Not as cutesy as before but still cute... some weirdness though: what happened to Dick and Babs? MMA? Fruit Bat? This run feels disjointed and confusing.

As a huge Batgirl fan, it was a joy to read Hope Larson's take on Babs! Rafael Albuquerque continues to be a gift to the comics industry.

Hope Larson keeps much of the previous run's tone in the Rebirth Batgirl Vol. 1: Beyond Burnside even as she moves Barbara Gordon out of the Gotham neighborhood. The story is entertaining, with a fine international flair, and Larson writes a Barbara who's young but capable, believably both twenty-something and also owner of her own company. It's also great to see so much serial work by Rafael Albuquerque here. I was pleased with Batgirl Vol. 1: Beyond Burnside, a book that feels faithful but not beholden to what came before.

Batgirl goes international, meets her hero, and stops a group of students trying to take down an old friend.

This trade collects issues #1-6 of the Batgirl Rebirth title. It starts with Barbara travelling to Japan to meet an old vigilante hero of hers. This is mean to be a vacation from crime fighting, but of course, Barbara lands herself in an international undercover criminal network.

Immediately on her arrival in Japan, she runs into Kai, an old friend from Gotham, and as they are exploring and catching up he becomes a target for a couple villains that bring Barbara to realize he might be hiding his true intentions for traveling to Japan.

This sends her on a five issue arc of trying to find out what Kai is hiding and why villains who all have “student” tattoos are hunting him down.

I think of myself as someone who has read a lot of Batgirl’s titles, but I was still lost during parts of this trade. I wasn’t familiar with Batgirl’s past in Burnside, even though that’s where she ends up at the end of the trade. I knew of her changes during the New 52 run, but it didn’t seem to relate, though I must be honest and say I stopped reading the New 52 Batgirl title at around volume 6 or 7.

Kai was an interesting character and I thought him in Barbara were cute, but couldn’t help but think they were only being thrown together for convenience purposes. Because of course men and women can’t just be friends. So the brief romance seemed to be rushed and not as believable as others I’ve seen.

The last issue of the trade is a fun one off that takes place on a plane, features Poison Ivy and I honestly think that was my favorite issue of the trade.

I have quite a few of these in single issue form, so I probably will continue reading the next volume.

**I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**

Excellent introduction to Batgirl and Burnside. I really enjoyed seeing Barbara Gordon as a teenage girl.

This was my first venture into the DC universe. I liked Batgirl and her compatriots, but I just couldn't get into the series.

Batgirl goes Kung-fu...and gets a boyfriend maybe. This seems to be picking up on some dangling elements from the last creative team, so it hits the ground running hard and keeps the martial arts action up.

The art is really bright and clean and the character expressions really shine throughout.

Verdict: Try it.

Entertaining, and aimed at a young female demographic. I think this is a great series for girls who aren't only interested in princess stories or your regular romance/drama titles. A good intro for younger readers who may develop a love for comics and might reach for something more serious.

Batgirl Volume 1 (Rebirth) Beyond Burnside by Hope Larson collects issues one through six. Barbara Gordon’s heart belongs to Burnside, the ultra-hip Gotham City neighborhood. But some threats are bigger than Burnside. And when those threats come calling, Batgirl will answer! When Babs plans a trip to train with the greatest fighters in the Far East, she has no idea her vigilante life will follow her. Lethal warriors are out to take her down, each bearing the mysterious mark of “The Student.” And where there are Students, there must also be…a Teacher. Batgirl’s quest to track down her enemies’ master will take her from Okinawa to Singapore to Seoul to Shanghai. Along the way, she’ll enhance her martial arts skills, and meet legendary heroes.

Beyond Burnside takes place before the Birds of Prey story in the Rebirth story cycle. It is a look at Bab's past, and an interesting side story. As a fan of the idea of Batgirl, I have not read much about her aside from where she appears in other character's comics as a supporting character. This was a good glimpse at her background, and I really enjoyed the artwork and tone of the story. Batgirl is finding herself and ready to study and improve her skills to become who and what she wants to be. The mystery part of the story was good, but I think it was the character strength and development that really made the book. I enjoyed the read, but only wish I had already read the Birds of Prey story- and more Batgirl books.

