In this review of Batgirl #25, it’s a deadly family reunion when Cassandra is reunited with the man who raised and trained her, David Cain!
Batgirl #25 main cover by David Talaski (DC Comics)
BATGIRL #25
Written by TATE BROMBAL
Art by TAKESHI MIYAZAWA and DAMION SCOTT
Main Cover: DAVID TALASKI
Variant Covers: MIKE CHOI, NOGI SAN, DAVID TALASKI
Page Count: 40 Pages
Release Date: 11/4/26
This review contains spoilers
Atop a cathedral in the rain, a battle-damaged Batgirl is beating a man to death, pondering who someone becomes after they murder their own father.
Some time before – Cassandra, Jaya and Tenji are discussing the pros and cons of murder while eating at their favorite cafe and doughnut shop. Continuing the conversation outside, Cassandra walks down the same street she first was on years ago when she saved Commissioner Gordon from an attempted assassination carried out by David Cain, the man who trained her – and her father. The trio notice that the clocktower where Cain had positioned himself for a sniper’s nest was being constructed on in the wake of Mayor Poison Ivy’s attack on Gotham.
Time passes. Cass, Jaya and Tenji all grow close as they train, eat and fight crime together in Gotham. One day, while Cass goes to cafe spot, she’s informed by the waitress she’s been waiting on a man claiming to be her father. It’s David Cain. Inviting her to eat, he calmly informs her that he’s working for the government. Cass confronts him on erasing her memories of Victoria, which he admits but largely assigns the blame on Dr. Forget-Me-Not. He appears offended when Cass states that she hates him, and says that she will always be his legacy – before then shooting at Cass and hitting the waitress in the face as she dodged.
What are you doing, Cassandra? (DC Comics)
Cain then reveals that he’s rigged the cafe with killer laser to eliminate anyone in the diner should they attempt to escape. He also says that he’s in control of cafe’s cameras so as to not threaten Cassandra’s identity as Batgirl. The two battle, with Cain killing bystanders with every shot dodged and missed by Cass. Those that remain run to the back where they’re destroyed by more lasers. With everyone now dead except the two Cains, Cass pitched an explosive batarang to escape, pulling her mask on as she wades into the sewers, content on hunting her father.
In a back-up story illustrated by Cassandra Cain wo-creator Damion Scott, Tenji trains with Jaya and Cass as he remembers growing up training with his mother Shiva. Shiva always bested him and said that he’d never be as good as Cassandra. That pushes him to fight twice as hard, to the point where he nearly injures himself against her and vows to defeat her in combat someday.
Analysis
I was not happy to learn that Tate Brombal would be writing David Cain for the 25th issue of this book. Over the past two years I’ve made it plain how discouraged and despondent I’ve become with his characterization of both Cassandra and Shiva, and Cain would always be just as easy for him to foul up. In fairness to Brombal, most writers that have come after Kelly Puckett don’t understand David Cain. An abusive, arrogant murderer who trained not only Cassandra from birth but also taught Bruce Wayne as he traveled the world, Cain was characterized by Puckett as more complicated and interesting creature, beyond the simple archetype of “abusive dad”. While he trained Cassandra in the language of violence, revoking her understanding of basic speech and communication, the initial years illustrated that he always cared for her as a daughter. He expressed regret in training her to murder at the age of eight, and upon hearing her speak for the first time was overwhelmed with tears. Cass for her part hates Cain just like she hates Shiva and herself, seeing him as the reason for her original sin, making her into a murderer while also confusing her feelings of hatred with memories of growing up and being close with him. The original Batgirl title from issue #1-#37 demonstrate several flashback scenes of Cain abusing Cass, but also playing games with her and watching the stars. This helps to complicate not just his character but comments on Cassandra being raised as a villain but yearning to become a hero. If her father is so reprehensible, why does she remember loving him as a daughter does?
