A review by captwinghead
Batgirl Vol. 2: To the Death by Kelley Puckett
5.0
I adore Cassandra Cain. Granted, I've adopted every member of the Batfam but Cassandra is my baby.
Honestly, I had my reservations because series revolving around characters that were trained/forced into the life of an assassin usually revolve around everyone treating them like children. This series hasn't done that at all. You feel for Cassandra and want to take care of her because of who she is as a person, not because everyone else says you should.
Batman is defensive and protective over her but still respects what she went through. Babs is protective enough to even go toe to toe with Bruce when she feels he's ignoring Cassandra's problems. She runs into Tim (? I think it's Tim as Robin) and he respects and envies her so much that he was too intimidated to introduce himself. She is such an interesting, strong and morally upstanding character.
In this book, the theme is Cassandra seems to be pushing herself past her limits and Babs and Batman can't figure out why. They eventually realize that it's because she blames herself for Cain making her kill someone and intends to sacrifice herself to death by Shiva. In any other series, I might have found that ridiculous but here, considering her history and the fact that her new life revolves around her protecting life, it makes sense. She takes it to heart when she can't save innocent people and she punishes herself for her past. I get that and it's really moving.
Her relationship with Bruce is still so wonderful to see. He seems himself in her and protects her accordingly. The bit where he defended her and her moral view from Babs was amazing to see. It was interesting that it took so long for Cassandra to find out he's Batman.
Her relationship with Babs continues to be amazing and perfect. She sees Babs as a mother figure because, unlike Bruce, Babs always puts her mental health and well being ahead of her fighting technique. She wants Cassandra to have dreams, protects her chance at a future and she just wants her to be healthy. It's such an interesting dynamic considering where Babs started as Batgirl and I love them together.
The opening with her trying to save the sharpshooter is such a great example of who she is and what she values. If your instinct is to save people, you are worth saving. It's as simple as that.
The issue with Cain returning was interesting and left me conflicted. He was an abusive, shitty, all around terrible person and it makes me sick to refer to him as her father. She does and that makes sense but it makes me so sad. Seeing her upset when she thought he died and the casual way she explained to Robin that he SHOT AT HER as a training exercise when she was a child was painful. I wanted to join Bruce in hunting him down. Then Cain kills someone for trying to kill Cassandra. I want to protect her from him but I'm glad he got rid of the people trying to kill her.
The fight with Shiva was amazing. I love seeing Shiva in things and she took on an interesting role here. She helps Cassandra work through some pretty intense shit and Cassandra does the same for Shiva. Ina. way, I think they were the only ones that could help each other because they understand each other in a way no one else does. The fact that they've been building to it since the last volume and I actually think it paid off says a lot. The art works so well for fight scenes like this one.
This was such a great series and I really, really, really wish there was some adaptation of it because it's made for the big screen and Cassandra is such a phenomenal character.
Honestly, I had my reservations because series revolving around characters that were trained/forced into the life of an assassin usually revolve around everyone treating them like children. This series hasn't done that at all. You feel for Cassandra and want to take care of her because of who she is as a person, not because everyone else says you should.
Batman is defensive and protective over her but still respects what she went through. Babs is protective enough to even go toe to toe with Bruce when she feels he's ignoring Cassandra's problems. She runs into Tim (? I think it's Tim as Robin) and he respects and envies her so much that he was too intimidated to introduce himself. She is such an interesting, strong and morally upstanding character.
In this book, the theme is Cassandra seems to be pushing herself past her limits and Babs and Batman can't figure out why. They eventually realize that it's because she blames herself for Cain making her kill someone and intends to sacrifice herself to death by Shiva. In any other series, I might have found that ridiculous but here, considering her history and the fact that her new life revolves around her protecting life, it makes sense. She takes it to heart when she can't save innocent people and she punishes herself for her past. I get that and it's really moving.
Her relationship with Bruce is still so wonderful to see. He seems himself in her and protects her accordingly. The bit where he defended her and her moral view from Babs was amazing to see. It was interesting that it took so long for Cassandra to find out he's Batman.
Her relationship with Babs continues to be amazing and perfect. She sees Babs as a mother figure because, unlike Bruce, Babs always puts her mental health and well being ahead of her fighting technique. She wants Cassandra to have dreams, protects her chance at a future and she just wants her to be healthy. It's such an interesting dynamic considering where Babs started as Batgirl and I love them together.
The opening with her trying to save the sharpshooter is such a great example of who she is and what she values. If your instinct is to save people, you are worth saving. It's as simple as that.
The issue with Cain returning was interesting and left me conflicted. He was an abusive, shitty, all around terrible person and it makes me sick to refer to him as her father. She does and that makes sense but it makes me so sad. Seeing her upset when she thought he died and the casual way she explained to Robin that he SHOT AT HER as a training exercise when she was a child was painful. I wanted to join Bruce in hunting him down. Then Cain kills someone for trying to kill Cassandra. I want to protect her from him but I'm glad he got rid of the people trying to kill her.
The fight with Shiva was amazing. I love seeing Shiva in things and she took on an interesting role here. She helps Cassandra work through some pretty intense shit and Cassandra does the same for Shiva. Ina. way, I think they were the only ones that could help each other because they understand each other in a way no one else does. The fact that they've been building to it since the last volume and I actually think it paid off says a lot. The art works so well for fight scenes like this one.
This was such a great series and I really, really, really wish there was some adaptation of it because it's made for the big screen and Cassandra is such a phenomenal character.