Beyond Burnside is a good book, and one that tells a side story that is well done and fun- but not a must read.

Always a batgirl fan, and this volume was very good.

In the middle of the new 52, when they made the changes to the Batgirl and turned back the clock on the character, it was refreshing and had the right hint of girl power to make it socially relevant. Unfortunately, DC seems to have fumbled the character with Rebirth and whatever momentum they had built up has slipped. That is way too bad because Barbara Gordon is one of the most relevant and powerful comic book characters in the DC universe. Her history and her position in the Batman lexicon deserve so much more than this.

Continues the Batgirl of Burnside version of Batgirl without being as cutesy or annoying. Batgirl goes on walkabout through Asia to determine what she wants to do with her life. While in Japan, she comes across an old friend Kai who's something of a bad boy. The story with the drug that makes you smarter feels very contrived, but all in all much better than Cameron Stewart's writing. Albuquerque's Batgirl looks great, even if he is too lazy to draw backgrounds.

Barbara Gordon is going on vacation so why doe she pack her Batgirl boots and costume? She manages to meet up with an old friend in Okinawa and meet Fruit Bat, an old retired super-heroine. She travels to Singapore for mixed martial arts fighting, but gets involved in unraveling the mystery of her friend Kai. Which leads to visits to Korea and China and plenty of Batgirl action. Then as a topper, Poison Ivy and a strange plant are on the same plane as Barbara Gordon. Interesting times ahead with the appearance of a villain on the last 2 pages of the book.

ARC from Netgalley.
Stopped reading after the second issue. Skimmed the rest.
I can not get why DC would take a well established character like Batgirl/Oracle, who held her own with the rest of the Bat-Family (including her look, which I admittedly was a big fan of LOL) and de-age her 20+ years, put her in a suit that wouldn't stand up to the fists of ANY of the villains in the Bat-Family rogues gallery, AND make her a bumbling young adult more concerned with friends and guys than being the badass that she has been for a long time in comics, whether in the suit or in the chair.
I tried with the mid-New 52 reboot that took her to Burnside and I couldn't read it then either. They would have been better giving the Batgirl moniker back to Stephanie Brown and keeping Babs as Oracle. I guess I'll give "Batgirl and the Birds of Prey- Rebirth" a try, but I'm not optimistic.
Best of luck to you DC, but I think Batgirl is done for me.
Recommend only to comic readers under the age of 15.

An extra bonus star for not being so bloody social media-fixated, like the last few Batgirl trades. Barbara is on a trip in Asia and bumps into a lunk she knows, but despite all the fights she gets into both voluntarily and otherwise can only take too long in working out he's trouble. His redeeming grace is he's not as much trouble as other people, who at least have a reasonably interesting drama for her. Oh, and Poison Ivy turns up for a filler episode, but never convinces. We do get a teaser for Book Two, but at least these stories have no bearing on the Rebirth hoo-ha, and are pretty much self-contained. They're not brilliant (and she doesn't half like the sound of her own thought bubbles) but they are perfectly serviceable stories, and, to repeat, so much better than the last two pre-Rebirth collections.

This was awesome. I love Barbara Gordon and all of her bookishness! I wish there had been more library references in here, but I enjoyed it anyway. The only thing I was unsure of in this story is where exactly she is in her life. Is she still in school? A librarian going back to school? When a new storyline comes along, I feel like a bit of timeline explaining should go into it. Other than that, I really loved this! Her relationship with Kai, albeit brief, was awesome and ended perfectly. I feel for Kai, though, and hope he somehow gets himself together and he runs into Barbara again.

As for the art, the lines are a little too thick in the first issue for my taste. The style took a little getting used to, but I wasn't hung up on lines by the end of the comic. This is a great intro to the new Rebirth line for Batgirl!

This was a fun read, even for people who don't follow the DC universe and isn't familiar with their storylines. It was action-packed but also had some great romantic moments. The narrative arc was mostly self-conclusive and easy to follow, just an investigation and a few fights, but included a great characterization of Barbara Gordon. All things considered, it's great for those new to superhero comics but also a good addition for anyone who likes Batgirl

I was unable to read this in it's entirety due to my tablet having some issues with the app I use to read NetGalley books. When I came back to re-download the book so I could finish it, as it was already archived.