Hello and welcome to the World of Bats, the Batman Book Club!
For the next two weeks – okay, fine, basically the month of May – we’ll be focusing on one of the more beloved members of the Bat-Family, Cassandra Cain, aka Batgirl!
So for the next two weeks here we’ll look at a mix of stories in her past and one of her most recent adventures.
First, let’s look at Batgirl #17-23 and 25, written by Kelley Puckett and drawn by Damion Scott.
- Note, we’ll be skipping #24, since it’s a tie-in issue to the “Bruce Wayne: Murderer?” event which we’ll be covering at a later date.
Cassandra Cain’s near-superhuman fighting abilities are so much a part of her identity that when they failed her, she was willing to make an unthinkable bargain to get them back. Impressed by their first encounter, the unbeatable assassin Lady Shiva agreed to help restore Cassandra’s incredible skills. In return, exactly one year later, Lady Shiva would return to challenge Cassandra to a rematch. Only this time, it’s to the death.
LINKS:
Batgirl #17
Batgirl #18
Batgirl #19
Batgirl #20
Batgirl #21
Batgirl #22
Batgirl #23
Batgirl #25
Next, we’ll be looking at a recent adventure Cass was a part of called Spirit World, written by Alessa Wong and drawn by Haining.
From the pages of Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate, a new Chinese hero emerges who’s able to travel to and from the Spirit World, the realm of the dead, and that of the living. Their name is Xanthe, and their superpower is being able to burn items folded from joss paper and immediately turn them into real objects, based on the East Asian practice of burning joss paper at graveyards in order to send resources to ancestors in the Spirit World…except Xanthe can retrieve those items in the world of the living! Their weapon of choice is a large broadsword (because who doesn’t love a big sword when you can choose to use a big sword?!). Xanthe is a master of the dark arts who’s here to give Constantine a run for his money…literally. When Constantine shows up saying Xanthe scammed him into buying something, he finds them and Batgirl Cass Cain fighting an abnormal influx of jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampires) and joins in to help. But when a portal opens up that drags Batgirl into the Spirit World, it’s up to Xanthe and Constantine to travel to the land of the spirits to rescue her! Who knows what other spirits we’ll find in the Spirit World-like that skateboarding boy wearing hanfu with some headphones and a gaping hole in his chest?!
- Note: As of today, the 27th, the sixth issue of Spirit World is still on the Ultra tier, but it should be available to the regular tier on the 30th.
ISSUES:
Spirit World #1
Spirit World #2
Spirit World #3
Spirit World #4
Spirit World #5
Spirit World #6
Reading will run from 2024-04-27T05:00:00Z→2024-05-10T05:00:00Z, but if you’re training for the big fight, you can always come back later!
Looking forward to discussing these stories with you all! 
I do agree that a more visual focus is important for this book, especially since at this point she’s still grappling with language and physical movement is what she’s still best at, it kind of helps put you in her shoes.
