We are now entering the big batch of Cassandra’s first run as Batgirl, encompassing 73 solo issues and many, many, many tie-ins and guest appearances. Today: Batgirl Vol. 1 #1!
We start this issue with a flashback of Cass when she was still a little girl, solving a puzzle with a red rose on it while her father sets up a camera. Since the rose motive will be coming back later, I am tagging this for Symbolism! A bunch of tough-looking guys enter and Cain orders them to try and attack Cass with a knife. She promptly proceeds to wipe the floor with them.
Symbolism!: 3
Following the flashback, we arrive in the clock tower, where Barb is training Cass and actually manages to defeat her in a moment of distraction. She then sets up a file on the batcomputer for the new Batgirl and gives everyone who didn’t know her yet the obligatory info dump. The two most interesting things to note about this page are that 1) Cass is said to know ten words at best and one of them is “Me”, and 2) Barb is royally pissed off at Cain for raising her into severe aphasia, because speech impediment aside, Cass is clever as they come. She is also noted to have been “drifting” for nine years since escaping from Cain.
Aphasia: 27
Batmom: 3
We get another rather confusing flashback of some crooks running away from young Cass, before snapping back into the present, where Batgirl and Batman save a young woman from being raped in an alley. After this quick interlude, we find Cass peeling red rose petals while looking over Gotham from her window sill, her expression melancholic and sad, which makes sense, since red roses are symbols of both love and grief, and given Cass’ regrets about how her father raised her, both are equally applicable. Barb takes her to a nearby park and tries to get her to open up about what’s bothering her, but given her aphasia and her screwed up backstory, it doesn’t go very well:
Symbolism!: 4
Aphasia: 28
We then find out that Cass has nightmares pretty much every night. Barb, being the reasonable person that she is, tells Bruce that Cass seems to remind her of him and suggests that maybe Bruce should not take her to patrol every night. Bruce, being the absolute authority on how to healthily handle childhood trauma, shrugs it off and tells her that Cass is “one strong moment away from making sense of it all”. Bruce, I love you, but please let your kids get therapy at least, okay?
Batmom: 4
On the bright side, at least Bruce explains to her how Cass came to be as she is today (Cain raising and training young kids in isolation so that they would learn body language as their only language). He also informs her that Cain did not teach her how to fight with escrima sticks. Bruce did. And it took all of five minutes. Bruce’s “proud dad” smile in this picture is priceless.
Batdad: 4
That night, Batman tells Batgirl that something is off and that she is holding back to much. He asks her to hit him as hard as she can and Cass obliges, striking him so fast that not only do we not get to see it on page, but Bruce doesn’t even realize how hard she hit him until his mouth starts bleeding.
Fast As Lightning: 13
They are interrupted in their sparring by a robbery in progress. It is here, while mopping up the bad guys with little effort, that Cass sees her own shadow on the wall and notices just how intimidating she looks to others in her Batgirl costume. We also learn that “shutup” is in her vocabulary.
Creepy Bat: 6
A little later, Batman tells Batgirl that he is leaving Gotham to her tonight and that it’s all hers, except for “costumed criminals”. His expression here as Cass goes from intimidating statue to caring sidekick to swooping angel of revenge in all of five seconds is absolutely adorable.
Living Emoji: 28
The issue ends with another flashback, this time of Cain watching the video he took of Cass demolishing the guys form the first page, with a bottle of vodka firmly in his hand. I am sensing some remorse here…
