Letters to GG13

[mockingbird]

Let us know what you thought of this issue!

[houseofmystery]

Bloody Hell are OMACs terrifying over on Earth 5!! I need to go and comment #1 of OMAC itself, but the cover to this issue was brilliant, and the words behind it... Sam, this was awesome! You're doing fantastic work on this book and I'm intrigued as to where this is going! Keep up the good work!!

[eric the pilot]

Love when we're dropped right into the story, and here the setting is just another night in Gotham City.

You do a great job with this one establishing the feel of Gotham City: the sounds of the bullet echoing in the canyons of the city and examples of the populace to jaded to care.

Batgirl's chase is just the sort of thing you want to open an action-oriented issue with and you do a great job with this one, getting us right inside Renee's head just as well as you handle the physical elements: depicting the way she moves down the street in relation to the thief she's chasing - one nervous and tired, one poised and ominous to the criminal element.

You also take the time to provides us with a nice little contrast between Renee's demeanor and personality against what other heroes would do. It really helps to show Renee's development is coming along just as much as Harley and Ivy's during this series, even though that can sometimes be forgotten since Harley and Ivy tend to be so much more dynamic and attention drawing by design.

It's cool to see the way you exploit the non-nonsense, Gotham City cop mentality and training Renee brings to Batgirl, it really helps to keep her distinctive from the other members of the Bat clan while keeping the same "the spectre of the Bat" image that most of the Gotham, and the reader has come to expect.

Adding the ice into the equation is an equally great choice too, it not only helps to level the playing field a little, but also provides a different, but no less anti-climatic end to the chase with the robber, having him defeated by his own clumsiness as much as by Renee - it illustrates her for what she is, an opportunist that will take every advantage in the fight against crime.

But that's not to say that she doesn't do her own part to bring him down, get the information she needs and move on. Gotham just doesn't stop for anyone.

After letting Renee have her moment to shine, you then introduce the concept of the OMACs that will be dominating the issue.

The one thing I like is that you've been able to adapt the basic premise to fit your city and its circumstances and are able to show the effects on the people and the city. That helps to draw people in and create a more complete atmosphere.

With both the rank-and-file cops (and though not explicitly stated, no doubt their union) and the city government pushing the OMAC units through to reduce payroll and the pressures on the individual cops themselves, it works perfectly organically.

You can believe that people would embrace them, even in a world of superheroes where technology has had it's habits of turning against it's creators. The nice references to the general populace's respect and admiration for Luthor's corporation helps to underscore that point.

But of course, things do have to go amiss and the OMACs have to attack our heroine, which provides the real action for this issue, and that just starts the reader on a thrill ride that doesn't come to a close until the issue is over.

The OMAC is depicted much as you would expect it to be - relentless and powerful, and I enjoyed watching Renee trying to match wits with it throughout the issue.

Your depiction, for instance, of the intention versus reality of her grappling the OMAC's legs, and the attempt to reflect the OMAC's eye beam using the TV really worked out nicely. It's great to see more examples of how quickly she thinks on her feet, which appears to be a recurring theme for the issue and the character.

Yet at the same time, she works as part of a team and isn't afraid to appeal for some help from Oracle when push comes to shove - this is a serious threat and she seems to know she's outgunned. Making things worse, she still has to deal with the non-fazed and nonplussed population of Gotham city who just seem far too used to this sort of thing, crowding around to get a better look when common sense would dictate to run like hell. She's a hero and ultimately makes the right call in getting them to leave, even if it's one that would give a PR rep fits.

The finally showdown between the pair is one for the ages, the reader can almost see Renee running away in slow motion as the planted charge takes it's effect and explodes, knocking her off her feet. It's a great image, as is her ultimate triumph with the cheers of the local citizenry rising up around her. It's such a great moment, the reader sort of forgets the notion that these heroes tend to work best without much evidence of who they are and how they do that they do. You almost want to see some high fives from the crowd, suddenly and if only briefly, less jaded.

The kicker is the reveal when Renee gets back to Barbara's, reader gets clued in to the full scale of the OMAC menace, and learns that it's not just one, but multiple units going crazy throughout the city, tying up the entire Bat family. When Spoiler and Robin are forced to work on their own against one of those things, you know the stakes are high. Renee's battle is won, and the war - far from over.

On the whole this is great not only as an individual issue of Gotham Girls but also as an entry in the ongoing OMAC saga, this really ups the ante and does a great job showing the scale of Ivo's plan while focusing on just one of many cities that are facing the same thing.

This is the ideal crossover issue, strong enough to stand on its own as a single issue, provides an excellent tale for the people who aren't following the main OMAC story but are faithful Gotham Girls readers, and it brings so much to really help expand upon the on-going mini-series for people reading both.

You've done a great job here and I can't wait to see what it is you have in store for us next issue.