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bess3714 · 26 days

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If I were in charge of DC here's what I would do to the Batfam comics in no particular order:

Batman and Robin:

I would send Bruce and Damian on a sabbatical/road trip across America. They of course keep running into crimes wherever they go and solve them, leading a couple of FBI agents to start investigating them for committing the crimes. One FBI agent will remind people of a chihuahua, and the other of a St. Bernard. Also Damian has his permit so he can drive, and since Bruce currently doesn't have a hand in comics I'd add in a plotline where they help an alien who grows back his hand as a reward but he does it wrong and now Bruce has an extra finger.

Batman:

With Bruce and Damian gone, I'd make Tim Batman and Stephanie Robin. They fight crime and bicker like old ex's, leading to some interesting rumors about Batman. I'd make a directive that Tim isn't allowed to be drawn as a twink anymore, but has to be drawn with the rippling muscles he had in the 90's and 00's. Stephanie also gets rippling muscles. Part of the b plot for a while is Stephanie's rivalry with her next-door-neighbor who turns out to be a drug lord, but the drugs he sells are like, insulin and ADHD meds that he and his gang steals because he's a doctor who lost his job for reporting some ethics concerns and now he's mad about the medical system. Stephanie gets mad because in hindsight all the clues were there that he was literally in a gang, and she didn't notice because she thought he was just an asshole. Also they definitely make out at one point.

Detective Comics:

I love what Ram V is doing right now but I think when he's done I'd put Duke Thomas in the main story investigating systemic corruption in Gotham, shining a light (because he's the Signal) on the worst parts of the government. At some point he's accused of murder and the police are all trying to arrest him so he blows up some cop cars and Batman calls to yell at him but he hangs up on Batman. Montoya has a dartboard in her office with a picture of his face on it.

I'd add in an ongoing run of a comic that resembles the original batman comics in style and content. Then I'd have a a bunch of stories with some lesser-known characters, like the Psyba-Rats. I'd really use Tec as a playground to experiment with unusual team-ups, fresh stories, and inventive artstyles.

Birds of Prey:

I like the current lineup but there needs to be 30% more queerbaiting between Barbara and Dinah. There's an issue where Barbara and Dinah pretend to be lesbians to get this himbo to leave Dinah alone because she's trying to let him down easy because he's so damn nice she doesn't want to hurt him. (Has anyone watched Rizzoli and Isles, coincidentally?) I'd also add Helena Bertinelli to the team but she has an eyepatch for inexplicable reasons (the reason is it looks cool). The eyepatch will be dropped without any recognition a few issues later. Barbara drops both Batgirl and Oracle and gets a new identity as the Cloud. Only the Birds of Prey know it's her; everyone else thinks the Cloud may or may not be an evil AI working for Lex Luthor.

Outsiders:

I'm not reading Outsiders so I can't really comment on what I'd do for that one, but if you guys have any ideas let me know and I'll do the opposite, inciting fan fury and starting a Twitter war.

Nightwing:

I would send Dick to live in New York and also I would make him broke and homeless. I thought about making him lose his memory too, but that's already been done so instead I'd give him violent visions of murder and assault so he thinks he's losing his mind but then it turns out to be a secret policy from the new mayor of New York City to quietly round up all the homeless people by releasing gas into the streets at night to knock them out, but Dick has had too much exposure to drugs and poisons for it to work right on him, so instead he gets hallucinations!

Batgirl:

That's right, you'd get a Batgirl ongoing from me! Cassandra Cain would be the main character, and in the first arc I'd have her join a dating app, but then every date she goes on turns out to be with a criminal who she then sends to jail, and just when she's about to give up on dating, on the very last date she goes on the guy tries to force a charter pilot to help him escape by plane but Cass takes him down and the pilot is like "so that was cool. Can I get your number?" and they start dating. After that Cass accidentally joins a gang but she keeps getting gang members sent to jail and no one suspects it's her, only at some point she actually becomes the gang leader. There's then a crossover with Batman where her gang beefs with Stephanie's next-door-neighbor's gang and Cass ends up giving her gang to him peacefully.

