batgirl

When I first jumped into the Batbooks early into the New 52, I was disappointed to learn that Barbara Gordon, my favorite superheroine, hadn’t had many love interests, and even less showing up in the new canon. How did a character so awesome, who had been around for so long, have so few romances over the years? I had started brainstorming who I would pair her with, and around that time I checked out the event comic Death of the Family. In the last issue, the Batfam had stopped the Joker, but they were all still coming down from the Joker toxin. While they were all sitting in a pool of water, grinning painfully against their wills, there was this one detail towards the back of the panel...

Lego has never been at a shortage of simple and easy sets for its fans to build. Sure the more extravagant pieces get all the attention, but sometimes you just want a budget-friendly little set for your desk to show off your construction skills. This past San Diego Comic-Con saw Lego take that idea even farther, and offer small character building sets in the vein of Funko Pops called Lego Brickheadz. Originally only available as two-packs exclusively at SDCC, the Lego Brickheadz are finally available for the rest of the collecting public. Featuring some of your favorite characters from the Marvel and DC universes, Lego Brickheadz might finally give Funko a run for its money in the emotionless pop culture figure arena.

Since becoming the cornerstone of the DC Collectibles action figure line, the DC Icons series has been filled with some terrific interpretations of our favorite heroes. With Icons, DC Collectibles has picked and chosen some of the best iterations of DC Comics' massive catalog of characters, ranging from classic stories from the '80s all the way up through the New 52. Though the DC Icons figures have yet to truly touch the Rebirth era, a few New 52 holdovers have made the cut, including the newest deluxe edition figure, Batgirl of Burnside. Based on the revamped Batgirl from Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr's run on her solo title, the DC Icons Batgirl of Burnside is stylish, well-sculpted and comes with a wicked ride. Most importantly however, Batgirl serves as an example of the greatness Icons could achieve.

The Lego Batman toy line has been going strong for over a decade now, but with this week's release of the Lego Batman Movie, we've seen a truly unprecedented explosion of merchandise based around the Caped Crusader's blockiest incarnation. And with that many figures, going from the Dark Knight himself all the way down to super obscure deep cuts like the Mime and March Harriet, our course here at ComicsAlliance is clear. We need to rank them. So today, we've dug through every single Lego Batman Movie minifig (and eliminated simple variations like "Batman with a slightly different face") to rank them all, worst to best.

The first ever comic convention on a cruise took place last weekend on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas sailing from Tampa, Florida, to Cozumel, Mexico. Despite the unusual venue, Fan2Sea featured everything you'd expect from a landlocked con, including panels, signings, parties, screenings and, of course, cosplay. Being out at sea didn't stop these dedicated cosplayers from pulling out their best looks, often with a strong nautical theme, whether it was a seafaring Deadpool or two, or a watery Disney villain like Ursula or Tamatoa. ComicsAlliance was on the scene, courtesy of Fan2Sea, to capture some of our favorite cosplay on the cruise. This is the best cosplay ever... on a ship!

While Batgirl has spent the last six months backpacking around Asia, there's no place like home, and this week Hope Larson and new series artist Chris Wildgoose bring Barbara Gordon back to a Burnside full of changes. There's new shops, new career possibilities and a new love interest and potential villain in Ethan Cobblepot. ComicsAlliance caught up with Larson and Wildgoose to talk about the evolution of Burnside, and what "Son of Penguin" has in store for Batgirl.

It was only a matter of time until the DC Bombshells made their way to the realm of Funko Pop. The characters that started as a statue series, then got their own series, and then got action figures and more collectibles based on that comic series have officially come full circle. As with any bit of pop culture though, you haven't truly transcended your medium until you get a Funko figure. Now that the DC Bombshells have found their way to the affordable vinyl figure series, they're even more unstoppable a force than they were before.

Barbara's back from her travels in Asia, but she and Burnside are both different from when she left. The preview for Batgirl #7, by Hope Larson and new ongoing artist Christian Wildgoose, finds Barbara back in school, but now in the Library Science program. This is a nice callback to the original concept of Batgirl as a librarian in her secret identity, but a much more modern take, with her emphasis on community, information, and access.

The end of the year is always a time for reflection, and we're taking this opportunity to look back at the long and weird history of superhero comics by picking our favorite heroes from each decade. Our panelists must put together fantasy teams drawing from the last 80+ years of superhero comics, using heroes from any publisher.

This week we’re creating our dream cast for Gotham City Sirens, the planned Harley Quinn-centered spinoff of Suicide Squad from director David Ayer and artist Geneva Robertson-Dworet. Poison Ivy and Catwoman have been discussed as the other central characters, but we've filled out our cast with some of Gotham's female heroes.