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A review by captwinghead
Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 3: League of Shadows by James Tynion IV
5.0
*** Received an ARC review via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***
4.5 stars.
So, this volume centers around Rebirth! Cassandra Cain and her meeting with Shiva.
So, I’ll get the negatives out of the way upfront: (1) This is not my favorite art. Something about it just isn’t as pleasing to the eye, to me. (2) I’m still majorly bummed that this version of Cass is not Bruce’s daughter. This version of Bruce is wary of her and she chose to name herself after David Cain, something Cass would never do because her father was an abusive prick. Sigh. (3) All of Cass’ portions are told through narratives and boxes because she barely speaks because they regressed her. While I liked the choice to use movement and art to tell her story, i’m still not pleased with these choices as a whole. (4) There’s another fade to black scene when Shiva’s fighting. Why?
Onward!
I loved that they gave us more of Cassie and ballet. I loved her sneaking into the studio to learn and watch the dancers! She's fascinated by people using body language to create art and not pain. I also loved Cass using the dance moves to inspire her fighting style. It was heartbreaking to see Cass unable to communicate with Harper even though she so badly wants to. This friendship remains interesting to me.
I liked seeing Bruce's proud little smile when he’s talking about Cass. Bruce admits Cass would beat him. Batwoman worries about her. Bruce also talks about them taking her out to see ballet. Again, wish she was still his adoptive daughter but this was cute to see. I also really liked the relationship between Cass and Basil.
Shiva has always been a very dynamic character. Watching Cass go through this situation where her mother, who she’s been dreaming of meeting, tells her she’s not worthy was heartbreaking. As were the flashbacks of her father’s abuse.
So, when you separate Cass’ superior history (had to say it) and just appreciate this as a story for an entirely separate character, it’s pretty interesting. If I didn’t have the context of her past incarnation, I would probably love this even more. As it stands on its own, it’s pretty moving. Cass is a little more trusting of others, especially considering the scene with Claire, the dancer. I loved their interactions and I really hope Cass stays in touch with her.
The crux of this story is Cass’ relationship with autonomy. While it isn’t as progressive as Puckett’s run, it does obtain some autonomy for Cass. She discerns, from a story read to her, that she can choose her own destiny. Not fighting to kill doesn’t make her weak: it makes her strong. She defines who she is; not her father and not Bruce. It does make me question whether they’ll let her have a real code name after this. Orphan. Especially after David Cain makes no sense at all.
I’m still a little fuzzy as to what Shiva’s goal were but the ending was satisfactory. My daughter is a total badass!!
There’s a short interlude with Luke and Azazel that surprised me. I was actually charmed by it and want to see more of them working together. I love the idea of an atheist/agnostic scientist that trusts in logic and reason working with a religious person. They have an interesting chemistry and I hope to see more of it in the future.
The end with Tim kind of served no purpose other than to hint, once again, at the war coming.
So, in some ways, this was probably the strongest, well put together arc of the series. I say that not just because I love Cass and it focused on her but because it had a beginning, middle and end and by focusing more on one character, it felt more cohesive. Still bummed that this version do Cass speaks in sentence fragments and isn’t Bruce’s adoptive daughter and the Batfam’s adoptive sister. However, as I said, if I remove that context, it’s a very powerful story.
4.5 stars.
So, this volume centers around Rebirth! Cassandra Cain and her meeting with Shiva.
So, I’ll get the negatives out of the way upfront: (1) This is not my favorite art. Something about it just isn’t as pleasing to the eye, to me. (2) I’m still majorly bummed that this version of Cass is not Bruce’s daughter. This version of Bruce is wary of her and she chose to name herself after David Cain, something Cass would never do because her father was an abusive prick. Sigh. (3) All of Cass’ portions are told through narratives and boxes because she barely speaks because they regressed her. While I liked the choice to use movement and art to tell her story, i’m still not pleased with these choices as a whole. (4) There’s another fade to black scene when Shiva’s fighting. Why?
Onward!
I loved that they gave us more of Cassie and ballet. I loved her sneaking into the studio to learn and watch the dancers! She's fascinated by people using body language to create art and not pain. I also loved Cass using the dance moves to inspire her fighting style. It was heartbreaking to see Cass unable to communicate with Harper even though she so badly wants to. This friendship remains interesting to me.
I liked seeing Bruce's proud little smile when he’s talking about Cass. Bruce admits Cass would beat him. Batwoman worries about her. Bruce also talks about them taking her out to see ballet. Again, wish she was still his adoptive daughter but this was cute to see. I also really liked the relationship between Cass and Basil.
Shiva has always been a very dynamic character. Watching Cass go through this situation where her mother, who she’s been dreaming of meeting, tells her she’s not worthy was heartbreaking. As were the flashbacks of her father’s abuse.
So, when you separate Cass’ superior history (had to say it) and just appreciate this as a story for an entirely separate character, it’s pretty interesting. If I didn’t have the context of her past incarnation, I would probably love this even more. As it stands on its own, it’s pretty moving. Cass is a little more trusting of others, especially considering the scene with Claire, the dancer. I loved their interactions and I really hope Cass stays in touch with her.
The crux of this story is Cass’ relationship with autonomy. While it isn’t as progressive as Puckett’s run, it does obtain some autonomy for Cass. She discerns, from a story read to her, that she can choose her own destiny. Not fighting to kill doesn’t make her weak: it makes her strong. She defines who she is; not her father and not Bruce. It does make me question whether they’ll let her have a real code name after this. Orphan. Especially after David Cain makes no sense at all.
I’m still a little fuzzy as to what Shiva’s goal were but the ending was satisfactory.
Spoiler
I loved finally getting a fight scene with Cass taking down an awe inspiring amount of ninjas.There’s a short interlude with Luke and Azazel that surprised me. I was actually charmed by it and want to see more of them working together. I love the idea of an atheist/agnostic scientist that trusts in logic and reason working with a religious person. They have an interesting chemistry and I hope to see more of it in the future.
The end with Tim kind of served no purpose other than to hint, once again, at the war coming.
So, in some ways, this was probably the strongest, well put together arc of the series. I say that not just because I love Cass and it focused on her but because it had a beginning, middle and end and by focusing more on one character, it felt more cohesive. Still bummed that this version do Cass speaks in sentence fragments and isn’t Bruce’s adoptive daughter and the Batfam’s adoptive sister. However, as I said, if I remove that context, it’s a very powerful story.