In the year since writer Tate Brombal and artist Takeshi Miyazawa brought back Cassandra Cain in an all-new Batgirl series, fans have been treated to a character-driven martial arts adventure that features everything we love about the Bat-Family’s young body language expert. We recently had a chance to discuss the book’s first year with Brombal, who opened up about his intentions going into the series, why it was essential to start with Cassandra’s relationship with her mother and what’s to come in the months ahead!
You’ve been writing Cassandra Cain for over a year now. What’s the one element of her character that really spoke to you as a fan that you felt was important to incorporate for readers who may be introduced to her through this series?
I still cannot believe that it’s been over a year! It has flown by, and I am still having so much fun. I really feel blessed that this book is still going strong, and it’s all thanks to the fans and the strong support from readers.
I always connected with Cassandra Cain as a fan because I saw so much of myself in her character. I was always the quiet black sheep that struggled with vocalizing my thoughts and feelings, even when I had so much that I wanted to say and express. For me, I found that expression in writing, while Cass found it in breaking faces (and later dance, too!).
The most important quality I wanted to express was that Cassandra has an incredibly rich and complex interiority, even if she’s not always putting it into words. I wanted readers to see the world how she sees it. I also wanted new readers to see how much potential she has outside of Gotham and the Bat-Family. She can hold an ongoing title without a single Batman appearance in its first year! My goal is to keep tapping into all of Cassandra Cain’s untapped potential.
Shiva was the co-lead for the first arc, and her absence looms large in the issues since. In incorporating not just her relationship with Cassandra, but also her long comic book history, what stamp did you want to leave with the character that defined her in new ways that hadn’t been done yet?
Lady Shiva has a long, complicated, often-conflicting history, which is the nature of superhero comics. However, when Lady Shiva appeared in Cassandra’s original (and great!) series, her character was irrevocably changed. A woman who had given up all earthly attachments to become something greater suddenly had a daughter who she couldn’t resist checking in on and constantly testing. Suddenly, she was attached to someone. In the same way, Cassandra discovered someone that was her match, her ultimate sparring partner, a woman who elicited as much pride as she did hate. This relationship, the effect each has on the other, is fascinating to me. It’s the mother-child relationship bumped up to superhuman levels.
In terms of redefining Lady Shiva, I wanted to make her various origins line up more neatly, while also expanding upon them and complicating them some more. I wanted to give the character a grander sense of history and legacy. There are generations of story that have led to who Cassandra Cain is and fleshing out her mother’s story will only enrich her own. In fact, Lady Shiva could capably headline her own series, as I tried to make clear in the two-part origin story we get in Batgirl #7 and #8!
Cassandra’s original series was more episodic, while this book has been the ongoing saga of the Unburied. Was that the intention from the start, and what inspired that approach to this book?
When I first pitched for this book, I gave DC a 30-issue plan of the entire story I wanted to tell and then MORE potential story to go beyond that. DC quickly was like, “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Let’s try to get twelve, first!” Haha!
So, yes, an ongoing saga that readers could invest in long-term was always the plan. Again, I wanted to prove that Batgirl was just as capable of shouldering epic stories as Batman. Cassandra’s stories can be complex and layered. She can build out an entire corner of the DC Universe with an ever-expanding and rotating supporting cast. Each story arc will stand on its own, but all together it will tell something grander and leave a lasting impact on Cassandra Cain.
Batgirl has (rightfully) become the de facto martial arts title in DC’s current slate. Is it challenging to write for characters whose high physical prowess is such an important visual component to their being?
Definitely, but it’s a fun challenge. These characters are always going to show more with their actions than speak with their words. They speak with their fists, kicks, blocks and parries. Finding ways to use martial arts and their bodies as a language is intrinsic to this book and Cassandra Cain as a character. So much of that incredible character acting and martial arts prowess is thanks to Takeshi Miyazawa, our series’ main artist, but also guest artist Isaac Goodhart and Stephen Segovia (who is filling in for some future issues!). Then, colorist Mike Spicer and letterer Tom Napolitano add even more depth with their contributions. It’s a total team effort, and I feel lucky to work with such masters!
Cassandra, like many characters in the DC Universe, has had a varied history throughout her existence. How has that history cohered with everything that’s happened in recent past? I’m specifically thinking of her time as Orphan compared to her original history as Batgirl post-No Man’s Land.
In current continuity, everything that happened to Cassandra Cain in past stories and reboots has happened to present-day Cassandra. She was Batgirl. She was Kasumi. She was Black Bat, Orphan, etc. It is all part of her history.
That is a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because there is so much history to pull from there, to acknowledge and build upon. It’s a curse because… Well, because it’s confusing as hell. It’s the challenge of writing superhero comics, and it often works better when you lean into it rather than ignore or be insecure with it all.
What inspired the creation of Tenji Turner, and giving Cassandra a younger brother?
Tenji was always a part of my original pitch. I even wanted to introduce him sooner into the series!! However, my great editorial team was wise in advising me to allow the book to build up to his introduction.
The inspiration for Tenji came from building upon Cassandra’s complicated family ties. She has her Bat-family—who she sees as her true family—and she has the complicated relationship with her birth parents, Lady Shiva and David Cain. What would happen if that was complicated a little bit further? What if she had a birth-sibling who is heroic and good, like her Bat-Family, but is descended from the birth mother she’s always struggled to love? Would those complicated feelings pass onto this innocent sibling? Would the sibling be a rival or a partner?
I also wanted to give Cass someone to mentor and to worry about outside of her Bat-Family. Plus, he is a fascinating character in his own right. Tenji is descended from two of the deadliest martial artists in the DCU and was trained by the other one. Tenji and Cass are the next generation of martial arts heroes. That legacy and what it means are an important part of this book.
Any chance we’ll see the Bat-Family later in this second year of Batgirl? If so, how might Cassandra’s relationship with them change after everything she’s gone through with Shiva?
Cassandra’s grand return to Gotham isn’t far away. We’re getting there, so hang tight!
Cassandra has changed. How she views family has changed and become more complicated. Even Gotham and the Bat-Family have changed and been through a lot! I’m excited to write that reunion.
Aside from Batgirl, are there any other projects you’ve been working on recently that fans would love to know about?
The final issue of Green Lantern Dark will be releasing soon, and I am so tremendously proud of that book. Fans should definitely check it out if they haven’t already. Also, if I may, my original series Everything Dead & Dying just released from Image Comics, and if readers are a fan of my work at DC, they will definitely enjoy that!
Batgirl #12 by Tate Brombal, Takeshi Miyazawa and Mike Spicer is now available in print and as a digital comic book. Catch up on the series now on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
