, I found Batgirl's adventure stories to be more superficial. She may try and fight for what she deems "the good of mankind" but she is selfish as well.
When she embraces the spotlight in the third comic I read (#38 of the new revamp), Batgirl becomes addicted. When her boyfriend comments on Batgirl's selfishness, she is taken aback, trying to argue that Batgirl is doing good for the city. He responds by commenting on her picture-taking, media guzzling attitude (never mind that he sees her and Batman and other vigilantes as a menace because he is a cop). In the comic before she did not want the spotlight- now she is all for it. She seems to learn her lesson at the end of this comic but only because her fans are angry with her for accidentally destroying a burger place.
Batgirl:
Batgirl is interesting but I am not very interested in continuing on with the comic. While I find the use of texting and dating site as a means of narrative communication with readers to be an fascinating concept, I find the stories themselves to be simply alright. Needless to say, Batgirl was a bust. Perhaps it is because of the style of the comic. There is no reason for me to continue reading the comic unless I was a die-hard Batgirl fan (which I am sad to say I am not). The stories are one comic stories, meaning there is no overarching story.
I really wanted to like Batgirl but I found her attitude towards society to be rather flippant. Granted I have only read three of her more recent comics, but Batgirl seems to be more of the angst teenager that Peter Parker started out as. However, where Parker's stories of be being Spiderman were intriguing, I found Batgirl's adventure stories to be more superficial. She may try and fight for what she deems "the good of mankind" but she is selfish as well.
When she embraces the spotlight in the third comic I read (#38 of the new revamp), Batgirl becomes addicted. When her boyfriend comments on Batgirl's selfishness, she is taken aback, trying to argue that Batgirl is doing good for the city. He responds by commenting on her picture-taking, media guzzling attitude (never mind that he sees her and Batman and other vigilantes as a menace because he is a cop). In the comic before she did not want the spotlight- now she is all for it. She seems to learn her lesson at the end of this comic but only because her fans are angry with her for accidentally destroying a burger place.
There is one instance where Batman is mentioned in the comic---when Dinah confronts Barbara/Batgirl about Batgirl's current media coverage, saying she is going to get in trouble with Batman, "the scariest man on the planet", Barbara "Babs" responds with "He doesn't get to tell me what to do. This is my life. He wants to live in the shadows? Fine. I'm in the spotlight now whether he likes it or not, and I'm gonna roll with it". This was interesting to me and the only reason I would continue reading the comic would be in hopes to see that Batman confront this spoiled girl.
Fantastic Four:
In contrast, I am LOVING the end of the Fantastic Four's story. I must summarize the events in order to discuss my analysis of the comic so, without trying to give too much away, here it goes:
John Eden, aka Quiet Man, blames Reed for stealing Sue Storm from him (much like Ben Grimm regarded Reed in the earlier comics) and exacted his revenge by sending enemies to destroy him and the Fantastic Four. Basically, Quiet Man claims to be the one responsible for ALL of the fighting that happened in their lives, though how he got the Silver Surfer to come as a herald for Galactus is never discussed. Quiet Man kidnaps Reed and Sue's son, Franklin, in order to use his powers to defeat the Fantastic four, once and for all. Franklin, as I have found out, is a huge deal in the comic world. Basically, he dreams up realities. So Quiet Man uses his genius IQ to bring all of the realities to one place- Earth.
In the third installment Reed, Sue, Franklin, and Johnny go into Franklin's dreams with the Sleepwalker leading the way. This is such a fascinating character. According to my readings he is another being who takes over the conscious mind when Rick Sheridan goes to sleep. I am curious about this character, as I have never encountered nor heard of him before, but I wanted to finished reading this series before doing research. I thought by doing research after I would be more surprised by any events rather than looking for or expecting something to happen based on previous knowledge. This is part of the reason I liked watching the Marvel and DC films before I read the comics- things can still be a surprise for me instead of an expectation.
The title page also became a point of interest when I picked up the third installment of the FF comic. The top, where it says "The End if Fourever" is being destroyed, or eaten, by fire. It almost looks like the fuse of a bomb, burning down until the explosion of the final comic is released. What makes this even more interesting it the fact that the cover for the third comic is the face of The Thing is shown as exploding. Not only does this add to the explosion motif from the top words but makes me wonder what happens in this comic. Sadly, this front cover seemed to have little to do with this comic, not that I wanted to see Ben Grimm die. But it makes me wonder if it is foreshadowing an event or was simply used as an advertisement tool to get more people interested in the FF comic. I know that it certainly drew my attention when I found it on the shelf.
In contrast, I am LOVING the end of the Fantastic Four's story. I must summarize the events in order to discuss my analysis of the comic so, without trying to give too much away, here it goes:
John Eden, aka Quiet Man, blames Reed for stealing Sue Storm from him (much like Ben Grimm regarded Reed in the earlier comics) and exacted his revenge by sending enemies to destroy him and the Fantastic Four. Basically, Quiet Man claims to be the one responsible for ALL of the fighting that happened in their lives, though how he got the Silver Surfer to come as a herald for Galactus is never discussed. Quiet Man kidnaps Reed and Sue's son, Franklin, in order to use his powers to defeat the Fantastic four, once and for all. Franklin, as I have found out, is a huge deal in the comic world. Basically, he dreams up realities. So Quiet Man uses his genius IQ to bring all of the realities to one place- Earth.
In the third installment Reed, Sue, Franklin, and Johnny go into Franklin's dreams with the Sleepwalker leading the way. This is such a fascinating character. According to my readings he is another being who takes over the conscious mind when Rick Sheridan goes to sleep. I am curious about this character, as I have never encountered nor heard of him before, but I wanted to finished reading this series before doing research. I thought by doing research after I would be more surprised by any events rather than looking for or expecting something to happen based on previous knowledge. This is part of the reason I liked watching the Marvel and DC films before I read the comics- things can still be a surprise for me instead of an expectation.
The title page also became a point of interest when I picked up the third installment of the FF comic. The top, where it says "The End if Fourever" is being destroyed, or eaten, by fire. It almost looks like the fuse of a bomb, burning down until the explosion of the final comic is released. What makes this even more interesting it the fact that the cover for the third comic is the face of The Thing is shown as exploding. Not only does this add to the explosion motif from the top words but makes me wonder what happens in this comic. Sadly, this front cover seemed to have little to do with this comic, not that I wanted to see Ben Grimm die. But it makes me wonder if it is foreshadowing an event or was simply used as an advertisement tool to get more people interested in the FF comic. I know that it certainly drew my attention when I found it on the shelf.