Shadow of the Batgirl by Sarah Kuhn

Cassandra Cain is the daughter of super-villains and a living weapon trained from birth to be the ultimate assassin. But that doesn't mean she has to stay that way, right? She'll have to go through an identity crisis of epic proportions to find out. But how do you figure out who you're supposed to be when you've been trained to become a villain your entire life?

After a soul-shattering moment that sends Cass reeling, she'll attempt to answer this question the only way she knows how: learning everything she possibly can about her favorite hero--Batgirl. But Batgirl hasn't been seen in Gotham for years, and when Cass's father threatens the world she has grown to love, she'll have to step out of the shadows and overcome her greatest obstacle--that voice inside her head telling her she can never be a hero.

Sarah Kuhn, author of Heroine Complex and I Love You So Mochi, takes on her favorite hero of color for a new audience of readers. Featuring the edgy art style of Nicole Goux, Shadow of the Batgirl tells the harrowing story of a girl who overcomes the odds to find her unique identity.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Cassandra Cain has intrigued me for quite a while now, but as I've limited my comic reading (for financial and time considerations), I haven't read nearly enough about her to satisfy my curiosity.

Enter Sarah Kuhn and her YA graphic novel to take care of that. It was a brilliant idea to have Kuhn write this—as she explains herself in the introduction, Cain is exactly the kind of super-hero that Kuhn writes.

This retelling of Cain's origin story from the moment she decides to leave the life of crime she'd been born into and trained for (not that she knew that's what she'd been doing), through her meeting Barbara Gordon and (a new character for this telling) Jackie, and into her first steps as Batgirl.

Jackie is an elderly Asian Aunt figure who provides emotional security for Cassandra while Barbara is helping with intellectual stimulation (there's also a boy she meets at the library, but Jackie and Barbara are the foci).

I really enjoyed watching Cain make connections with people, learning how to redefine herself—it's an atypical origin story and exactly the kind of thing we need to see more of.

Goux's art wasn't the style I expected—I expected something darker, more angular, with a lot of shadows. Instead, we get something almost playful and joyful, while not detracting from the serious story. Goux's art fits Kuhn's voice (both here and in other works) perfectly and won me over right away.

This was a fun read, establishing Cain as a person and as a hero while telling a compelling story. I recommend this and would eagerly read any follow-ups that might come along (like the upcoming The Oracle Code.)

Cassandra Cain's backstory is fuckin WILD but this is a fun spin on it, and again, great to see #OwnVoices super books for teens! I loved how it's about the inspirational power of role models and stories. YOU KNOW I LOVE STORIES ABOUT THE INSPIRATIONAL POWER OF STORIES!!

3/5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this comic. While I love how they focused on Cassandra's relationship with Barbara, there were other components that weren't as good. This is not one of my favorite backstories that was given to Cassandra, but it does keep some of the same components as other origin stories have. This story does a good job of showing her guilt and how she evolves from it. Although I hate how her mutism is fixed rather easily, almost as if it were glossed over. I also thought it was weird how they omitted showing a lot of transition scenes of Barbara using her wheelchair (this is just something I noticed, not really a problem). Other than that, I really liked how they also focused on her developing relationship with Jackie, who acted like her mother. It was a rather interesting and sweet story otherwise. It's good for a quick read that can help you understand Cassandra's character better.