Over the years, this nuance fell to the wayside as other authors came along. Dylan Horrocks presented Cain as more typically abusive, smacking Cassandra like a trailer park drunk whenever she tried to show affection towards him as a child. Adam Beechen revealed (retconned) that Cain raised and trained several young girls, never seeing Cassandra as anything other than a cog in a machine of killers for the League of Assassins. And in the new 52, Cain was simply a mook under the command of Mother, leading Cass to title herself “Orphan” for a time.
We’re now back with the original timeline, more or less. Brombal is re-invoking that early days dynamic between Cass and Cain. Unfortunately, and predictably, he makes it worse. David Cain presented in this issue is nothing more than a one-dimensional bad guy who knowingly weaponizes Cass’ feelings of emotional confusion before attempting to kill her. For a writer who has repeatedly invoked the original series in this run, it’s a stunning disregard for Cain’s characterization, effectively creating a new, simpler, shallower version for Cass to beat up on and hate.
Which leads me to the theory that this isn’t the honest and true Cain. Either he’s being brainwashed, manipulated, or impersonated. The real David Cain was a killer, and showed zero repentance for that. But the love he harbored for Cassandra was genuine, and that love always made their relationship and his character complicated. It was a solid dynamic. For him to cackle while he shoots at Cassandra, killing dozens of people in the process…it’s way off the mark.
It’s also further flattening of these characters who are killers. Cass can’t simply hate Cain for raising her to kill, he has to kill everyone around her and give her a Batman/Joker dynamic that if she lets him live, he’ll go on killing people. This is needless and unimaginative. Cain knows that Cass is fully capable of taking him out (and says so in this issue), so he’s got a death wish? Let’s say he does – does her killing him and thereby messing her up even more than before give him satisfaction?
If that were to be the case, for him to get her to kill him and break her further, it’s merely stapling Joker’s persona onto David Cain, AND flattening Cassandra by giving her Batman’s classic dilemma. And sure, Bruce and Cass are often comparable, but the issue of murder applies very differently between the two of them, which defines them separately. Like Shiva, Cass should be preoccupied with thinking about how David Cain is as a person and what that says about her, not about if she should kill him or not.
It’s a really lousy story idea, so I’m guessing that Cain isn’t really Cain. I may well be wrong, I certainly didn’t go into this issue expecting that to be the case, but if it turns out that this is Brombal’s interpretation of the character, I might as well drop the book. It’s an unending performance of misunderstanding what makes these characters special.
The backup story with Damion Scott on art was more enjoyable, because I’ll always have love for Damion Scott. When reading the original Batgirl series, you can see over the course of three years his artwork evolve into the later graffiti style which he’s since become known for. Ironically, his work looked a bit more anatomically polished and harkened back to his middle era. The final panel with Tenji and Cass was almost akin to his work on Detective Comics during No Man’s Land. Still, no matter what the era, the man’s a wonderful artist and kudos to Brombal and the editor for bringing him onto this issue!
For Damion Scott alone, I’m giving this an extra half point. I actually enjoyed Cain’s escalation to violence, but it quickly devolved into supervillain cliches. One final note: once Cass realized Cain would kill anyone near her, she would’ve stopped fighting and let him kill her so that the hostages would go free. That kind of self-sacrificial behavior goes all the way back of Batgirl #3 or #4 (2000), so her looking shocked each time had her coming off as an idiot. But that’s my constant frustration with this book. Only Cassandra Cain would stand still and allow herself to be senselessly shot to save lives…except she doesn’t do that her, and we get more typical hero/villain tropes. It’s not like I want Cass to die, but such behavior is her character.
Let’s see how next month’s issue ends up.
Batgirl #25
DC Comics Reviewed by DM GrantFinal Thoughts
It's a really lousy story idea, so I'm guessing that Cain isn't really Cain. I may well be wrong, I certainly didn't go into this issue expecting that to be the case, but if it turns out that this is Brombal's interpretation of the character, I might as well drop the book. It's an unending performance of misunderstanding what makes these characters special.
