In this review of Batgirl #13, Batgirl and her allies sneak their way into the Unburied’s hidden fortress! Can they make it out alive?
Batgirl #13 main cover buy Reiko Murakami (DC Comics)
BATGIRL #13
Written by TATE BROMBAL
Art by TAKESHI MIYAZAWA
Main Cover: REIKO MURAKAMI
Variant Cover: NIMIT MALAVIA
Page Count: 32 pages | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
Release Date: 11/5/25
This review contains spoilers
Interspersed with a series of flashbacks, Batgirl #13 kicks off as Batgirl, along with Tenji Turner, Angel Breaker, Aruna and Jaya Jayesh, travel to the Himalayas to infiltrate the Unburied’s underground compound. Their mission – locate and destroy their collection of poppy flowers which grants them strength and abilities. As soon as their mission is completed, the centuries-long war between The Unburied and the League of Shadows will cease.
Before their mission, Cassandra keeps remembering various traumatic parts of her past, including the first man she killed as a child and Shiva’s death. She refuses to let go of the dark parts of her heart, and wants to use her pain to focus on the mission at hand.
Aruna finds Tenji’s training for the mission by himself and taunts him for his lack of experience. She challenges him to a spare, urging him to not hold back and prove his worth to the team.
Angel Breaker and Nyssa discuss the latter’s plans for Samsara, and each other once the mission is completed. The two share a kiss but Nyssa pushes back, swearing that both physically and emotionally she’s been drained of all feeling.
Once the team makes it to the Himalayas, they get the drop on a patrol squad and disguise themselves to gain entry into the Unburied’s compound. Using cross-language communicators, they sneak into the heart of the stronghold where Cassandra sees parents lovingly care for their children. At the moment a festival telling the tale of the war between The Unburied and the League of Shadows presents its history with Ra’s and Nyssa Al Ghul as having begun the war, striking The Unburied when they were most vulnerable before Shiva wiped them all out. This gives Cassandra a panic attack, just as Kalden the Unseen walks into area, upon whom Cassandra is ready to strike down.
Of course it’s easy for Cassandra (DC Comics)
Analysis
Batgirl #13 is a solid issue, with decent focus for all the characters but keeping Cass as the most interesting focal point. Her guilt, self loathing and vulnerable feeling surrounding Shiva and everything she’s learned of her still plague her daily thoughts, and comes back at the end in a big way to set her off. It’s s solid cliffhanger and great characterization.
It’s also a decent twist to have The Unburied present their history of violence as one of oppression from Ra’s Al Ghul. Whether there’s a third, truer history to be learned or this is the truth, it makes them more interesting than they had been, and more tolerable as antagonists. I worry now that they’ve been presented as sympathetic, they’ll be immediately nerfed as cannon fodder in the near future. I really don’t have much love for them as characters or a concept, as DC has enough secret societies of people that have existed for hundreds of years, but if they’re gonna exist and constantly be a physical threat for Cass, that better stick, otherwise it’d be hack writing. If Cassandra has them underneath her and she’s whaling on them while they’re being helpless, it would only be due from the final pages of the last scene in this issue. Let’s see where this goes but keep the integrity of the book’s previous twelve issues intact.
I don’t have too much to say beyond enjoying Cassandra’s presentation this month. I’m not all that terribly interested in Nyssa’s plot, and how she’s “been forgotten”, which feels like a lame meta-commentary, because by her own admission she was presumed dead for over twenty IRL years. Also, any time a character does anything extreme out of vengeance of being forgotten, it’s weak motivation. I do like that she doesn’t feel anything, which makes her an intriguing split from both Ra’s and Talia. I wonder if she’ll meet Damian in future issues…
Artwork was very solid, with a particularly cool look of Batgirl with no sleeves or cape. Awesome variant. There seemed to be some odd coloring which made it look as though she were wearing a skirt in those brief panels, but it’d be nice to see this look again.
That’s essentially it. Batgirl #13 is a good issue, with a good cliffhanger. Here’s to the next one bringing this book three solid issues in a row.
