Batgirl #16 – Tate Brombal, Writer; Takeshi Miyazawa, Penciller; Juan Castro, Inker; Mike Spicer, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The saga of the Unburied has haunted Cassandra Cain since the very start of this run, as the mysterious cult hunted her and Lady Shiva, forcing Batgirl to flee Gotham. This put an end to Cass’ fairly light adventures in the Batgirls title, ripping her away from those closest to her and plunging her into a world that brought her back to her bloody roots. That journey saw her lose her mother, while also finding a new brother in Tenji Turner and a new sister in arms in Jaya. But now, Tenji has been taken by the Unburied, and Cass has discovered the horrible truth of Nyssa Al Ghul’s sanctuary – it’s built on a past massacre, the Unburied are the legacy of that horror, and Nyssa intends to recreate it to grow the blue poppies that are essential to her ongoing life. And with two deadly factions working against her, Cass is forced to determine once and for all who she wants to be.
This story, of course, provides the opportunity for many fantastic fight scenes. That’s this series’ bread and butter, in some ways – while the characterization for Cass has been fantastic throughout, this is the first run featuring the character that’s emphasized her martial arts skills in many years. As she tears her way through two factions of enemies, there’s a lot of eye candy. But there are also some great moments featuring other characters, including a reveal about Jaya that raises more questions than it answers. In the end, Cass finds a way to resolve the conflict that calls back to both her unique ability with body language and her compassion, and that seems to end the crisis for now – but with many dangling plot threads. And more importantly, it sends Cass back to Gotham to pick up the life she left behind – with some new additions, apparently. This continues to be a great series.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
