Batgirl #6 – Tate Brombal, Writer; Takeshi Miyazawa, Artist; Mike Spicer, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Cassandra Cain has always been one of my favorite characters, but it’s been decades since she got a stand-out solo story. Her best stuff has been in team-up books, especially her Batgirls solo with Stephanie Brown (who has only appeared in this issue in dreamy hallucinations). But this series by Tate Brombal takes her back to her martial arts roots – and just as important, reunites her with her mother, Lady Shiva. The duo has been hunted by the Unburied, a mysterious martial arts cult that has been tracking them since the first issue – and now they’re captured. As they wait for their fate, the big bomb drops – the Unburied aren’t the aggressor here. The Unburied are one of Shiva’s many victims, who were robbed of their most precious artifact by Shiva years ago, and have been pursuing her ever since – and now they’ve pulled her daughter into their orbit. And so, Shiva’s sins come home in a big way.
The relationship between Cass and Shiva has always been complicated, much moren so than between Cass and her thoroughly monstrous father. Shiva is, in many ways, the thing Cass fears becoming. But she’s always been willing to try to meet her mother halfway – until now. Some of the dialogue here feels like it could be out of a particularly tense family dinner, but then we’re roughly reminded that this is in fact a martial arts comics, as one of the best battles of the run heats up. The action segments in this book are pretty stunning, something I’ve never really associated Brombal’s writing with, and it all builds to a deeply emotional climax that might just change the entire tone of the series going forward. This series has surprised me from the start, as it’s really called back to some comics that are beloved by the fans but rarely acknowledged by DC. Very excited to see where it goes for act two.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