Batwoman:

While I'm at it, I'd launch a Batwoman comic. I'd get Chuck Dixon to write it and it would be both wildly homophobic and also the gayest thing you'd ever seen, but eventually ol' Chuck and I would have some creative differences and he would depart, and instead we would have a rotating cast of guest authors. I don't really know much about Batwoman but luckily knowing about a character in order to write them isn't a requirement at DC. I think we need some ghosts so there would be an arc about Batwoman getting haunted by a bunch of angry, vengeful spirits who she thinks are trying to kill her but who are actually trying to lead to their killer. One of the ghosts is a really hot woman and they share a passionate kiss before the ghost girl disappears after Kate gets them justice. The arc would be lauded in some articles as a 'major reversal of the bury your gays trope' because at one point Kate has to dig up their bodies to look for clues, while in other news outlets it would be decried as a 'vile depiction of the desecration of queer final resting places.'

Red Hood and the Outlaws:

Jason starts a club/gym for a group of teenagers where he teaches them cool stuff like 'how to throw a punch' but also 'how to buy and cook groceries'. The gym is threatened by various forces like gangs, developers, the city government, plus the kids all have personal problems they have to deal with, like mental and physical disabilities, generational trauma, homelessness, and poverty. The teenagers call the gym "The Saloon" and themselves "The Outlaws" because Jason always has a TV playing reruns of old western shows. There's a running joke where various people think Jason looks like a dead relative.

Poison Ivy:

I'm a few issues behind but this one I would leave alone. I don't think I could improve on it. Unless I made Janet from HR and Croc an item. That could be fun.

Harley Quinn:

Another one I'm not reading so I don't know what's going on there but it could be fun to have a crossover storyline with Poison Ivy where they grow and sell shrooms to rich college students and then influence them to do stupid stuff and get them arrested. You know, fun date night activities!

Conclusion:

My time in charge of Batman comics would be one of mass outrage and general fervor. My directives would be so unpopular amongst fans that petitions would be started to have me removed and violent death threats towards me would be de rigueur online. I would depart after a few short months and my replacement would almost immediately retcon all my creative decisions away into a dark universe that would then be blown up by Lex Luthor. Ten years later, a dedicated fanbase for the comics produced under me would emerge, and they would be so loud and annoying and insistent that fans would then clamor to get me back in charge of DC once again, but unfortunately by then I will have retired to start drama on Twitter and write a memoir after a failed attempt at starting my own comics company called Big M Comics and getting sued by McDonald's

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dailycass-cain · 1 year

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The Lost Tales of Cassandra Cain

With every comic book character there are stories that aren’t approved or slipped thru the cracks of being published. Here are the ones that involve Cass.

The Lost Batgirl Vol. 1 Story

- We’ll start with the most “finished” lost tale involving Cassandra Cain is one that was meant to be in her ongoing (probably #38 given the context of the story). has several official pages finished and inked. Not only that but the script was published online (it was written by Paul Storrie).

Here’s what we know the plot involves Charaxes (the post-Crisis Killer Moth Drury Walker who went by this particular name after the “Underworld Unleashed” event when he sold his soul to become a moth creature), him targeting a child who’s deaf, and is Cass’s only confrontation with Killer Moth (until Batgirls #9-12. I mean we sort of got that in Tec Knights, but Basil crashed Killer Moth’s plan in that, not Cass. Plus she wasn’t Batgirl then).

Not only does the story delve into the history between Batgirl/Killer Moth it also tackles Cass learning ASL. An angle not touched upon until Young Justice Targets #3 recently.

Several pages of the script by Storrie were drawn by artist Javier Saltares (Ghost Rider, G.I. Joe) and inked by Rob Leigh. It’s unknown how much of trhe story Saitares/Leigh drew and inked. What is known, is that in the early 2010s Saitares put a bunch of these pages up on eBay for auction. I personally bought a page but here are the ones I could find as well:

You’ve probably seen this story elsewhere too, because in 2010 artist Lynne Yoshii used the script and redrew the whole story. Lynn did an amazing job basically filling the portions that were missing: Here are a few:

The Missing Filler Detective Comics Issue

- Our next “lost” tale takes place probably around early 2009 and was meant to be a filler issue in Paul Dini’s Detective Comics run. This one was written by Chuck Dixon and would’ve tied into his Batman & the Outsiders run at the time. Not much is fully known of the story save it was announced by Dixon on the Word Balloon podcast (from December 2008).

