Bryan Q. Miller Talks Batgirl #1
Thought some might want to hear Miller's insight on the events of Batgirl #1 and what it means for Steph, Babs, and Cass.
Spoilers of Batgirl #1 will be within this topic so click on your own accord.
I decided to put spoiler tags given this issue was released yesterday. So here's what he has to say on Steph her new role in the Batverse:
Miller : The goal isn't to ignore anything with Stephanie that's come before. But one of the goals Mike and I had talked about when we were cobbling this together was to get Stephanie to a place where, if you're a new reader who's coming in, and hopefully there are new readers who come in from time to time, there's not so much heavy up-front information that you have to digest to get into a character.
So this is her first day of college. It's her first day of a new life. It's her first time out in this suit doing something she knows she shouldn't be doing but she can't help because she is who she is. And so, in trying to do that, we just wanted folks to get the chance to meet her, not her history. The goal is to touch upon that eventually, but we wanted to get the show up and running. Get people to meet Stephanie before we started delving into some of the mistakes we've made in the past.
Nrama : OK, under that header, "meet Stephanie," how would you describe her to a new reader? What's your take on who she is?
Miller: Stephanie is a fiery young woman who is very spirited. That zeal will often get her into trouble as she has this tendency to leap before she looks and will hopefully, through the course of, especially these first three, she'll learn the value of at least looking while you leap, if you don't have the foresight to look before you leap. At least know what you're getting yourself into. And our goal is to take her to a place where it's this young woman learning through the bat family, under the symbol of the bat, through Barbara Gordon's experience and tutelage to step into adulthood, and to take on more responsibility in her life. And to not let herself be defined by the mistakes she's made, but to use those mistakes as fuel to help others not make mistakes and make the world a better place.
On Cass and the events surrounding her from the issue:
Miller : We'll get into what Cassandra has been doing at a later point. But we also didn't want to immediately start with the very muddy waters of several Batgirls right away in the first issue. But we'll get into what Cassandra did when she left.
But you've got Cassandra who, in the previous Batgirl run, it's her redemption. By the end of the run, she was on the slate to be adopted by Bruce Wayne. So finally, she's put her issues with her bad dad to bed and she's on the road to recovery through Bruce Wayne. And what happens when that rug comes out from under her? What happens when you've finally found your place and your perfect father figure, and you're accepted, and then the person responsible for that is gone? That's obviously going to send you into a little bit of a tailspin. It's a curve ball.
So that's kind of what we're getting at in this scene. We'll get into the details of it later. But the nugget of why Cassandra walks away is she's not sure why she's fighting the fight anymore as she tries to come to terms with the loss of Bruce Wayne.
In the passing of the torch sense, I don't know that Cassandra was intending for Steph to do anything, but there's this thing where Steph takes the suit home and it's like the Telltale Heart where she's like, "Well, I promised everyone I wouldn't do anymore vigilante stuff, but there's this awesome thing with a bat on it in the closet. What would it feel like to wear that? What's it feel like to run across rooftops under the bat signal?"
Finally what Babs role will be in this series and of her status as Oracle:
Nrama : You mentioned the tutelage of Barbara Gordon. Does she have a recurring role as part of the supporting cast?
Miller : Absolutely. Barbara Gordon is still performing Oracle duties as she always has, but at first Barbara will not be happy with the idea of Steph running around in the Batgirl costume. And as you see in issue #1, it creates some conflict between the two. Eventually, Barbara and Stephanie will come to an understanding about how things are going to work.
Coming off the Oracle: The Cure mini-series, in her quest around the world when she was chasing Calculator, she got a little edgier. She got a little darker. And she may start to recognize that about herself. And what's to happen when you've got this darker thing going on with one person and this lighter spirit in Stephanie. They can't help but rub off on one another in different ways.
Some interesting bits to be sure. Sounds like Prankster or Toyman might be appearing in the book since they be the only two Superman Rogues. Then again maybe it's Livewire or Parasite. Honestly, I think I'm gonna stay on the book even with controversay choice DC had with one of the characters above. It's a Steph ongoing. How can I not resist that?
For legality (not my scans I think this was originally posted on Scans Daily and that the later two are scans done by nevermore):