Batgirl’s secret family history makes her DC the most engaging heroine

Warning: Contains spoilers for Birds of prey No. 1!

All versions of bat girl They’ve been a fantastic support to others, but Cassandra Cain’s complicated past gives her a unique drive to help – especially when someone else’s family is at stake. Her willingness to work with Black Canary without question highlights a complex aspect of her life and her quest to be a hero.

In birds of prey In #1 by Kelly Thompson, Leonardo Romero, Jordie Bellaire and Clayton Cowles, Black Canary assembles a team to help her sister Sin. As she considers who has the skills to help her, her first stop is Cassandra Cain. Canary seems ready to make her case, but Cass agrees to join her immediately. Your argument is simple. “What’s more important than a sister?” The concept runs like a vein through her story and is the root of who she is as Batgirl and what she does as a hero.

Sisterhood is at the heart of Batgirl’s story

When Cassandra Cain was first introduced, she had no spoken language. The body was her language, and she could read its smallest movements to aid her in battle and understand people’s intentions. Although this ability allows Batgirl to be one of the most talented fighters in DC, she did not develop it herself: her mother, Lady Shiva, developed it alongside her own twin sister, Carolyn. The two sisters taught themselves to communicate without speaking while tirelessly practicing martial arts. This same ability eventually caught the attention of David Cain, Cassandra’s father, who killed Carolyn to recruit Lady Shiva to his cause. Love, grief and grief for her sister drove Shiva to become a true villain, and the language the two developed was passed on to her daughter Cassandra. Without the sisterhood her mother once knew, Batgirl wouldn’t be who she is.

But David Cain’s machinations didn’t stop with Cassandra and her mother. In the year 2008 bat girl #1 from Adam Beechen, Jim Calafiore, Jonathan Glapion, Mark McKenna, Nathan Eyring and Travis Lanham, Cass meets one of her surviving sisters, Marque, who was targeted by David Cain and Deathstroke and was raised similarly to Cass. When Cassandra finds her, she immediately insists that they are on the same side, even going so far as to beat her in their fight just to save her life and prove it. Unfortunately, their relationship was unhappy from the start, as Marque wanted to kill David Cain and Cass was determined to deal with her father in her own merciful way. She later cuts Marque’s Achilles tendon to stop her from getting to her father. Cass knows this means she has lost her sister, and when Marque confirms that they are enemies, Cassandra laments, “Can’t we just be a family??”

Batgirl always wanted a family of her own

Despite not being able to keep her sister, Batgirl still longs for the connection and understands how important it can be. Luckily for Cassandra, she eventually finds her place in the Bat Family. Barbara Gordon, in particular, has been a mentor, sister and motherly figure to her over the years, and Stephanie Brown has become a best friend and close confidant. Together, the Batgirls have formed an unbreakable bond with one another, in addition to the close relationships Cassandra has with Batman and the others. It was a long road to get there, and the sacrifices along the way helped shape it bat girl into the serious, steadfast hero she is today – one that even Black Canary and the Birds of Prey can rely on.

birds of prey #1 is available now from DC Comics!