For Cassandra, it would bridge the gap to Batman & the Outsiders Vol. 2 #2 of that series and her last prior appearance, Robin #162. Explaining Bruce's renewed trust in Cassandra, after you know-- the heel turn, getting injected with Slade juice, and-- a rather bad time for Cassandra Cain. 🙃🙃 🙃🙃

Six months later though, Dixon would leave Robin and Batman & the Outsiders. Now, this is where it relates to Tim/Stephanie. Robin #177 of Robin would have originally dealt with Cluemaster finding out she was alive (a lost tale in itself). This however, got a cover (and there’s probably art of that floating too if this much got thru) by then series artist Freddie Williams II:

Of course, you know the rest of the story. We instead got Batgirl Vol. 2 aka Batgirl: Redemption Road and Cassandra was given a set-up arc in B&O to establish "the Network" which would later become Batman Inc. Then get utterly forgotten when the series relaunched to just "the Outsiders".

It’s possible Dixon does have an outline to this saved. But given how crazy he’s become. I’m not one to ask him, but if anyone is brave. Be my guest.

The meeting we wanted but never got. - Robin #-183

- However this leads us into our next “lost tale” that would’ve been in Robin ongoing series. The writer who replaced Dixon, Fabian Nicieza, confirmed that had Robin lasted beyond #175-183 (the series’ final issue), he would’ve had Cass guest star and find out Stephanie Brown was alive.

But.. the series ended at #183 and Tim would become Red Robin. Cass would meet Stephanie, but it was extremely MEH reunion in Batman & the Outsiders Vol. 2 #13.

Now, if you want to see a fan version of this. Well, I wrote a script that artist Eileen Widjaja captured to perfection just this year:

Failed Pitches

White Canary series by Billy Tucci.

- Yes, there was an ongoing series by Tucci that would’ve starred Cass. For those who are unware of the identity. The White Canary was introduced at the main antagonist of the first arc of “Brightest Day” Gail Simone’s relaunched Birds of Prey #1:

After the arc ended rumors began to swirl that Cassandra Cain would be getting the identity and enter Tucci writing a spinoff series as well (covered by Bleeding Cool).

Cue Heroes Con 2010 and at a DC panel the question was asked with Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler and Billy Tucci himself attending the panel (sadly the Newsarama link I originally found is down but if someone can find it I’d be grateful). Here’s a clip of the quote though:

"They are also holding off on using Cassandra right now. Misfit will be seen later down the line. An audience member wanted to see more Cassandra, but Sattler insisted that they didn't want to rush her into the story and just want to time it right.”

Cue C2E2 2011 a year later. The prelude to Black Bat as it were. Tucci was a guest and I had to ask the question myself. He did confirm there was a series pitched.

He'd keep Cass basic, using her skills as a fighter and no real tech at all save the standard grapple gun, which is standard in all vigilante equipment. Why would she need gadgets? When SHE IS THE WEAPON.

And if you don’t believe me, here’s the commission I got from him at said convention of Cass:

So, accidentally given how many have asked him to draw Barbara, Tucci had screwed up the pose (hence why Cass is on her tip-toes as he was drawing Babs in the high-heels). He did course-correct the art.

Not just a day later, it was then announced that Gates of Gotham #1 would feature the return of Cassandra Cain. Though as we now know how it all played what happened.

So what really happened? My theory? A mixture of The New 52 and her becoming Black Bat more than likely scuttled the idea. Or DC being DC when it comes to Cassandra. We will never know the answer. At the very least, I can fully confirm that Billy Tucci was pitching a Cass ongoing at the time. Oh what could’ve been (or maybe not given Tucci has gone equally crazy like Dixon):

Angel of the Bat

- You know this one by heart at this point.

This was Gail Simone’s 2006 pitch after Batgirl Vol. 1 was about to end. We didn’t get that, and instead we got well... this for “Robin OYL”:

🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃

There are a few more story pitches that I know but haven’t dug deep enough or asked about the stories at conventions. Nor do I want to reopen old wounds as most of these ideas were prior or during the “New 52″ era.

Gail Simone had a few (but they more or less materialized into Future’s End: Batgirl #1). Kyle Higgins wanted Cass to appear in Nightwing during his run (instead all he could do was be allowed to put in a deleted fight scene he wanted to put in Gates of Gotham but instead used in the “Court of Owls” x-over). We all know Scott Snyder wanted to use Cass and was spited numerous times over during his Batman run.

