I told one of my coworkers to buy this… and he listened to me for once =P

This is a collection of the best Batgirl stories – some of them I had already read in the Greatest Stories Ever Told – but there were some more that were new to me. The original publications of the stories contained here range from 1961, when Betty Kane (Kat’s niece) was written as the original Batgirl, to 2014, which was the first issue of Batgirl of Burnside. You also get a few issues of Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown, which was nice!

Hey, Babs is my favorite, but for a collection like this, you can’t expect her to hog the whole thing! =P

I found myself really enjoying the older comics, with the narrative dialogue boxes and cute nicknames like “Dominoed Daredoll.” My favorites that I hadn’t read before were:

  • “He With Secrets Fears the Sound/When Velvet Paws Caress the Ground” (1982), in which you see Babs alternately ruthless and compassionate.
  • “The Last Batgirl Story” (1988), in which Babs struggles to put away a man who had previously done her serious harm. It’s eerie how the events preceding and within this story foreshadow “The Killing Joke,” written and published later that same year.
  • “On Wings” (1999), where you see how Nightwing had a hand in creating the Birds of Prey, and a sweet moment between him and Babs ❤

The art ranges for each story, of course, but honestly there wasn’t an art style I didn’t like. This collection really is the best of the best. I hope I can find some more of these older stories~

– Kathleen

Various. Batgirl: A Celebration of 50 Years. 2017.