Batgirl #3

Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Ardian Syaf

There may be two redemptions underway in this book: not only is Barbara Gordon reclaiming her mobility and heroic identity, but Gail Simone is finding a way to play to her strengths as a creator.

I didn't much care for Simone in Wonder Woman, and her cult work in Secret Six, for me, wasn't just irreverent, but irrelevant. With Babs, she seems to have found a purpose, combining her perspective with Batgirl's. This particular issue features a guest appearance from Nightwing, otherwise known as half of a schoolyard crush from earlier days. The beauty of the appearance is that it speaks both to a part of comics lore that many fans still admire (but perhaps, like Babs and Dick Grayson, don't actually need anymore) as well as the continuing evolution of both characters.

I hadn't particularly expected to care all that much for this particular element of the "New 52," but this is the kind of issue that can totally transform perspectives.