Fabian Nicieza had a few ideas involving Cass that would’ve focused against Cricket (the villain he introduced in Red Robin #25), Bryan Q. Miller wanted Cass to be featured in the second half to Batgirl Vol. 3 if it had continued Cass would’ve appeared as both Black Bat and a time displaced version of herself as Batgirl (along with Barbara) teaming up with the Blackhawks and Skeets in World War II. We saw this idea teased at the end of Batgirl Vol. 3 #24:

Finally, there is Grant Morrison, who wanted to use Cass when Batman Inc Vol. 2 launched. It’s unknown what they had in mind but they and artist Chris Burnham did poke fun at DC replacing Steph with Babs in their second run:

Not only that but Mad Dog (Cass’s evil brother) did appear in this run as well. But that’s a story for another time...

Black Bat Ongoing (late-2012 or 2013)

- So we have an entry to this list that has recently come to light. Artist Dean Zachary has revealed that there was a Black Bat ongoing pitched during the “dark era” of when Cass was listed as “toxic” between 2011-2013.

Zachary has several concept sketches of this ongoing pitch posted of Cass, Shivasaurus, Batman, and Bronze Tiger.

So the first arc of this ongoing was going to be this, per Zachary himself:

“The drawing was meant to suggest that Cass defeated Shiva so badly that she took the villain's Mask as a trophy. The League of Assassins were taking the streets from law enforcement and only Cass and Ben could stand against them. Shiva sent her Prize Student, Richard Dragon, to either convert or remove Cass and Ben as defenders of Gotham. Mayhem ensued. Editors at DC had "other plans" for Cass and company at the time. ”

Course any Cass fan knows that “other plans” lingo of DC all too well. Now how was I able to pinpoint the exact time when this pitch was given? Well, with help from a good friend (and Lady Shiva expert). We can pin point this pitch was made in 2013 (or earlier).

The reason we can is because that’s when Ben Turner was walking around in his New 52 design in 2013:

The design would be used for an Red Hood & the Outlaws arc that would infamously tie with Shivasaurus getting K.O.ed by Jason Todd easily in it for that year.

So I find this story pitch fascinating for several reasons because there were some creative folk STILL actively trying to keep Cass canon at DC even with the New 52 going on (which said otherwise).

I find the whole concept of a Ben/Cass team truly some potential as the two were retconned to be master/student before Batgirl Vol. 1 ended. Which gave us this panel:

It’s also curious how this would’ve led into a villainous New 52 Richard Dragon which again did occur but in the Green Arrow comics under Jeff Lemire’s Green Arrow run:

Zachary still found a job elsewhere so there was no skin off his back for the pitch failing. But still expresses interest in a Cass solo.

- Another LOST Cass story slipped under my radar in July until today. Former series artist Rich Leonardi tweeted back in early July several unpublished drawings he did and two feature Cass in them.

Given the focus of the story is Nightwing it does feel like a continuation writer Devin Grayson at that time was using Cass to further her sibling bond with Dick (aka #81 of that series).

However, it could be a lost Batgirl story as Dylan Horrocks did leave much on the table (a lot of pent up tension between the two due to Babs/Dick breaking up around this run) when he exited the ongoing due to “War Games” event. Whatever the case, let’s just take in the glorious Leonardi Cass art:

#cassandra cain #dc comics

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zahri-melitor · 10 months

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Batman Reborn: let's break it down.

So I read eight ongoing Reborn titles: Batman, Detective Comics, Batman & Robin, Red Robin, Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Streets of Gotham and Azrael.

Detective Comics: this was the unexpected standout of the set. 'Tec quite often does good family stories, but it got a massive boost by most of its Reborn run being made up of two things: Rucka's Batwoman run and Snyder's The Black Mirror. These are both very, very worthwhile longform stories. It also supported an excellent backup with the Question & Huntress teamup.

Streets of Gotham: aka Dini does his thing. Streets was exactly what I expected from a Bat anthology book written by Dini. Dini's very good at balancing big casts, and the first half of this run was Dini at his best - lots of walk on characters, complex plots, the only really good Damian Wayne characterisation going prior to Bruce's resurrection, and a lot of fun. Andreyko's Manhunter backup was also fantastic. The second half then devolved into interminable Hush storytelling, which I ALSO expect from Dini at this point, and the Two-Face backup simply wasn't as good. It was still enjoyable! But the non-Hush stories were better.

