Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "cassandra-cain"

Batgirl, Vol. 2: A Knight Alone by Kelley Puckett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The second volume collects Issues 7-11, 13 and 14 of the Cassandra Cain Batgirl stories. Issues 7-9 focus on the aftermath of the events in the prior story where she lost her amazing skills that allowed her to anticipate her opponents moves when she was given the gift of communication. Her costume has been taken away by Batman who doesn't think she can be safe. These stories show how important being the best is as it leads her into a confrontation with a Lady Shiva and Batgirl shows there's little she won't do to be good for as long as she can. How her skills are returned is a bit of a cheat, but it's interesting.

The rest of the book is made up of one shots. Issue 10 features a frustrated man with a gun in an alley. Batgirl is kind of an ineffectual afterthought. Issue 11 focuses on Cain's lowlife father David who escapes from the hospital but not from trouble. Issue 13 sees her give a young criminal an opportunity to go straight by saving him out of costume and Issue 14 ends with a new milestone in Cassandra's life as a result of that decision.

Overall, despite some merely okay stories, I enjoyed the book because Cassandra continues to be just an amazing character.




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Batgirl, Vol. 3: Death Wish by Kelley Puckett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 17-20, 22-23, 25 of Cassandra Cain's run as Batgirl. This book is one of those comic stories that works better as a trade. Individually, except for the final issue, these stories seem unconnected okay crime adventures with Robin (Tim Drake) and Spoiler joining her on a couple cases one issue being dedicated to a long dialogue between Batman and Oracle about her.

However, read as a trade, it's actually a very good character story about Batgirl dealing with her guilt over killing a man as a child and the ticking time bomb which is her battle to the death with her mother Lady Shiva. Within the context of the trade, it's a longer story as she deals with her guilt and her true nature. Batman's observation that she's not a killer because how could a killer get what we do here, is a thought provoking idea. The conversation works in the context of the book because so much of is action, it actually makes a nice break. What makes the book pay off is the final chapter with the battle with Lady Shiva. The fight and the revelations that come out of it make for a nice twist. Overall, a good story where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.



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Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood by Bill Willingham

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Fresh Blood is a crossover Batgirl, collecting Issue 132 and 133 of Robin and 58 and 59 of Batgirl. tween Tim Drake's Roin and Cassandra Cain's Batgirl. It comes from before the current practice where every comic book series and storyline gets a trade, and having read it, I wonder why anyone thought this was worth collecting, and even better why it was worth doing.

The story opens with the once-cheery optimistic Robin in a very dark place as he's had to bury his father and girlfriend within 24 hours. takes over crimefighting in Bludhaven after Nightwing left and acts in a very brutal way until he attracts the attention until he's overpowered by the assassin Shrike. At that time, Batgirl enters the story. We find that Batman thought she was almost ready for a city of her own and to fill Bludhaven, but that he also saw that she and Tim could help each other and be a well-balanced team. And throughout the second part of the story, we do indeed see how a Cain-Drake team could work and how they would make very strong crimefighting partners.

The next two issues totally blows the potential of that team in a dull and idiotic story that has one of Batman's most famous rogues acting like a total idiot and the team ending for stupid reasons. On top of that, the art is wonky.

This isn't completely horrible but it plays a nasty trick by really making something look promising and then pulling the rug out from under the read by executing in the stupidest way imaginable.



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Batgirl, Vol. 5: Kicking Assassins by Andersen Gabrych

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After her failed team-up with TIm Drake's Robin, Cassandra Cain is flying solo in Bludhaven.

This book works pretty well. There's great action. Cassandra continues to evolve as a character. The art is actually fairly good. She faces off against the Brotherhood of Evil all by herself.

I had to groan a bit when it seemed like Deathstroke had been hired to take down Cassandra but it turned out to be his daughter instead. However, the final issue was really good as Cassandra had to combine her skills with some clever tactical thinking. We get some really nice insights into how she fights and sees the world. Overall, an enjoyable read.



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