Letters to GG15

[mockingbird]

tell us what you thought!

[>>Riz!]

Again worth 5 stars.
You, lady, are a fantastic writer.
So Harvey confirmed already he did it... I first imagined it to be somebody else.
Let's see what the next issue brings.

[eric the pilot]

This issue picks up with a very moody setting, the word choice in particular is excellent, and really helps to draw the reader in. It's hard to imagine sometimes the true depth of the danger and the darkness that a setting a story in Gotham City can provide, but you cover it here quite viscerally.

Equally interesting is what you do with Renee's situation, torn between loyalty and where the facts are leading.

Though Ivy's naming Harvey doesn't really come as much of a surprise given their history, what's more interesting I think to the reader is seeing the battle between her loyalties to Harvey as a friend battle out against the evidence she's getting as part of her investigation. It's this internal battle That's proving to be another real treat of the series.

Harvey's entrance into the issue was equally dramatic and disturbing, he really gets his time to shine this issue and takes over the issue in a way that we haven't really seen before - it's very well written. I like that you keep focusing on the eye in particular as something that creeps Renee out because it gives the audience a particular element to focus on and visualize in their own head - the disfigured side can be as messed up as each reader imagines, but everyone's has that same eye in their mind. Harvey is clearly a very complex character in your hands, and it's a fairly different take on the character as well.

Since in most incarnations his darker persona usually seems to overwhelm what was Harvey Dent until only important, but vestigial traces remain, it's novel to see that in Gotham Girls the battlefield remains fully engaged and both sides seem to have an equal chance of winning. The best example of that as shown in the issue is the fact that even when his darker side murders the two men for reasons yet unrevealed, the other still calls the police, driven by that same sense of justice he always had.

I liked the interplay between the two sides as well. It can in lesser hands come off really cheesy at best or painfully dull at worst when a character is arguing with himself, but you avoid that here with your word choice and your general skill in crafting these defective, manipulative personalities. We've seen that skill expressed before in this series.

That sort of thing really helps to make the reader look forward to seeing what more you have in store for Harvey and to see which side is ultimately going to win, assuming either does. You've got yet another hook, and the arc is only half over.

Jim Gordon's role is equally as fascinating as Harvey's here, he comes off legitimately hurt and insulted by Batgirl's violation of protocol, and the way he acts, it's enough to make the reader wonder if he doesn't have a better clue that Batgirl is Renee than she thinks. He may not, but he seems suspicious and that too is a fascinating thing to see you play around with down the road.

One would imagine he'll find out eventually.

Beyond just their relationship out of costume, which was emphasized and explored last issue, it's really fascinating to see how different his interplay with Batgirl is than the way he reacts with Batman. Hard to say what informs that, but that too could be interesting to see explored down the line, especially when contrasted against their relationship out of costume.

But of course, when you talk about the interplay between characters the scene with Batgirl and Ivy that closes the issue is full of a great deal of tension, as most of their encounters are, although this one perhaps more than most. Ivy's clearly got Renee's number, and is in her head, but how much of it is just Ivy messing with her, and how much is something more... once again, something that's going to bring the readers back.

I love that every issue doesn't have to rely on shock tactics and big action sequences, that you can produce a full and complex issue out of just solid detective work and the exploiting, evolving and exploring of people's individual storylines and status quos.

This is some great work and it's role as one of, if not THE series most identified with the entire board is well deserved. It's high quality all around. Great job.

[houseofmystery]

Bloody Hell, this was good. This paragraph actually made me stop and think, and clearly distinguishes Renee from Bruce, Barbara and anyone else who wore or wears a cowl in any universe:

Batgirl hated this part of the city. She almost couldn’t bring herself to forgive the people who lived there, always having to remind herself that even in Gotham, the poor-but-good people outnumbered the criminals.

That was just... starkly beautiful, in amongst the hell that is Gotham. Anyway, Harvey Dent is scary! I love me some Two-Face, and I want to, sometime down the line, write my own Two-Face story, and when I do, I'll look to this arc for inspiration! Brilliant, Sam. This book is brilliant.