A sister in need.
Creative Staff:
Story: Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing
Art: Carmen Carnero
Colors: Trish Milvihill
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Barbara Gordon knows what is good and right and true in the world. Her ridealongs make sure of that—and so does her mentor, The Batman.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Gotham City Garage has been an interesting but uneven book so far but it’s been tightening up a bit in the last couple of issues. Kelly and Lanzing definitely know the tale that they want to tell but I felt a bit frustrated in how the world building was introduced and the kind of all over the map aspect of some of the things that have gone on so far. With it feeling more focused, this issue benefits hugely from having Carmen Carnero on board for the artwork as it’s just strong looking when it comes to the layouts, the characters, and the mechanical elements of it. It also doesn’t hurt that we spend time both in the dome and in the garage so that both worlds are explored.
This installment works two stories running in parallel that complement each other well. The main story in my view is that of Barbara Gordon as she’s moving in an active way here. Done up as though she’s writing to Kara, she talks about how she’s reacted since their father’s death, her time hunting with Batman, and the encounter with the Joker that has put the seed in her mind that the Bat may be lying to her. There’s a real somber element that works well, especially with the color design, and seeing a moody Barbara works better than I thought it would. Her exploration into what really happened to her father finally hits and while we know she’s being watched it’s definitely exciting to see how she’s going to handle events and if she knows that Batman is basically using her to get to the larger objective here.
Kara’s story is more secondary here as she’s simply spending time at the Garage and relating it to Barbara in a letter she’ll never see. It provides some good insights into how Kara views everyone here to some degree and how she’s finding her place amid it all as a newer arrival. There are some neat little moments, especially now that she’s established what she can do, and a couple of good nods to how she knows Barbara would like it here. I really liked the bit with her working on building her own ride, which you know is being done in the simplest way possible as opposed to really digging into it, especially as when we get the end result it comes across exactly like the old Superman motorcycle toy from the 70’s that I fondly remember owning from my own childhood. It’s a sweet little moment as Kara is stepping up to things herself.
In Summary:
Gotham City Garage is still finding its footing but the focus on Barbara and Kara here in their respective areas and the way talk to each other is spot on. There’s no real action to be had here but these characters connect better than they have in several issues because of it. I don’t mind the quips amid a fight but this is where the heavy lifting is done and seeing how well Kelly and Lanzing execute it has me excited to see what’s next. The book also makes out incredibly well for having Carmen Carnero on board and I hope she’s involved with a lot of this book whenever she can as it’s one of the better looking installments of the run so far.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 1st, 2017
MSRP: $0.99