Was “cellulite” just a random word choice or was Babs feeling guilty over that last bag of Big Belly Burger she ate while patrolling the interwebs and felt that if Cass didn’t point it out, then she wouldn’t feel guilty?
takes off AP hat
I’m glad to see Cass get some new fans through this selection. You newbies will be in for a Hostess brand level of sweetness as you continue on with her adventures (should you choose to do so of course) in “Bruce Wayne: Murderer?”, Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, Batman & Robin Eternal and the Rebirth era of Detective Comics.
Cass was also a member of the Outsiders in Batman and the Outsiders. Should the mood strike you, its available at Comixology under “Outsiders”. It’s the 2007-2011 series.
@Vroom I think, perhaps, Barbara was testing Cassandra, to get a grasp of how advanced her grasp of understanding went. Chair and window are kind of basic compared to cellulite. Then again, maybe Cass read her body language and picked up and Babs’ feelings of being out of shape.
Personally, I wouldn’t recommend Batman & Robin Eternal to new Cass readers (keep it pre-Flashpoint, newbies, I beg of you!!!). I’ve never found it particularly respectful to Cass, but that’s what you get with needless reinventions.
The comic assumes we all already know this Batgirl. No attempt is made to explain why she is living with Barbara Gordon, why she wears a costume similar to Batman’s but also “homemade.” Cassandra Cain was first introduced during the “No Man’s Land” crossover storyline in 1999, the year prior. Interestingly, this is the first Batgirl ongoing series where the entire comic book is Batgirl.
My daughter was around Cassandra Cain’s age when I read this series originally, and she had a tough time learning in school. My daughter has since really blossomed, reads lots of books easily now, and has done well in the workplace. The social awkwardness of this Batgirl due to her struggle to communicate and what my daughter went through in school socially definitely have parallels and may be one reason this particular version of Batgirl is one of my favorites.
I am thinking we’ve covered this territory of children being trained early to be killers (Damian etc), but seeing this illustrated here again reminds me of the use of child soldiers the age of 11 or 12 in war torn impoverished countries around the world. We have some child refugees living in my area of the country that were trained for this. But guess what? We have something similar here in America with all the martial arts schools for the very young as well as institutions such as Naval Academies etc where older children learn the art of war aka killing before they are the age to vote.
What David Cain did with his daughter’s severe training is extreme, but having 7 year olds learn to do punches and kicks etc to defend themselves isn’t utterly unrelated.
Wow, these read faster than the New 52 comics, and those were deliberately tiny comics, lol!
This continues to be a very compelling read featuring a mute heroine. Her actions really do speak volumes and are very emotional and thrilling to view on the comic book page.
The grim reality that “heroes” can’t save everyone all the time, they aren’t God, they have limitations of time and space and knowledge comes through here powerfully (just as real life heroes such as military, police, doctors, firemen also frequently don’t save the day in their attempts to). In spite of Batgirl’s immense talent at fighting and the aid of Oracle in locating the good Samaritan who intervened in a mob wife’s beating, the good guy still dies under her watch. Her actions in the midst of this tragedy are inspiring.
And, how cool is it that seeing the potential power of communicating in writing motivates her to finally start trying to learn to read and write!
The artwork of Damion Scott is very striking in this series and really helps set it apart from the other Batman series. He has influences of hip hop as well as Japanese anime. Currently he has been drawing the Accell series over at Lion Forge, and you can immediately see the connection of youth, energy and a slight “cartoony” rendition that adds to the light hearted feel and excitement of the pages.
It’s engaging to see the innocence and compassion of Batgirl slowly try to emerge from the trainwreck of horrible parenting she had when she was younger in scenes like trying to comfort the accountant’s daughter in this story.
As I noted earlier this week in this thread, it’s very fascinating how Batman starts first with grooming this violent child to become a force for good on the streets, then not much later he gets to do the same thing with his own son Damian. More thoughts on that as we review the second part of the reading direction this week!