Batman: now here was a title all over the place. It just rotated through SO MANY hands. Personally my favourite stories were: #703, where for one shining moment we got an issue that managed to have Dick, Tim and Damian on page together, in costume, working together (Thank you, Fabian Nicieza); and the Judgment on Gotham crossover that finished out the plot of Azrael. Both were exactly what I enjoy seeing - stories using their supporting cast well. Other than that, you had the Jeremiah Arkham plot, the Kitrina Falcone plots (oh Kitrina), Riddler going back off the rails (I somehow missed where he decided to flip back to being a bad guy instead of a detective), and Two-Face being betrayed by Gilda. There was just so much going on here, and unfortunately it wasn't focused enough on what was going on for Dick.

Azrael: because sometimes you need a tragedy! Azrael was fun. Overtly religious and leaning into Christian theology in places (and Dan Brown plotlines in others), the entire premise of the book was "Watch Michael Lane have a breakdown as he is corrupted by the Suit of Sorrows" and that is exactly what we got. I liked FabNic's plots better than Jim Hine's, but they both pulled off some fun storytelling (I burst out laughing at times. Like when Crusader revealed The Bees). I'm glad it got the crossover to finish out the storyline. The Order of Purity are very bad news, even for a breakaway sect of the Order of St Dumas.

Batman & Robin: oh. Where do I start. This run is, above all, a lot of lost potential. I found Morrison's writing in this particularly painful and a struggle to get through due to their refusal to keep track of what was going on in any other title, and just everything about the way Damian and Alfred in particular were written. I was also particularly aggravated by the timeline inconsistency that B&R #10-16 by any realistic read come AFTER RR #12 (given the resurrection timeline running ahead of all the other titles), but there was no acknowledgment of this fact in the text, and parts of it contradicted that read...this is what an editor should be keeping smoothed out for such a big event (the Return of Bruce Wayne).

Once Morrison left things improved, but realistically it just turned into three separate writers writing three separate stories that didn't really mesh at all. Cornell's story was just more demonisation of Vicky Vale, Winick's story was just Winick writing a Jason story rather than anything about the two title characters, and Tomasi's story was the only one where I actually enjoyed Batman & Robin as a title... only to be let down by the artist clearly never having seen a reference picture of Rebecca or Aaron Langstrom before. You had a villain construct angel wings. On Aaron Langstrom. AARON. LANGSTROM. He's a toddler who is permanently a Man-Bat. He can already fly. The opening movie night though in Tomasi's story was extremely Tomasi and everything my heart wanted.

Birds of Prey: I enjoyed the storytelling in this, though parts of it were very clearly Gail Simone on board. Since I enjoy Simone, I didn't mind that, but for instance the entire plot revolving around rescuing Sin was very much a 'take that' for Sin being written out. I also quite enjoyed the Death of Oracle plot even if I have certain objections to Cass being left off the list (and boggling at the logistics of Wendy and Damian also being left off). Oracle got herself a new Tower!

I have to say though, I cannot imagine how this run would read if you were not already deeply familiar with Simone's first run on Birds of Prey, because she spent so much time picking up dropped plot threads and playing them out.

Andreyko's double issue to finish the book off was actually more of a tie off to his Manhunter backup plot than a Birds of Prey finishing-up plot, which makes sense as it's Andreyko, but it was a little unexpected in that the proper finale of the series was actually #13, not #15.

Batgirl: hmmmm. Yeah, this was probably the weakest written of all 8 and also the book that's aged the fastest. What I think it was successful in doing: look, I loved the Barbara and Wendy plot. That worked really well and was unfortunately the only points in the story that felt like Barbara was fully in character. I also think it was successful in being Stephanie's story. In fact, it felt like Steph was telling it to me. And in the process, eliding over her own mistakes and boosting up how much she was getting praised for her actions. It reminded me a LOT of Cassie Sandsmark's origin story telling in Young Justice Secret Files and Origins - where the main character is telling me her version of events. I actually kind of wish we hadn't got any of Barbara's thought bubbles around Steph, because when they were, they were pretty un-Barbaraish.

Look, there was some fun storytelling here. It was a light and fluffy title. But I don't think it ever fully succeeded in rehabilitating Steph as a usable character for the wider community, because the book so blatantly refused to grapple with Steph's previous actions. Things that other characters had done to Steph and things Editorial had done to Steph? Yes. Things Steph herself did? No.

