There’s a letter. The Gotham City Police got a letter for a trio of crime fighters. Naturally, they forward it to the crime fighters in question. It’s evidently from the Hatter. He’s inviting them to a tea party in Batgirls #16. Writers Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad continue a hugely entertaining series in an issue drawn to the page by artist Neil Googe and colorist Rico Renzi. Geraldo Borges assists the team with finishes on the second half of the issue. It’s a fun one-shot adventure that continues to establish an appealing, emotionally engaging pulse for the relatively young series. 

It’s going to be kind of difficult for Steph and Cass to avoid showing up for the party in question. They HAVE been the only ones invited, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll be alone. The party will also be attended by a host of homicidal marionette robots made in the likeness of every major hero in Gotham City. Robot murder is only a small matter of concern when Steph encounters some weaponized Man-Bat serum. Cass will have her hands full dealing with the Hatter and a monster that she dare not harm, as it is her best friend. 

Conrad and Cloonan reach right into the heart of things with an action story that has a much stronger emotional element than most mainstream superhero stories manage. The madness of the Hatter serves as a suitably unhinged element that draws the Batgirls into a horror that further explores who the two Batgirls are as people. Once again, Conrad and Cloonan are carving out their own distinct corner of the superhero genre in a series that’s as much about a pair of really close friends as it is about the horror that they’re encountering together in the most totally unhinged city in the DC Universe.

Googe and Borges find the perfect balance between comedy, horror, and action. Mannequins are undeniably disturbing for a whole bunch of different reasons. Googe and Borges manage to find some middle ground between cute and creepy that serves the issue’s main action sequence quite well. The monster-ification of Steph could have really looked silly, but Googe and Borges find a way to amp up the drama with her transformation while maintaining a solid hold on the elements of horror that make it such a compelling psycho-emotional journey.

The Batgirls have come a long way since they started. Conrad and Cloonan have taken Steph and Cass through a nice variety of different adventures in the first sixteen issues of the series. Next, the Batgirls leap into Spring in Aparo Park with a couple of completely new villains. Then there’s the return of the Saints in May. The first year and a half with Steph and Cass hasn’t exactly been flawless, but Batgirls has easily proven itself to be one of the most reliably satisfying comics in the mainstream superhero genre.  

Grade: A