Batgirl artist Babs Tarr took to Twitter today to talk about her work on the ongoing title and how things will shape up for Babs (Gordon, that is) moving forward. While the artist has been making her mark on the title and the character for awhile, issue 41 sees major changes to Barbara Gordon and the world around her. Everything’s basically a new series at this point and that presents its own set of challenges.
Starting off on with what her favorite issue to draw so far has been, Tarr says “My favorite issue to draw so far would probably be issue 36!” This issue depicted Batgirl’s first day of grad school, which was interrupted by a vicious female motorcycle gang (naturally.)
Another question asks the artist about the first comic she ever read, to which Tarr responds, “I remember reading Sailor Moon vol. 3! I found it randomly and fell in love with it since I was already obsessed with the TV show!”
One interesting thing that arises during the chat is a question about Dick Grayson and Barbara’s relationship in future issues, using the fandom ship name “dickbabs” (there has to be a better name for that) to which Tarr responds with a series of winky face emoticons.
@alisonhandrix asks Tarr about her favorite villain, to which the artist replies, “Catwoman, because she’s a mix of bad and good!”
https://twitter.com/DCComics/status/614526575887814656
Talking about Batgirl’s impressive supporting cast, Tarr says, “We have such fuuuuun with all the supporting characters! It’s got to be a tie between Qadir, Nadimah and Franie!” But adds, “If I had to pick just one it’d be Qadir ‘cause I secretly ship them… (not so secret anymore!)”
On her biggest drawing inspirations, Tarr replies, “I make sure to get out of my comic world and look at cool stuff that excites me! Fashion, movies, cartoons! I went to art school & came out w/ lots of close friends that inspire me everyday.”
She also makes sure to offer moments of jokes, when asked about her own personal Batmobile, she says “I’m working that one in my contract with DC as we speak!”
But then she shifts to talk about the creative team, “The best part about being on Team Batgirl is that it’s like a second family! We get along super well and have lots of fun and I think that comes across in the comic too!”
@EdgeGrayson asks “Do Cameron Stewart & Brendan Fletcher let you draw all the panels like you want?” To which she says, “I just started doing my own layouts recently, so yes! I do all the panels how I want, “The Boys” are super flexible though! We all just want what makes the comic read best, whether it’s my panels, Cameron’s or someone else’s!”
Tarr also readily speaks to her own lack of industry experience, talking about the challenges that came with starting her work on the title. “The most challenging part of making Batgirl is jumping blindly into comics without any experience what so ever… and then learning as I went, in front of the largest audience possible.”
She also teases future appearances of Dick, saying “I can’t say. Just read it. You won’t be disappointed (is that too spoilery?! OOPS)”
I CAN'T SAY, but just read it. You won't be disappointed (is that too spoilery?! OOPS) @babsdraws #BatgirlChat https://t.co/BuFRnuJXUB
— DC Comics (@DCComics) June 26, 2015
As for her personal favorite superhero, Tarr says, “I don’t think it’s any secret, but Sailor Moon is my favorite superhero other than Batgirl!”
On the subject of research, she says, “Since we are starting really fresh with our run and BTAS was a big influence… I had seen every single episode from when I was little, but I just really ended up jumping right in.” Speaking further about references, she adds, “I love tumblr and pinterest for collecting resources! And of course looking at my very talented peers!”
As for her favorite artists, Tarr notes, “Artistically speaking—I love Jamie Hewlett, Bruce Timm and Kevin Dart among others!”
Ending with a note on Batgirl’s style, she says, “Babs’ style is tomboy/comfy/cute/lazy but I’m gonna slowly start introducing that librarian style in.” And also teases “big plans” for Frankie’s character.
Babs style is tomboy/comfy/cute/lazy but I'm gonna slowly start introducing that librarian style in… @babsdraws https://t.co/1Cc9XGkwjt
— DC Comics (@DCComics) June 26, 2015
Batgirl #41 is available now. You can check out our review here.