Red Robin: I loved that this was one of the few titles explicitly committed to trying to keep on top of everything was happening in all of the other books. I enjoyed Yost's run more than Nicieza's, but FabNic also had some great stuff (the Ünternet issue is understandably popular for a reason). Tam, Pru and Lonnie all played off Tim in interesting ways. I actually enjoyed Tim having his little, deserved, breakdown. He spends most of the title at the outer limits of his smugness, using it to conceal his gaps in self-confidence, and while I enjoy Tim being a brat in that manner, this is another title that is just so very informed by pre-existing history that you need to know that Tim is both not quite himself right now, and WHY that is. He was settling back into himself by the end of the book.

I am extremely sad this got cut off where it did, because it was so, so obviously working its way into trying to find a new identity for Tim and move him into adulthood... and then got cut off at the knees, sending Tim into a tailspin holding pattern for a decade that they've only JUST been able to extract him from.

#z canon read throughs #batman reborn

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dickgreyson · 4 years

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To be fair to tim, bruce did put him thru hoops & put a ton of pressure on him & didn't open up to tim for a long time until he proved himself. If bruce showed any blatant favortism, it was towards cassandra, & that was only because she followed orders & bruce admitted he saw himself in her so lots of projection there. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth though bc while she's praised the others are treated either like dirt (steph, helena) or kept at a distance unless they're useful (dick, tim).

ok i see what youre saying and thats true, but with tim it seems to really depend on which particular run youre reading. because we do go from a tim who was bright and driven, who idolised both robins and knew what batman needed, to a tim who lords himself as the only true robin with bruce’s backing. he goes from in the early days begging dick to take the mantle back, to quite literally turning gotham into a police state. what im saying is tim contains multitudes.

i dont have a problem with like 90% of tim’s robin run, i dont have a problem with 90% of his appearances in tec. what i do have a problem with is the fact that he’s almost a carbon copy of dick, but bruce likes him better because hes a pasty white rich kid. i have a problem with his blatant sexism and superiority complex, i have a problem with everyone saying ‘well he’s the only one ra’s called detective’ because no he isnt. ra’s called dick detective too. i have a problem with unquestioning, unbridled hero worship towards tim from other characters in canon. i have a problem with him in n52 and rebirth telling dick that he isnt enough and that hes lacking.

so tim, when we disambiguate, is fine. but like recently he’s being portrayed as like the one true heir, and the one true robin, and that gets on my nerves.

the cass stuff: yes. i think she deserves a little favouritism, from bruce and from us as readers. if she wants to be the next batman, then she has to carry that legacy. and bruce wont be satisfied with anything less than her total support and respect.

but no i disagree that tim is kept at a distance until he’s useful, because what was the belfry arc? he was just given gotham. bruce just let him have it all, and then didnt punish him when he turned it into a POLICE STATE.

#sry this is long #i just had my coffee so im feeling all precise and medicated and stuff sdjfkjhs #but yeah tim is fine he just sucks rn #Anonymous

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renaramblesaboutcomics · 7 years

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Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2015-2016) #1 (of 6)

“Say, this looks like a fun game. Death Laser Pony Racers, huh? Whoops.”

“Noooo… my Pony Racers…”

“Hush…”

*long heralding sigh*

Okay we need to talk about the team behind the book. Specifically the writer, James Tynion IV. Now, I obviously have a lot of history with posting my opinions on Tynion on this blog, but a lot of it has been relegated to my Wednesday Roundups, which besides having a different format are also not always read by the same people who are here for my traditional Rambles.

That being said, my relationship with his writing tends to be along the lines of “complicated” and I’ve been pretty critical of his work recently, specifically his run on Detective Comics. One of my main criticisms has been the choice for the roster he had for that team, namely that Clayface is part of the team and getting a redemption arc completely out of left field from who he has been in the current continuity up to that point. And... arguably... any continuity that Basil Karlo has ever been involved with. Like ever? The whole point is he’s a superficial stuckup actor “of a million faces” (hence being named after famous Early Cinema actors in the horror genre) whose ugliness becomes his outside.

I have argued for over a year now that it would make much more sense and fit with continuity that had already been built up in both Red Hood and the Outlaws as well as Gotham Academy if this second chance was given to Killer Croc, whose morality tell is... quite literally the opposite of Basil? In that he was born with a condition that made him look like a monster therefore being treated like one all his life made him decide to play the part.

