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fandomhigh_ooc2008-01-20 11:20 pm
iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh_ooc2008-01-20 11:20 pm
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Oh, right, Spotlight! Batgirl
Batgirl is (well, was) a comic book produced by DC. As the name implies, it is closely tied with the other Batman books, and in addition to a number of crossover events (many of which sucked), they did a lot of character sharing. That makes things sort of complicated to explain without getting rambly and explaining four or five loosely-tied canons, but I'm going to try.
The comic run of Batgirl lasted about six years. It found its birth in the introduction of Cassandra Cain into the DC comics universe. Back in the 80's Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl, was paralyzed. This left the DC-verse without a Batgirl, and it's something that lasted for quite a while. Barbara, meanwhile, became Oracle, a sort of dispatcher and researcher for superheroes and teams.
DC ran a major Bat-verse cross-over event entitled "No Man's Land" (one of the few good DC crossovers ever). The basic idea is that Gotham gets hit by an earthquake and becomes a total disaster area. Oracle is one of the people who stays in place, and as infrastructure begins collapsing she has to rely on runners to carry information for her. One of her best is a mute girl she picks up off the street. This happens to be Cassandra.
Things happen, and eventually people realize that despite the fact that she's a mute little girl, she's one of the best fighters on the planet. By the end of the No Man's Land crossover, Batman decides to make her officially Batgirl.
This eventually leads to her getting her own comic. I tend to think of the comic as running through three major arcs, corresponding to the three writers on the book. Puckett wrote for the first three years or so. This is where Cass gets introduced and fleshed out. It's also pretty much the best part of the series artistically. Damion Scott's pencils do a great job capturing a sense of motion, which is important for a book about a girl who doesn't talk much. Puckett mostly focuses on why Cassandra Cain: A) is an awesome fighter, B) has the mindset to be Batgirl, and C) has no social life. I tend to think Puckett's run was the best of the series, though the rest of it is good too.
After Puckett we get Horrocks. Horrocks switches gears a bit and focuses mostly on the fact that anyone with a history like Cassandra would be really screwed up. There are fun issues where we see Cassandra unable to take a vacation or have a decent relationship. And we get the brilliant issue #50 where Cassandra has a heart to heart talk with Batman by trying to beat him to death. It's a lot more psychological of a run than Puckett's, a nice complement in a lot of ways.
After Horrocks we go into the final days of the comic. Gabrych's run starts off rather interesting. It's mostly about integration. With all the problems Cassandra has had established, he's got a lot of material to play with when it comes to writing about building relationships and having a normal life. Unfortunately Gabrych is also the writer who gave us the final 12 issues of the comic. It's hard to know if it was all his doing, or if he was under editorial direction, but the final arc of Batgirl, in which Cassandra is obsessed with finding out who her mother is, is abysmal. Instead of ending the series on a high note, we end it on a WTF note.
Now that we've got an overview thing of canon, we can talk about why I like it (and why you should too). It's a sketchy and meta-y overview, but this is me we're talking about.
Like a lot of comics, I got into this first because of the art. I seriously loved Scott's art in the first three years. Of course after a while I sort of got hooked on the character too, so that worked out pretty well. In a lot of ways, I like Batgirl because it's really a reimagining of the Batman story. Bruce Wayne is motivated to be Batman by guilt (mostly), and he sacrifices a lot of what makes him human in order to get the skills to assuage that guilt. The same is true of Cassandra Cain.
Only instead of seeing her parents killed in front of her at age eight, she murders a man because her dad tells her to. That's her guilt. Not that she didn't do enough, but that she crossed a line she shouldn't have. The lack of humanity and the skills to assuage her guilt weren't her choices, but it quickly becomes clear in canon that if she had had a choice, this is the one she would have made.
I guess I see the story of Batgirl as Batman on steroids: What if Bruce Wayne were a better fighter and sneakier while having an even more massive guilt complex and being even less able to pass as a normal guy? That's Cassandra Cain.
