Say goodbye to dark and brooding Batgirl. Barbara Gordon is about to take off in a whole new direction. The DC Comics young adult heroine is getting a new creative team with October's "Batgirl #35," and the new team is sending her to a hip part of Gotham and a different time in her life.
Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher, previously known for DC's "Batman Inc." and "Wednesday Comics," will handle writing, while newcomer Babs Tarr takes over art.
MTV News scored an interview with the trio, who laid out their vision for the monthly title.
The story kicks off when Barbara loses everything she owns to a fire. Rather than send her into the dumps, Barbara takes a step back, looks at the big picture and decides it's time for a change.
First up: a whole new costume. Gone is the skin-tight body armor of the past. Forced to create a new costume out of practical items from boutique stores, Barbara fashions an outfit made up of spandex leggings, a leather jacket top that's a separate piece, utility boots and a clever cape that snaps on and off her shoulders. The idea was to give Batgirl a costume that reflects modern life as a young adult.
Aside from an updated wardrobe, Barbara also finds herself in new surroundings when she moves to Gotham's trendiest, hippest neighborhood: Burnside. Prompting the move is a renewed desire to finish graduate school -- but also to embrace the fun life of a single, sassy, socialite girl in the big city. Certainly sounds like a departure from her typical darkness and suffering. Fletcher describes his and Stewart's take on Batgirl as a combination of "Veronica Mars" and "Girls," with a hint of "Sherlock" for mystery solving and crime fighting.
As for Burnside, Fletcher makes it sound like a hipster haven, with "expensive coffee, vintage shops, and breakout bands." In other words, Batgirl's moving to the Greenwich Village of Gotham.
Regarding continuity, the writing duo says that a few familiar faces will remain part of Batgirl's life, but otherwise it's pretty much a clean break with the past. Batman, Robin, Joker, Poison Ivy and all the rest are still out there, but they won't be showing up on Barbara's doorstep. Fletcher says that the heroine is "breaking free" from her mentor's fight and her family ties to Commissioner Jim Gordon.
According to Stewart, you can expect a different approach in the story format as well. Rather than three or six-issue story arcs, each issue will stand alone as a single story, but weaving between them will be a longer, ongoing story arc.