Like. Batman villains are not honestly all that complicated. It’s... about as deep as a puddle.

But Killer Croc was in the Suicide Squad movie despite never being on the team before so editorial demands that he be on that book and not on ‘Tec. Or so I was willing to accept until I read this crossover, also by Tynion, and got a load of his take on Killer Croc.

Like... Tynion. Buddy. He’s not a substitute for Bebop and Rocksteady, just because he’s big and violent. Most of his most iconic storylines before joining Suicide Squad actually had to do with... y’know... him being a protector or kind to people who he found were kind to him first? He’s a tragic figure.

Oh well. We needed someone in the sewer for the Turtles to fight and I guess there was something keeping the Ratcatcher, who would have posed a more immediate threat to Master Splinter, away. So. Y’know. We get this.

And I know I wrote this whole long essay, but I actually really do enjoy this comic, I just. Have a history of scrutinizing this particular point.

#DC Comics #IDW Comics #Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2015 2016)#James Tynion IV #Freddie William II #Jeremy Colwell #Donatello #Leonardo #Michelangelo #Raphael #Killer Croc #Waylon Jones

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zahri-melitor · 11 months

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Ah, comics.

Having another of those days where part of me wants to keep hammering away at the very specifically bounded post-Crisis readthrough I’m working on (though I’m STILL trying to untangle exactly what I need to add for the 2009-2011 section, I don’t know these comics well and when everything got cancelled and new series and minis started, trying to work out who is appearing where is a headache)

And then the rest of me keeps spinning off lists of OTHER things I should go back and read that also look fascinating. The current list of ‘I’ll get to it but not now’ (in no particular order) includes:-

Batman and ‘Tec readthrough 1990-2011 for the stretches I skipped due to lack of Batfam content

The Batman Chronicles, issues I haven’t read yet.

Batman: Shadows of the Bat issues I skipped due to lack of involvement in events

Pull the full 90s Showcase list and work out which issues still contain characters I care about and haven’t got to yet

Gotham Central

Finish Manhunter vol 3

Superboy

Impulse

Huntress 1989

Titans 1998

Teen Titans 2003

Outsiders 2003

Crisis on Infinite Earths (as I’m a maniac)

Infinite Crisis

Contemplate whether I can stand Countdown/52

Vic Sage Question serieses

Richard Dragon serieses

Renee Montoya Question

Batwoman (actually these are coming, I bought them for super cheap from a second hand shop)

Go poke at Black Canary vol 2 again to see if I bounce off it hard once more

Connor Hawke Green Arrow read

The Wonder Girl miniseries

Work out how to approach Wonder Woman

Find someone with an actual opinion on Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight to discover if there are any arcs in this worth reading or if my general impression to avoid it outside of specific recommendations/crossovers has been correct (I’ve read…crossovers. And LOTDK #100 for the Haly’s Circus retelling)

Babs Suicide Squad read!

Contemplate sticking my head into the headache that is reading JL/JLA (and then exit extremely fast, if I know me)

JLA: Tower of Babel (at a minimum while I read JL content)

A BUNCH of loosely connected Bat miniseries that I haven’t read

I should actually read Quiver, it’s on my shelf

Jaime Reyes read that covers his post 2011 appearances

Superman/Batman? Superman/Batman

Look, probably more Arrow content. Maybe some Flash content. Try to approach this sensibly by recommended writer runs rather than ‘I’m going in and going straight through!’

Read content past 2011? MADNESS (start mapping out how to approach this)

Do I go read some more of Azrael failson? I mean JPV is amusing in VERY small doses

Catwoman read, vols 2 & 3

You still can’t make me read NTT

Actually get around to reading The Long Halloween/Dark Victory/When In Rome

More Ted Kord Blue Beetle, work out where I need to look

#z canon read throughs #just listing it out is a LOT #this is why my current read is ‘Tim Babs Dick Cass Steph Helena (Dinah as a Bat)’#actually I need to sit down and diagram out Dinah post Black Canary vol 3

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dailycass-cain · 1 year

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So I wanted to do something to show just how well we Cassandra Cain fans be eating these days with the character. Just a comparison from 2017 (the go to point of the Rebirth era) and 2022.

