Batgirl, Vol. 7: Oracle Rising

Castellucci takes over as the new writer in a collection that features two stories. The main one is by far the better, continuing on from the previous run without much of a blip - there's far less of a jolt than there usually is when a new writer takes over an ongoing series. But here, we keep many of the same characters, and the plot pretty carries on where it left off, despite the “Year of the Villain” arc intruding here and there. The actual villain in this very much works as an idea, and there's good use of the supporting cast, too, as Batgirl faces a foe who knows entirely too much about her and her methods.

Unfortunately, we then get the second story, which runs for just a couple of issues but is nowhere near as good. It's a fantasy story, something that never seems to work in these types of comics - it may just be a genre that Castellucci isn't as good at as he thinks, or the fact that it's deliberately supposed to be hackneyed may be overwhelming whatever else he's trying to do. There's a lot of guff about love that may or may not actually go somewhere in the end... and, yeah, it all drags the average down after quite a good main story.