A Decade of Batgirl
Yes it has been a decade since the one true Dark Knight Damsel first made her comics debut. Barbara Gordon may have been the first to go by the name Batgirl (if you don’t count Bat-hyphen-girl Betty Kane) but it is Cassandra Cain who in the last decade has shown that she is the Dark Knight Damsel.
She is one of the most underappreciated (By creators, not fans) characters in comics today. Cassandra should be a member of the Bat Family on par with Dick, Tim, and Babs but superstar creators like Grant Morrison and Jeph Loeb have consistently neglected her.
A new Batgirl series is debuting in August and if it is not Cassandra Cain under the mask, I want to show how stupid that is on DC’s part by showcasing her to the maximum here.
Cassandra made her debut in May 1999 in Batman #567. So from here on out I will be doing posts spotlighting her comic appearances and her awesomeness as a hero and a character. Starting with her debut issue and then going chronologically from there:
1999
1) Batman #567
3) Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120
4) Azrael: Agent of the Bat #56
5) Batman #569
7) Azrael: Agent of the Bat #57
10) Robin #70
11) Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #124
12) No Man’s Land: Secret Files and Origins
13) Batman: Shadow of the Bat #92
15) Azrael: Agent of the Bat #60
16) Batman: Shadow of the Bat #93
17) Azrael: Agent of the Bat #61
19) Robin #73
2000
1) Batgirl #1
2) Batman: Gotham City Secret Files #1
4) Batgirl #2
5) Batgirl #3
7) Azrael: Agent of the Bat #66
10) Batgirl #4
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I *loved* Cassandra. Normally I have a problem with a character taking on the mantle of another (ahem *cough Dick Grayson cough*) but I LIKED Cassandra. Having Bab’s blessing helped, too, but Cassandra was a character with a wonderful origin story. I liked the way she was drawn, too: she was so little, and yet so lethal.
Congrats on the new blog. I can’t wait to see what you’re coming up with next. I might disagree with you about the Silver Age (I love me some Silver Age heroes), but I pretty much agree with you about Dan Didio.