Originally published on Patreon
With Steph being held prisoner by her villainous father it's down to Cass to track down and save her friend, so this issue is spent following the more quiet of the two Batgirls around the city as she pieces together the clues she needs in a dialogue free issue that might be one of the best in the series to date.
Cass is one of the more interesting characters in the Bat Family, and her getting the spotlight is always a load of fun. When used right she's one of the best characters in Gotham (the recent story where Jason Todd is fighting his family and claims they don't frighten him until Cass turns up and he then gets scared is a prime example of her being brilliant). And this issue proves that the writers, Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad, know how best to utilise her.
Over the course of the issue we watch Cass as she checks out police files on Steph's dad, follows assassins and gets into a big fight on a bridge, pieces clues together, gears up and heads out to save her best friend. Throughout it all she doesn't utter a single word, and the people around her are silent too as she does what she does. As a character who's never been much for talking and lets her actions speak for her this issue really leans into that.
It does cheat somewhat, in the sense that one of the police files she reads has information for the audience, so we get to read it too, and she gets a letter from Steph (an in case of death type of letter) which we also get to read. Whilst I'm sure there will be some who claim that this means that the issue cheats with the premise there's still no spoken dialogue on the page, and these moments add to the story. Especially the letter.
The letter from Stephanie might be one of my favourite parts, because it gives us an honest insight into her. She never expected anyone to read it if she was alive, and so she gets to be honest in it. We learn how she really feels about Cass, how important her relationship with her is, how much she loves her. She also asks her to tell Tim how proud she is of him, which is honestly wonderful. This culminates in Cass heading out to save her friend, with a torn piece of one of Steph's capes tied around her neck as a purple scarf. It's a really cool look, and I love that she's taking a piece of her friend into battle with her, not knowing if she might find her alive or not.
The artwork on the issue, by Jonathan Corona, is really nice. It's a fairly simple style, with big bold lines, bright colours, and heavy shading and shadow. A lot of the issue often feels like it's being drawn in silhouettes, because Cass is a black shadow moving across the panel. It works really well for a story where Cass and her actions are the focus, and we don't really need panels packed with details and huge backgrounds. It's a story focusing on her, and the art style reflects that.
Batgirls has been a really great series for these two characters, and I've come to adore their relationship because of it. I doubt that Steph is going to be killed off through this story, so I'm not really worried about that. Instead, I'm enjoying the rid of getting to see what this does for the two of them, and how it's allowing for a deeper examination of their friendship.
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