Batgirl: The Lesson
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Dustin Nguyen, Pere Pérez, Ramon Bachs, and Derek Fridolfs
Colors by Guy Major
DC Comics, 2011
Collects Batgirl (v.3) #15-24
It’s a a sad state of affairs when you have a begin a very positive review for a trade collection with the warning, “By the way, this comic was cancelled!” It gets even sadder when you have to add, “Not only was this comic cancelled, the whole DCU was rebooted and they’re pretty much pretending this never happened!” And when you really ought to add a third and final disclaimer–”It really helps to have read Batgirl: Batgirl Rising and Batgirl: The Flood, even though they aren’t as good as this collection, and also to know something about Stephanie Brown’s rather complicated character history”–it’s hard not to wonder whether reviewing the book in question is something of an exercise in futility.
Welcome to my review of Batgirl: The Lesson, folks. Many disclaimers apply.
[Warning: some mild plot spoilers after the jump.] Continue Reading →
I know updates have been few and far between lately, but that’s because a lot has been going on in my offline life that’s demanded my attention. Last week I accepted a new job as Youth Services Librarian for Pierce County Library System (WA), starting in mid-July. I will miss my colleagues and community at San José Public Library a lot, but I think that this new opportunity will be a good fit for me. I’m very excited and very happy.
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["What I'm Reading" posts are not intended to be formal reviews and generally contain spoilers for the book under discussion after the jump. Readers beware!]
Over on Twitter today, Sean Gaffney (@Toukochan) of 
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Land of the Blindfolded, vol. 1-9
To say I am fond of Yotsuba&! is a bit of an understatement. When a new volume of Yotsuba&! reaches my hands, I tend to drop everything else I am reading and immediately dive into Yotsuba’s latest adventures. By this point in the series, I no longer have much doubt that any new installments will be good reads. The real question is whether they can possibly live up to my overwhelming expectations of excellence. 
Oyayubihime Infinity, vol. 1-6