I don't actually know if this can convey how awesome I think this series is because I'm rarely good at conveying that sort of thing. I hope it does though. If any of this intrigues you, or makes you curious, or whatever, then feel free to ping or email me. I've always thought that the best canons speak for themselves, and I'd be glad to hook you up so that Batgirl can sell itself to you.
Spotlighty,
Ana
The comic run of Batgirl lasted about six years. It found its birth in the introduction of Cassandra Cain into the DC comics universe. Back in the 80's Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl, was paralyzed. This left the DC-verse without a Batgirl, and it's something that lasted for quite a while. Barbara, meanwhile, became Oracle, a sort of dispatcher and researcher for superheroes and teams.
DC ran a major Bat-verse cross-over event entitled "No Man's Land" (one of the few good DC crossovers ever). The basic idea is that Gotham gets hit by an earthquake and becomes a total disaster area. Oracle is one of the people who stays in place, and as infrastructure begins collapsing she has to rely on runners to carry information for her. One of her best is a mute girl she picks up off the street. This happens to be Cassandra.
Things happen, and eventually people realize that despite the fact that she's a mute little girl, she's one of the best fighters on the planet. By the end of the No Man's Land crossover, Batman decides to make her officially Batgirl.
This eventually leads to her getting her own comic. I tend to think of the comic as running through three major arcs, corresponding to the three writers on the book. Puckett wrote for the first three years or so. This is where Cass gets introduced and fleshed out. It's also pretty much the best part of the series artistically. Damion Scott's pencils do a great job capturing a sense of motion, which is important for a book about a girl who doesn't talk much. Puckett mostly focuses on why Cassandra Cain: A) is an awesome fighter, B) has the mindset to be Batgirl, and C) has no social life. I tend to think Puckett's run was the best of the series, though the rest of it is good too.
After Puckett we get Horrocks. Horrocks switches gears a bit and focuses mostly on the fact that anyone with a history like Cassandra would be really screwed up. There are fun issues where we see Cassandra unable to take a vacation or have a decent relationship. And we get the brilliant issue #50 where Cassandra has a heart to heart talk with Batman by trying to beat him to death. It's a lot more psychological of a run than Puckett's, a nice complement in a lot of ways.
After Horrocks we go into the final days of the comic. Gabrych's run starts off rather interesting. It's mostly about integration. With all the problems Cassandra has had established, he's got a lot of material to play with when it comes to writing about building relationships and having a normal life. Unfortunately Gabrych is also the writer who gave us the final 12 issues of the comic. It's hard to know if it was all his doing, or if he was under editorial direction, but the final arc of Batgirl, in which Cassandra is obsessed with finding out who her mother is, is abysmal. Instead of ending the series on a high note, we end it on a WTF note.
Now that we've got an overview thing of canon, we can talk about why I like it (and why you should too). It's a sketchy and meta-y overview, but this is me we're talking about.
Like a lot of comics, I got into this first because of the art. I seriously loved Scott's art in the first three years. Of course after a while I sort of got hooked on the character too, so that worked out pretty well. In a lot of ways, I like Batgirl because it's really a reimagining of the Batman story. Bruce Wayne is motivated to be Batman by guilt (mostly), and he sacrifices a lot of what makes him human in order to get the skills to assuage that guilt. The same is true of Cassandra Cain.
Only instead of seeing her parents killed in front of her at age eight, she murders a man because her dad tells her to. That's her guilt. Not that she didn't do enough, but that she crossed a line she shouldn't have. The lack of humanity and the skills to assuage her guilt weren't her choices, but it quickly becomes clear in canon that if she had had a choice, this is the one she would have made.
I guess I see the story of Batgirl as Batman on steroids: What if Bruce Wayne were a better fighter and sneakier while having an even more massive guilt complex and being even less able to pass as a normal guy? That's Cassandra Cain.
I don't actually know if this can convey how awesome I think this series is because I'm rarely good at conveying that sort of thing. I hope it does though. If any of this intrigues you, or makes you curious, or whatever, then feel free to ping or email me. I've always thought that the best canons speak for themselves, and I'd be glad to hook you up so that Batgirl can sell itself to you.
Spotlighty,
Ana
no subject
I should not find that as awesome as I do.
no subject
Go read it now,
Ana