Shadow of the Batgirl

Shadow of the Batgirl, by Sarah Kuhn and Nicole Goux (2012/2015)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

The cover art told me that this would be a Young Adult take on the character, and probably similar to the Supergirl comic I just read. It also told me that Batgirl wasn't going to be a redhead. This would be someone new. The comic reads like a book, which is great, because I'm tired of random and incomplete collections of stories reprinted from comics.

It opens with Cassandra Cain (note that it wasn't "Kane") who is a teenaged assassin, trained by her father to kill but not to speak. When she here's one of victims use the word "daughter" in a way unlike how she's always heard the word, something changes within her. She runs away. She ends up in a library when she comes across a wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon and hears stories about Batgirl. Cassandra becomes friends with Barbara but doesn't want any questions asked.

Cassandra learns what it means to be a hero and wants to seek revenge against her father. This, of course, points the way that she is going to become the new Batgirl.

Side note: While Commissioner Gordon does get a mention, neither Batman nor the Joker do. There is nothing to suggest why Barbara chose a Batgirl to be when she decided to be something. The quick montage of Batgirl in action is drawn to suggest she was a teenager before her accident put her in a wheelchair. Barbara is more interested in computer projects including an app she calls "Oracle", which in the "mainstream" universe was her alter ego after the crippling injuries from the Joker.

However, leaving these things out for the sake of a complete comic is completely understandable. Less understandable was the preview for an Oracle comic in the final pages which had a much darker tone. Also, they contradicted this comic a little in when she started hacking. She was definitely young when she ended up in a wheelchair.

This will probably be it for graphic novels for a while, other than a few more manga I have on reserve. I'll save the DC and Marvel for next summer, most likely, unless something different catches my eye.

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