Batgirl of Burnside: DC Compact Comics Edition by Cameron Stewart & Brenden Fletcher Review: A Bold, Character-Driven DC Reinvention

Batgirl of Burnside: DC Compact Comics Edition is a graphic novel collection published by DC Comics, written by Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher, with art by Babs Tarr and Irene Koh. It gathers Batgirl #35–45, Batgirl Annual #3, Secret Origins #10, and DC Sneak Peek: Batgirl #1 under one cover. The premise is a deliberate reinvention: Barbara Gordon packs her bags, crosses the bridge, and heads to Burnside, Gotham's coolest neighborhood, trading the weight of her darker past for a fresh start in a younger, more socially connected world. The central dramatic question the publisher frames around this arc is pointed — will the bright lights of Burnside ultimately burn her for good?

The Stewart–Fletcher–Tarr run, which began with Batgirl #35 in 2014, is widely recognized as one of the more consequential course corrections in DC's New 52 era. The creative team redesigned Barbara Gordon's costume, shifted her setting from the grimmer corners of Gotham, and explicitly aimed the book at a broader, younger readership. The phrase the publisher itself uses — "reinvent Barbara Gordon from the boots up" — captures the totality of that ambition. The DC Compact Comics Edition repackages this run in a trim format designed for accessibility and shelf convenience, part of DC's broader Compact Comics line.

Cameron Stewart's comics résumé spans Batman and Robin, Seaguy, Seven Soldiers: The Manhattan Guardian, The Other Side, and Catwoman, among other titles. His original webcomic Sin Titulo won both the 2010 Eisner Award and the Shuster Award for Best Digital Comic, and he has received nominations across the Shuster, Eagle, Harvey, and Eisner Awards — a pedigree that signals craft-level investment in the storytelling. Brenden Fletcher co-wrote the run alongside Stewart, and illustrator Babs Tarr's visual identity for the book became closely associated with the run's cultural footprint; Irene Koh also contributes illustration work to the collection. The assembled team brought distinct individual strengths — prose comics writing, award-recognized sequential art, and a fresh visual voice — to a character with decades of history.

As a DC Compact Comics Edition, this volume is designed for readers who want the complete Burnside arc in one place, without the need to track down individual trade paperback installments. The collected issues span a substantial run — eleven main series issues plus three additional entries — making this one of the more complete single-volume packages for this story. The Compact Comics format is structured for portability and affordability relative to oversized editions. Readers coming to the Burnside era for the first time will find the core narrative uninterrupted, while longtime fans of the original run gain a consolidated reprint.

Readers drawn to superhero comics that center character-driven storytelling, a younger protagonist navigating a distinct urban setting, and a visual identity designed to feel fresh against traditional DC aesthetics will find the Burnside run well-suited to their interests. The collection's scope — anchored in a specific creative era and a deliberate stylistic departure — means it reads as a self-contained chapter rather than a gateway to Barbara Gordon's full continuity. Readers seeking ties to the broader Gotham mythos or a darker, more traditional superhero tone may find the book's intentionally contemporary, neighborhood-focused premise a departure from expectations. The DC Compact Comics Edition is scheduled for publication in September 2026, so readers encountering this review before that date should note the volume has not yet reached shelves in this format.