I really wish this “mutant” powered fellow hadn’t been used in the series. It all feels very “deux ex machina” to me, a too-convenient tool tossed into the storyline. I personally would have enjoyed a slow burn on this theme over several more issues as the story of others around Batgirl played out, slowly unfolding over many more comic book issues the very unique inner thought life of someone mute, much like the story of Helen Keller, who took a long time to get to a breakthrough.
Body language; the way we express what we are thinking and feeling non-verbally through our facial expressions, our sighing, our breathing, hand twitches, where the hands go (like touching a wallet or ring), crossing our arms to show defensiveness, leaning in to show we are engaged in a conversation, etc…. studies show that when we are in the same room together, over half / maybe even 65% of our communication is done non verbally, even as we speak to each other.
There are salespeople with almost superhuman ability to read you when they meet you, much based on the non verbal clues you provide and don’t even realize you are doing. When you see a “mind reader” perform, a lot of what they are doing is reading body language to guess what someone is thinking.
This rock bottom fact of our common human condition and coexistence, the supreme importance of non verbal signals and communication between humans, is one of the main pillars behind this rendition / concept of Batgirl. She knows immediately what fighting move you are going to do now based on your non verbals so quickly it’s like she is reading your mind…and so she will defeat you in battle, just a mind reader would.
In real life, be aware there are folks almost as adept as this Batgirl in reading your non verbals. Sometimes they lead cults, sometimes they break a lot of hearts at bars….
But another reflection from this selection of the mute Batgirl is: witness the chaos and misunderstanding that happens occasionally here on Community, and also sometimes over on the Book Club’s Discord channel, because we can’t see each other’s body language when we post messages. Think about how the same sentence stated with a snarl and a frown is very different when the same sentence is stated with a twinkle in the eye and an accepting smile.
A lot has been written and discussed about how our current internet-connected society is also one of the most individually-isolated and lonely societies that has ever existed. Many of us go day to day without ever seeing the expressions or facial kind regards of others that we consider to be confidants and friends online. Suggestion: get out more.
Everyone above has covered this issue pretty well.
When Oracle / Babs realizes that Batgirl can now comprehend what she is saying, it changes everything in their relationship. It’s interesting how painful it feels to us when someone we care about shuts us out and either refuses to communicate with us or worse misunderstands our communication to them. It’s very powerful when the writer shows this emotional pain that Oracle feels having Batgirl as a house mate.
A very satisfying end to this arc of the Batgirl story.
Comparing Damian to Cassandra:
Both were raised to be killers.
Both turn out to have a connection with Ra’s Al Ghul.
Both have killed someone as children.
Both have been “adopted” by Batman to take that violent upbringing and refine it to be a force for good.
Differences:
Damian has a very high intelligence, is well-read and tutored and is extremely articulate with language to an adult level.
Cassandra has no verbal skills, is illiterate, and has no schooling in things like math, science or literature.
Emotionally, Damian is almost a sociopath with no compassion or empathy for others, extremely self-absorbed, a real brat if you will, almost like Sheldon of Big Bang Theory, with zero people skills.
While Cassandra struggles with communicating with others, her people skills and compassion / empathy are much healthier and strong. We see her kissing folks on the cheek as she is moved by them, or gently touching them to comfort them. Good luck finding that sort of thing with Damian, LOL.
Overall rating: I give this a strong 9.5 out of 10, based on the very inventive hook of the storyline with Batgirl’s unique two-edged “gift / curse” of being both mute but having “super” body reading skills at the same time. Also the artwork worked fantastically to bring out the innocence / youth / and positive energy of this child assassin.
Wow! I’m so glad you brought up Oracle’s pain and the comparison of feeling shut out by a loved one. That’s an excellent insight. I didn’t give enough thought to Oracle’s perspective. That’s why I love hearing everyone’s thoughts. Everyone is able to hone in on different aspects of the story.
Regarding Damian, I eagerly waited all week to hear your comparison between him and Cassandra and I was not disappointed! Thanks for sharing out your well-laid-out thoughts. And I agree, Damian excels in many areas, but people skills is an area of opportunity for him. I love reading his stories though.
Also, thanks for info on Damion Scott. I really enjoyed his work.
