Kick Ass DC Woman Tourney: Sweet 16, Match 4

Helena Bertinelli won her match over Starling yesterday. Not a surprise but it was nice to see that a new female character in comics was able to make it to the second round of the tournament.

Now on today’s match And it is two Gothamites (or former for one) who both like the color black.

In this corner, a woman who has a thing for cats! And diamonds! 

Selina Kyle, Catwoman!

And in the other corner, a woman who superheroes for redemption and justice!

Cassandra Cain aka Batgirl aka BlackBat!

You can vote in today’s match here

Why Heroclix is Quickly Becoming My Favorite DC Universe

Heroclix who gets why Oracle is so great also gets that there is more than one Batgirl. Today they introduced their newest Heroclix:

Remember her? Daughter of Batman? Had her own comic for 5 years?

Yep, Cass Cain the second Batgirl and last known as the Batman of Hong Kong, Black Bat may be missing from the new 52 but she’ll soon be seen on gaming tables.

Here’s a look at the card and you can read more at the Wizkid’s site.

Not sure of the availability, but my guess is late November or early December.

Alternative Costume Designs for Cass Cain as Black Bat

I just picked up the trade for the first volume of Batman Inc., Vol. 1 and noticed in the back that they had some small images of Chris Burnham’s design work for Cass Cain including some detail work. Chris was nice enough to send me some higher res images of his initial designs and I though you might like to see them.

Cass Cain’s original costume, featuring a full mask with no eye holes or mouth holes was introduced in No Man’s Land. In story the costume and mask were designed by Helena Bertinelli who chose to give the Gotham a “Batman” after Bruce hightailed it out of town following the government closing the city. At first the mask did have open eye and mouth holes but Helena closed them after taking some paint in the face.

A version of the costume on the right go handed over to Cass when she and Bruce parted ways and he and Oracle made her the new Batgirl.

Cass wore that costume until handing it over to Stephanie Brown in the first issue of Batgirl #1, volume 2.

The character was then put in limbo until she showed up in Red Robin wearing another costume which looked like Rob Liefeld redesigning the Secret Six’s Scandal Savage.

Cass Cain was then put in a bit of limbo again (Limbo should be the character’s middle name) until she was selected by Grant Morrison to be a member of Batman, Inc.

Cass made her debut in Batman, Inc. #6 as Black Bat and at that time Chris Burnham chatted a bit about the costume the character was now wearing. 

I redesigned her based on Grant’s description. If memory serves, he was pretty specific about the cape but left me to figure out the rest of it. The challenge was to make people say “Hey… is that Cassandra Cain?” 

One thing he spent some time on was figuring out what Cass would wear on her face. There are 8 different versions:

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The Story of How Cass Cain Came to Comics

Remember there is a campaign today for folks to show support for Cass Cain.

I thought you might all enjoy reading the story of how Cass Cain came to comics by the editor who helped create her.

Here’s a guest post by former DC editor Scott Peterson. Hope you enjoy it!

Batgirl! The Secret Origin of Cass Cain

And remember go to Comixology and spend $1.99 on Batgirl #1 with Cass.

Like Cass Cain? Got $1.99? Go Buy Batgirl #1 on Comixology

There’s a campaign today where people are being encourage to buy Batgirl #1 with Cass Cain to try and get DC’s attention.

So go drop some money if you’d like to send DC a message. You can also Tweet and use the hashtag #casscaincampaign.

Here’s the link on Comixology

I just bought mine. Now I have a digital copy, a floppy and the trade.

You could also send snail mail letters to DC or leave messages on Facebook.

Good luck.

And here’s a lovely sketch of Cass by Jen Zee

Kick Ass Tournament Final Four: The case for Cass Cain

We are down to just four women and three matches. To help people make their choices I’ve brought in some guest posters to plead the case for each of the Final Four to be named “The most Kick-Ass Woman in DC Comics.”

The case for Cass Cain is by Andrea Shea. Her thoughts follow.

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Gates of Gotham to feature return of Cass Cain to Batfamily

At C2E2 today DC announced Cassandra Cain will be featured in the mini-series Gates of Gotham, appearing in the first issue. This is apparently the project that prevented her from appearing in the Birds of Prey.

