Batgirl 1: Silent Knight

Comic Info

Batgirl (1) #2

Reprints Batgirl (1) #1-12 and Annual #1 (April 2000-March 2001).  Cassandra Cain is Batgirl, but her past is catching up to her.  When Batman sees a glimpse into Cassandra’s life with David Cain, he realizes he might not know Batgirl as well as he thought he did.  As Barbara Gordon tries to teach Batgirl about the ways of life, an encounter with a man with psychic abilities changes Batgirl’s potential and being Batgirl may no longer be possible.

Written by Scott Peterson, Kelley Puckett, and Chuck Dixon, Batgirl Volume 1:  Silent Knight is a DC Comics superhero collection.  Featuring art by Damion Scott, Coy Turnbull, Dale Eaglesham, Mike Deodato, and Pablo Raimondi, the issues in this collection were previously collected as Batgirl:  Silent Running, and Batgirl:  A Knight Alone.  Batgirl (1) #12 (March 2001) is part of the Officer Down storyline.

Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl had a long storied history evolving from a TV character to a fleshed out superhero.  It is surprising that Barbara never carried her own comic as Batgirl and that Cassandra Cain got the first whack at a stand-alone title.  Cassandra’s Batgirl is completely different in tone and nature.  It does work, but worked even better when it was initially released.

Batgirl (1) #6

Batgirl is a rather limited comic book.  Due to Batgirl’s mental abilities and lack of speech, it isn’t a very long read.  The writers have to give a lot of direction through the visuals and the stories in general need to be rather simplistic to understand what is happening in them.  In this volume, it works, but I also feel that since many other comics now aren’t as “wordy” as older comics that Batgirl doesn’t feel as original as it did.

I do like the character however.  It would have been really hard to carry the comic if Cassandra hadn’t been “gifted” with words half-way through the collection, but I do like that she still has limited communication and “understanding” isn’t the same thing.  The idea that to be a pure fighter that your mind must be pure also feels very Eastern and I like that it is taking that approach to Cassandra’s ability since it is a strange photo-reflex and training combination.

With solid art and an interesting character, Batgirl was one of the brighter points of the comic books being released at the time.  It was one of the more crossover titles that had me reading a bit more DC because it felt more like a Marvel Comics character (which at the time I primarily read).  It’s fun to go back and re-read some of these comics and odd to think that they are almost twenty years old themselves.  The Lady Shiva issues sets up a solid “looking forward” plot for Batgirl that leaves you anxious to see how it turns out.  Batgirl 1:  Silent Knight is followed by Batgirl 2:  To the Death.

Related Links:

Batgirl 2:  To the Death

Batgirl 3:  Point Blank