Warning! Spoilers to “What’s in the Box?” from DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1 below!
Two of the Bat Family‘s deadliest members, Cassandra Cain and Damian Wayne, are currently at odds over a comment Damian made. Although Damian’s attitude and temperament have often gotten on the wrong side of many DC characters regardless of if they’ve been villains or heroes, his words deeply hurt the newly reinstated Batgirl, Cassandra, although they may be more a reflection of his own insecurities and feelings. It’s surprising to see these two fighting considering how similar their backgrounds are.
Created by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott, Cassandra first appeared in Batman #567 (1999) as the daughter of Lady Shiva and David Cain, trained to be the perfect warrior by rejecting her ability to speak in place of learning to read and predict her opponents’ body language. Fortunately, Cassandra chose not to be an assassin and fled, ending up in Gotham where she would become the fourth Batgirl and a long-time ally of the Bat-Family under other aliases as well. Created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert, Damian appeared in Batman #655 (2006) as the biological child of Talia al Ghul and Bruce Wayne, trained to become the perfect heir to inherit his grandfather’s legacy. Damian chose to side with his father and became the fourth Robin, working alongside the Bat-Family and other DC heroes. After operating as the Orphan, Cassandra has recently returned to her alias as Batgirl while Damian has rejected the Robin title in hopes of finding his own identity away from the imposing shadow of his parents.
In the story What’s in the Box by Dustin Nguyen from DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1, Cassandra sits unmasked and alone alongside a bridge until she is found by Colin Wilkes who changes from his super-strong adult Abuse identity to his normal younger form. Commenting on her recent absence lately, he asks if it was related to what Damian said the other night. When calling him an idiot gets no response, Colin admits that he understands how she feels, ” People call me a monster all the time.”
The fact that Damian would call Cassandra a monster is surprising considering that they were both trained to be elite warriors capable of taking a life, something both of them have done. While Damian struggled to reject his training in favor of his father’s non-killing philosophy, Cassandra was horrified to see that she had killed someone, dedicating her life afterward to make up for that one irredeemable act. Considering the behavior Damian exhibited after witnessing Alfred’s death at the hands of Bane which got him expelled from the Teen Titans and on poor terms with the Bat-Family, it is likely Damian is projecting his own insecurities and feelings onto Cassandra, seeing himself as the monster instead of her. Considering Cassandra’s gentle soul underneath all her training, such an insult greatly hurt and upset her in a way that’ll take more than an apology to fix.
In the end, Colin asks Cassandra what she has in the box beside her and that’s the first time readers see life out of the current Batgirl as she shares bao with her fellow vigilante proving that if she is a monster, she’s at least one that shares. Considering Damian’s current situation as a participant in the Lazarus Tournament and his journey to find his own identity, Cassandra may have to wait a while for an apology from the former Robin. Hopefully, these members of the Bat-Family learn to work through their differences as they are mightier working together instead of apart regardless if they are monsters or not.
