Batgirl

DC's Rebirth initiative takes a jaunty, enjoyable step into YA territory with Batgirl. A savvy, emotionally astute, and energetic writer with several wonderful nonsuperhero projects to her name, Larson pays homage to one paradigm of teen girl comics manga, that is by sending her heroine to Japan. There, as Barbara Gordon, Batgirl meets a childhood friend who plunges her into a hunt for a missing formula, and following a clue from an elderly Japanese superhero, she engages in furious mixed martial arts battles, and matches wits with the mysterious Teacher and her deadly students. With her DIY uniform and a breathless internal monologue, Batgirl is an unusually accessible hero, and by bringing in a tentative romance and using academic pressure as a motive for the opposition, Larson clicks into teen interests beautifully. Albuquerque taps the manga vein himself, with large, gleaming eyes and faces brightened by big emotions. But his free-flowing lines are distinctly his own, and he produces strong performances from his characters, as well as brawls with swift, balletic power.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2010 Booklist