The Darkest Bargains Struck With Blood — Reviewing ‘Batgirl’ #19

Family can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on not just the circumstances but also their chosen actions. For Cassandra Cain, the prospect of both remains high with the burden of her blood curse.

That storyline comes to a resounding conclusion as Tate Brombal, Takeshi Miyazawa, Juan Castro, Mike Spicer, and Tom Napolitano bring the latest arc to a close with Batgirl #19.

Short, impactful storylines that are swift and don’t feel like they are padded out just to fill up portions of a trade paperback. It sure is nice to see more of these types of stories popping up again in superhero comic spaces.

I’ve got nothing against making story arcs that are six or more issues, if they are paced and planned out well. Nothing worse than waiting a month for an issue that is fine overall but feels like it’s just wheel spinning to fill an issue quota.

I love what this creative team has been doing with Cassandra Cain. Fleshing out the world around her, giving her more family connections beyond the Batfam and beyond the pain that David Cain brought upon her for years. It’s easy for writing with characters to become too centered on the core past concepts that are repeated ad nauseum. Plenty of very popular characters are caught in a never-ending spiral of stories built upon the same handful of moments or concepts.

Y’all probably thought of a few right now without me having to name them.

There’s just such a perfect atmosphere artistically with this series right now. There’s a perfect number of rougher textures that behoove the more action oriented and darker content that comes with the story tone. It contrasts smoothly with the bits of whimsical energy which are just common to Miyazawa’s overall style as an artist, allowing all the sequences room to breathe and move with ease.

Plenty of depth and detail are present at every turn as you move through the panels and pages. Castro’s inks help highlight and expand on that feeling overall. In addition, the color palette choices that Spicer makes every time are spot-on. Darker and heavier colors are dominant, especially within the other realm, which lets the moments with flashier vibrant colors stand out even more. Our eyes instantly want to move towards the reds, greens, and other colors that belong to outfits or powers or other fantastical elements.

As noted above, it’s great that Brombal has really opened up what can be done with Cassandra as a character, utilizing the already canon elements and spicing them up with newer or deeper content. It gives us the Cassandra that we know and love in new situations and having to really confront who and what she is as a person. That ending with her bringing both sides of family together, blood and found, and liking who she happens to be was great for the heart.

Batgirl #19 is now available from DC Comics.