Each Friday, we'll be letting a different DC.com writer share what they'll be reading over the weekend and why you might want to check it out. Here's this week's suggestion for a perfect Weekend Escape!
 

Who comes to mind when you think of the best fighter in all of Gotham City? For me, I go straight to Cassandra Cain, the martial arts master and daughter of Lady Shiva and David Cain. You might also know Cass as one of the Batgirls in the Bat-Family, where she has been mentored by Barbara Gordon and Batman himself. Cass is such a formidable fighter that she is one of the only people that Jason Todd’s Red Hood is afraid to go up against. But beyond Cass’s fighting abilities, she’s just a young woman trying to reconcile the injustice of her upbringing with her new life as a Gotham City vigilante. This last piece is brought beautifully to life by Sarah Kuhn and Nicole Goux in their graphic novel, Shadow of the Batgirl.
 

The Premise:

Cassandra Cain was trained from birth to be the ultimate killing machine. Killing doesn’t require many words, so she wasn’t taught how to speak, read or write by her father, David Cain. But after a man she’s sent to kill chokes out a plea on behalf of his daughter, Cass catches a glimpse of parental love that she’s never experienced herself. Both shocked and moved by the experience, Cass tries to leave her killing days behind her. With the help of a local auntie, Jackie Yoneyama, and a friendly librarian named Barbara Gordon, Cass must find who she really is, in the shadow of her role model, Batgirl.
 

Let’s Talk Talent:

The book is written by Sarah Kuhn, who also wrote the YA graphic novel, Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story. Kuhn does a masterful job building Cass’s character from the ground up. With Cassandra Cain, a tricky balance needs to be struck between establishing her martial arts prowess, while also making her feel like the teenager that she is. Here, Kuhn strikes a perfect balance of both, imbuing her Cass with a shyness and yearning for community that humanizes her. While the future Batgirl’s fighting skills are polished, she is scrappy like a street urchin (or, perhaps, Jason Todd before he came under Batman’s wing. We love a good parallel).

Artist Nicole Goux absolutely slays on this book. She captures the frenetic action of Cass’s combat skills in a way that’s utterly addicting to look at, but she also nails the emotional beats of the story. Cass can go from looking like one of the DC Universe’s fiercest badasses in one panel to the scared, hurt and confused kid that she is in the next. If you’ve read early Shazam comics, you might remember that Billy Batson was drawn with simple oval pupils for eyes, emphasizing his youth in comparison to his Captain Marvel form. Goux achieves something similar here, with Cass’s eyes going full Billy Batson in moments of emotional vulnerability. As a longtime Cass fan, it’s so heartening to see an artist equally commit themselves to showing the two sides of her character. While we all love Cass for the amazing fighter that she is, it’s also important to remember that she was robbed of a proper childhood. Goux beautifully illustrates this heartbreaking cost.
 

A Few Reasons to Read:

• The fight scenes. You have not lived until you have seen a Cass Cain fight scene drawn by Nicole Goux! I have read this book a few times over the years, and seeing Cass drawn in Goux’s style never gets old. If you’re a longtime reader of superhero comics and think you’ve seen it all when it comes to fight scenes, you ain’t seen nothing yet. If you’ve ever hungered for a fight set in the stacks of a public library, this one is for you.
   
• There’s a beautiful sense of camaraderie between Cass’s allies Jackie and Barbara Gordon. Jackie is such a sweet maternal figure to Cass, with a killer sense of style to boot. Seriously, someone should really cosplay as Jackie Yoneyama at a comic con sometime. I’m ready to beam up the Yoneyama-Signal into the sky! (If no one else will, then I will do it.)
   
• Speaking of great outfits, some of my favorite Batgirl suits are in this book!

• Cass is Chinese American like me, and there are some lovely cultural references in this book, like the significance of bats in Chinese culture.
   
• This is the perfect graphic novel to read while cozied up with a massive bowl of ramen, or your favorite noodle soup of choice. Jackie cooks Cass some delicious ramen over the course of the story, and I found myself getting hungry as I was reading. Ramen and comics, what better combination is there?
   
• Did I mention that the art is out of this world?! I know I’ve dropped this a few times already, but I cannot overstate how killer Nicole Goux’s art is. There’s an inventiveness behind each scene and each panel that makes Shadow of the Batgirl utterly electrifying to read. I could live in the world of this book.
   

Why It’s Worth Your Time:

There’s only one Cassandra Cain, and Sarah Kuhn and Nicole Goux do her justice. She’s an important character for anyone who has a complicated relationship with language and speech, and Shadow of the Batgirl highlights everything special about her. Shadow of the Batgirl exemplifies the very best of DC’s YA graphic novels in that it has a story full of heart, creativity and character-driven focus. Part of why superhero stories have proliferated over all these years is that we as fans are committed to the characters behind those stories. Sure, we also love a mind-bending plot full of twists and turns, but soul is the key ingredient to a great superhero book. If you don’t understand what I’m getting at here, just read Shadow of the Batgirl.
 

Shadow of the Batgirl by Sarah Kuhn and Nicole Goux is available as a softcover graphic novel in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and digital retailers. It can also be read in full on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.

Jules Chin Greene writes about comics, TV, games and film for DC.com, and his work can also be found at Nerdist, Popverse and Multiverse of Color. You can follow him on Bluesky at @JulesChinGreene and on Instagram at @infinitevibes.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Jules Chin Greene and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.