Cassandra Cain Batgirl, Black Bat Appreciation 2023

[Konja7]

Was that when Cass went and took over the League of Assassins? Or was that the rise of Orphan Bat?

The Cool Thatguy was speaking about Batgirl 2009, where Cass left the Batgirl mantle to Stephanie without an apparent reason (later, it will be said that Bruce told her to do this in case of his death).

Cassandra becoming evil happened in Robin OYL (2006), but it's retconned to be caused by Deathstroke's magical drugs later. In 2009, when Cassandra left the Batgirl mantle to Stephanie, she was good again.

[Fergus]

Yeah, agreed.

I love Cass, but in the eyes of DC she is very much a red headed step child. She never got the backing she needed to really make it, IMO

They gave her a recognisable mantle and gave her a solo that lasted for 100+ issues. she got the backing and support that more than half the Batfamily never got.

Didn't she have a solo before Babs? How many women of colour are allowed to headline when DC gave her a solo?

If cass is the red headed Stepchild then I wonder what that makes the very 1st Batgirl.

[Konja7]

They gave her a recognisable mantle and gave her a solo that lasted for 100+ issues. she got the backing and support that more than half the Batfamily never got.

Didn't she have a solo before Babs? How many women of colour are allowed to headline when DC gave her a solo?

If cass is the red headed Stepchild then I wonder what that makes the very 1st Batgirl.

To be fair, they don't give Barbara a Batgirl solo the first time she was Batgirl, because the Batman franchise wasn't so big at that time (it's the same reason why Dick didn't have a Robin solo at that time). Technically, Barbara and Dick were the protagonists of Batman family book.

I think Cassandra received support when she started as Batgirl, but DC had lost interest on Cassandra at the end of her Batgirl run. Honestly, I'm not totally sure why DC lost interest, Cass as Batgirl still sold better than other books (like Catwoman). Maybe they really expected more sales from a Batgirl book.

They wanted to return to Barbara as Batgirl, but they don't dare to make her walk again until New52.

[Fergus]

To be fair, they don't give Barbara a Batgirl solo the first time she was Batgirl, because the Batman franchise wasn't so big at that time (it's the same reason why Dick didn't have a Robin solo at that time). Technically, Barbara and Dick were the protagonists of Batman family book.

I think Cassandra received support when she started as Batgirl, but DC had lost interest on Cassandra at the end of her Batgirl run. Honestly, I'm not totally sure why DC lost interest, Cass as Batgirl still sold better than other books (like Catwoman). Maybe they really expected more sales from a Batgirl book.

They wanted to return to Barbara as Batgirl, but they don't dare to make her walk again until New52.

Oh yeah I know that Nightwing and babs not having solo's for so long was due to the industry and the model at the time.
The 90's and the comics market exploding changed the game and suddenly everyone gets a solo. Although lets not forget [Star Spangled comics]

I don't know why Dc stopped her run but I know that the reason she was limboed was to make room for Batwoman.

I suppose the new52 happened and DC streamlined their world.

[The Cool Thatguy]

They gave her a recognisable mantle and gave her a solo that lasted for 100+ issues. she got the backing and support that more than half the Batfamily never got.

Didn't she have a solo before Babs? How many women of colour are allowed to headline when DC gave her a solo?

If cass is the red headed Stepchild then I wonder what that makes the very 1st Batgirl.

They gave Cass a mantle no one cared about, and that the writers had to fight to give her.

When Cass had her series, she barely interacted with other Bat family members (despite it being a fraction of the size it is now) who weren't Bruce or Babs, she never joined any youth team, never got any focus on the additional Batbooks (like Gotham Knights or Batman/Superman) and even though her book outside Firestorm, Hawkman and Catwoman, guess who got canned after OYL?

[Frontier]

I did like her brief Young Justice tenure .

[Konja7]

They gave Cass a mantle no one cared about, and that the writers had to fight to give her.

I totally disagree that no one cared about the Batgirl mantle. It was already a pretty recognizable codename at that time, that's why the writers need to fight to give Cassandra the mantle.

That said, it seems to be true that other writers or editors don't seem to have a lot of interest in Cass.

[Morgoth]

More likely they just don't think she would sell good enough, just like Steph, and there's no really big writer interested in writing her solo. Batgirls wasn't really a great seller, was it?
Under DiDio, Cass's situation was about the same as all legacy characters with some exceptions - "they make the characters look older", "they take the place of classic, established characters" (in this case this is relevant because they wanted Barbara to be Batgirl) , "their fans are stopping us from doing what we want", etc.

[Frontier]

More likely they just don't think she would sell good enough, just like Steph, and there's no really big writer interested in writing her solo. Batgirls wasn't really a great seller, was it?
Under DiDio, Cass's situation was about the same as all legacy characters with some exceptions - "they make the characters look older", "they take the place of classic, established characters" (in this case this is relevant because they wanted Barbara to be Batgirl) , "their fans are stopping us from doing what we want", etc.

Even Babs' sales were on a downturn by the end.

[Felipe Silveira]

Nightwing 106(backup) showed again that Dick and Cass are an underrated dynamic duo.

[Digifiend]

That perv spying on them though... doesn't he know that Dick is like a decade older than Cass and Steph? He's not double dating them! Seriously, the idiot thought that Dick has them both as girlfriends.

[Ruthborn]

Nightwing 106(backup) showed again that Dick and Cass are an underrated dynamic duo.

Cooking with Cass!

[Ruthborn]

That perv spying on them though... doesn't he know that Dick is like a decade older than Cass and Steph? He's not double dating them! Seriously, the idiot thought that Dick has them both as girlfriends.

Age-gap relationships are a thing, my dude (and as normal as any other relationship out there). Quite common amongst the wealthy, too (always going for the younger, hotter, partner). Which I imagine is the stereotype he is alluding towards in this case.

Having said that, yes, mister "evil moustache" is a complete idiot for numerous other reasons.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Nightwing 106(backup) showed again that Dick and Cass are an underrated dynamic duo.

They are!

They need to team up on a few missions already

[Thirteen]

The Cool Thatguy was speaking about Batgirl 2009, where Cass left the Batgirl mantle to Stephanie without an apparent reason (later, it will be said that Bruce told her to do this in case of his death).

Cassandra becoming evil happened in Robin OYL (2006), but it's retconned to be caused by Deathstroke's magical drugs later. In 2009, when Cassandra left the Batgirl mantle to Stephanie, she was good again.

And what became of Cassandra during that period? Was she just off panel in limbo? I don't remember a period of her being completely gone without transitioning to a different role...