Review by Karl Verhoven
It’s common procedure for titles starring a single superhero to establish them for new readers via a sequence of them in costume showing how capable they are of ending a threat. Brian Q. Miller comes up with a thrilling example to open The Flood, featuring a terrorist wearing a bomb belt threatening to detonate amid a carriage packed with passengers on a moving train. It’s a neatly written sequence with Batgirl’s intervention beautifully choreographed for maximum visual effect by Lee Garbett, almost a template on how to produce such scenes. Better still, it’s followed up in The Lesson.
That, though, is only the opener to Gotham under threat of a flood and number of suicides that can’t be explained by the usual warning signs. Regular readers of comics set in Gotham will be quicker on the uptake than the GCPD, not least for it being a logical development of someone introduced in Batgirl Rising. To be fair, Miller barely bothers to disguise the criminal’s identity as it’s the plan providing the major threat, and once that’s up and running the villain is irrelevant apart from having a very personal reason for targeting Barbara Gordon.
Of course, here it’s Stephanie Brown that’s Batgirl, still learning on the job with Barbara as Oracle guiding her. Miller’s version of Stephanie as having an inner confidence if not being the complete article is well defined, and he has her sum up her situation adroitly by noting “at least zombies don’t complain about me being right for the job”. All her talents are needed when it comes to her having to deal with assorted familiar faces transformed into threats, and the role of Wendy Harris is well increased.
Lee Garbett and Pére Pérez mesh well on the artwork to the point where you’ll have to look closely to define who’s responsible for which pages. It doesn’t really matter, as it’s all good. That the entire story occurs during heavy rainfall instantly delivers atmosphere, and while Pérez tends more toward close-up panels, given the conditions this doesn’t stall the excitement. The title story is a thriller from start to finish with a novel role for Oracle.
In 2025 this content was merged with Batgirl Rising as Batgirl: Stephanie Brown Volume 1, but the final two chapters are found in Volume 2. They’re a pair of single chapter outings, first a relatively ordinary encounter with Clayface, then a far more satisfying character study as Supergirl calls for a night out. Miller captures Supergirl’s enthusiasm and good nature in a fun adventure that has multiple versions of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula leaping out of the cinema screen and into reality. It’s sweet and a lot of fun.