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What a great portrait of Cass Cain

I think this is Cos-play combined with some photoshop. Whatever it is, it’s very nice. And it’s by Matt Cossin.

October Madness Semi-finals: Match-up #7

A mother of a match-up.

In this corner a woman who fights to protect others. A woman of few words but a big heart. A woman who is one of the best martial artists in the world.

Cass Cain

And in the other corner a woman who fights only for herself. A woman who does not take no for answer. A woman by whom other martial artist are measured.

Lady Shiva.

Voting opens at 8am EST.

Comic Mulligans and Cassandra Cain

A Mulligan is a golf term that means getting to take a shot again if you miss the first time. So let’s talk about it in terms of comics. How many comic characters can you think of that have had second, third and fourth chances?

Oliver Queen - How many reboots has his book gotten? And I’m not talking about his Golden and Bronze age history. Let’s just focus on post-Grell.

Hal Jordan - I think calling his book “Rebirth” says it all, but I’ll add in that he was Parallax for a while as well.

Aquaman - Since the end of the Bronze Age how many times have DC tried to make Aquaman prominent? How many books and minis has he had prior to his being brought back again in Brightest Day?

Ray Palmer, the Atom - Palmer just doesn’t get Mulligans. He gets a body count and Mulligans.

And there are many, many other characters. And it’s not just men. Kate Spencer of Manhunter, one of my favorite characters, has had a few.

And now let’s discuss Cassandra Cain. I spoke to Ian Sattler on Saturday at the con. He told me that he “loves” Cassandra Cain. “You can quote me on that,” he said. He finds her fascinating with an interesting and unique back story. I agree. But then I heard the same thing that they have been saying at the last few cons, “We want to re-introduce her right.” “We only get one chance to do it and we want to make sure it’s right.”

And so I ask this question, Why? Why is she so different then other characters who have been given chance after chance? Why is it so necessary to refine and hone her reappearance in the DCU to the point that her reappearance has been pushed off (Remember Dan DiDio’s “2010 is a big year for Cassandra Cain”?) again when you have other characters who have failed and been given other chances, Mulligans, over and over?

• Is it her poor sales when her book was canceled? I don’t know, 25K issues a month isn’t bad. Especially if you look at in terms of other characters who had poor sales before being handed a Mulligan (I’m looking at Green Arrow).
• Is it that she doesn’t have a clearly defined role in the DCU? Daughter of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Seems pretty defined and clear to me.
• Is it that she seems too similar to other characters? Cass Cain is an brunette, has Asian features, and is one of the deadliest martial artists around. If you put her in a room with Wonder Girl, Supergirl, Batgirl and Speedy would you be able to tell the difference … between those four? Nobody else looks or has the skills and background of Cass Cain so it can’t be that.
• No clear fan base? When has that ever stopped you DC? Where is the fan base for Tom Tresser, Nemesis who had his own mini? For Ray Palmer? For Hawkman? How many questions do you get at cons about them? You get so many questions about Cassandra Cain you joke about it.

Cass is going to appear in the upcoming Red Robin. Good. Gail Simone has signaled, but not confirmed, that she’ll appear in Birds of Prey. Good.

But it is not enough. The excuse that you need to “get it right” is a hollow excuse in a world where other characters, characters without the history, defined role and following of Cass Cain, are given second and third chances all the time and without the paralyzing aura of “must get this one right”.

So please give Cass Cain her Mulligan. Now. Not in a year, not when “it’s right”. Now.

If you start now, you could have a book on the stands by early Spring. If you’re not able to prepare a full book, give her a mini. Like the character’s brother Jason. Like the one by Andy Kubert that’s rumored to be in the works for the character’s other brother, Damian,

As for the team, here are some thoughts. Grab Jen Van Meter. She did a great job for you with the Liberty Belle and Hourman back-up and the Black Lighting mini. And she just wrote a great Black Cat mini for Marvel. And grab Cully Hamner for art. He did great work on the Question back-up. He’d be perfect for the book.

Do it right and on this round you’ll not just make par with Cass Cain you might even have a hole-in-one. And if it isn’t quite right, well, give her one of Green Arrow or Aquaman’s Mulligans and try again.