I single out this particular area of Rebirth because Cass was reintroduced just a year prior (at the end of 2015 and got the cushy Tec ongoing to camp in until Tec #987 in 2018).

Basically the "height" of her Rebirth appearances.

Cass during Rebirth appeared in the following Batman comics (at the time):

Detective Comics*

Batman*

Nightwing*

Batgirl & the Birds of Prey #14-17

Red Hood & the Outlaws #15

*the three comics all took part in the "Night of the Monster Men crossover which featured Cass in a subplot within it". BoP featured Cass (and the Tec team) in a cameo with #14 but full-on appearances #15-17. RH&O was the issue where Cass jobbed to Artemis and 95% of their fight took place off panel.

Another specific reason I chose 2017 because it was the year we got Tec #950-956 which gave us a Cass "centric" arc. So this year was the biggest Cass got in the “Rebirth” era.

The following in 2018 however...

Cass would only show up in five ongoing comics:

Detective Comics (obviously but it was nearing the end sadly for her)

Batman (to focus on the um.. breaking of Batman portion with the family thinking him “irrational”)

Justice League (Scott Snyder/James Tynion's run which gave us a sprinkle of Cass on the team here and there).

The final being the very delayed Batman & the Outsiders which debuted at the end of the year.

You can notice a slight theme that Cass well was satellited to just Batman comics and not any singular story for herself (which really hampered her "centric" arc).

I just find it ironic for a codename that was “supposed” to make Cass grow beyond the Bat comics she was fully confined to them. Literally Justice League was the only comic and that was due to Snyder/Tynion’s fondness for the character. Nothing more beyond that.

Further, she would "drop off the map" of Tec save in #1000 from the series as a whole until VERY late 2020 (I WONDER WHY that could be 🤔).

Now let's compare to 2022.

First off, Cass co-leads her own ongoing with Batgirls. A HUGE step up from save the supporting roles in teams we got for the character in 2017. I know many criticize the comic (and justly so), but there would be gaps of Cass not possibly showing up in the Rebirth era of Tec as she was part of a team. Of that team herself, Kate, Tim, and Basil were probably the focal points for that run.

Though she hasn't been mentioned canonically as an adopted child in the main book in Chip Zdarsky's Batman run. She still APPEARED in the comic frequently (until the start of the second arc). Likewise Tec from Mariko Tamaki (which this year would result in the bulk of her appearances in that run too).

So she was a CONSTANT presence in both main Batbooks again (even with the slight in Batman).Kind of a big step up than say what we had in 2017 (but again she was a cast off in Batman to prove a plot point but somewhat faired better in 2022 than 2017).

Outside the main Bat books and her own, Cass has appeared in the supporting Bat comics:

Nightwing (one issue)

Robin (two issues)

I am Batman (cameo)

Joker (FulI-on appearances. I know, shocking right?)

Batman: Urban Legends (a few appearances)

Task Force Z (one issue appearance and a mention)

This isn't counting the Batman: One Bad Day: Two-Face #1, Robin (Tim) one-shot, Dark Knights of Steel, DCeased: War of the Undead Gods, DC vs. Vampires, and Young Justice: Targets. All of which we got HEALTHY doses of Cass (though DC vs. Vampires faltered hard).

But the more important thing just to mention is she's appeared in OUTSIDE the Bat books during the “Dark Crisis” event (she was sprinkled throughout the battle in the main book and had a name drop or cameo in the lead-ins).

It's more the fact she is appearing in a comic she NEVER appeared in before, The Flash #786 (in its tie-in). Oh and SCOBBY "FREAKING" DOO!

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #12 in case you were wondering where this occurred.

Suffice to say, we Cass fans are eating and eating well compared to 2017 her "popular" year in Rebirth. Though kind of justly I feel we are still at this stage in our lives:

After the stuff we’ve been thru? Yeah, I think it’s highly justified to be of that mindset. I'm not gonna dwell on the what changed between 2017 and 2022 to allow such an increase in appearances.

We all know "the why" (i.e. early 2020 a certain "someone" was fired from the company). Well, we've been seeing the character gain massively since. I just felt the need to fully compare the two.

Look and see the Cass content we got in 2017 (which I felt like was a tiny scrap from a table but one I cherished). To well, in 2022 we have so much to choose from.

I just found the whole looking back and thinking about the two eras would be fascinating.

#dc comics #cassandra cain #CAINAISSANCE2022

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