Batgirl # 3 2024

 By Mark Rodriguez

A clan of ninjas known as The Unburied have returned after being gone for centuries and they're after Lady Shiva, and by extension, her daughter Cassandra Cain. After a fight against Kalden the Unseen, Batgirl's confidence and body is shattered. Lady Shiva and Batgirl get on the first train out of Gotham, but Kalden and the Unburied are in pursuit.

 

"Mother Part 3 of 6" brings us back to Cassandra and Lady Shiva riding atop a speeding train as they head out of the city. Cassie looks at a picture of the Bat Family, Bruce, Dick, Tim, Steph, Barbara, Damian, Duke, Alfred and herself during happier times. She monologues that she is not like her mother. Her mother is cruel. She doesn't feel, care or love. She only hurts and she only cares about herself. 

 

Lady Shiva says she knows Cassandra is hurt and offers to help. Cassie smacks her hand away and asks where they're going. Shiva says they are going to meet their allies in this war of shadows. She says Cassie's world isn't the only in danger. Batgirl cuts her off by tossing a Batarang inches from her head. Shiva tells her to use her words wisely.

Cassie says the abandoned her city and her family. Ba' Bao and her grandsons are hurt or possibly dead because of her. Shiva tells Cassie that she warned her and she was the one that led assassins to their door. Cassie tells Shiva that it's he fault the ninjas are hunting her. Shiva says she won't apologize for that. She says the Unburied came to Gotham to kill Cassie whether she was present or not. She says Kalden nearly finished her with just five movements. Cassie denies this and Shiva says she's blaming her mother for her wounded ego. She says that Batgirl has deluded herself into thinking she was unbeatable and reminds her that there will always be someone better. The second she drops her guard, the best will take her out.

Lady Shiva says Cassie blames herself as much as she blames her. She says she's her daughter and she can read her like a twitchy thumb. Cassie says she is not her. Shiva says she can deny her roots and see how fast she falls. Cassie shows her the picture of the Bat Family and says this is who she is. Shiva says that's the portrait of a girl half-buried. She says she had learned their language but they had not learned hers. Shiva says she's impressed how she 'fooled them all' and she almost looks like she belongs with them. 

Cassie headbutts Shiva. Shiva says she can make her bleed all she wants, it is still her blood. Cassie hits Shiva with a spinning kick which knocks her into the next train car. Cassie follows and Shiva tells her to stand down. Cassie notices the car is full of injured people and people showing more fear towards her instead of Shiva. Lady Shiva tells Cassie that these are their allies and the innocents they protect. They are the remaining members of the Order of Shiva in the Gotham Chapter. The ones at the temple were supposed to lead them here before the Unburied stepped in. She introduces the people to The Batgirl, her daughter.

 

Everyone bows and calls Cassie the Heir of Shiva. Cassie remember she's unmasked and puts it back on. She tells them to stop. Shiva says her daughter does not claim her in want of cleaner blood. Batgirl says these allies worship Shiva. Shiva says they worship what she is, and there is no stronger devotion than allegiance to an ideal.

The High Priest bows in respect and Shiva tells him to get his healers to tend to her daughter. Batgirl is confused because she saw him die in the fight at the temple (issue 1). The High Priest, Jayesh, says that was his brother, which he just discovered did not survive. Lady Shiva tells him that his brother had an honorable death and saved her daughter's life. Jayesh says he will feel even more honored to have met the daughter of Shiva. He walks with her and tells her to watch her step between train cars as they get bumpy. Cassie is confused as she sees that Shiva actually shows care and concern for the fate of Jayesh's brother through reading her body language.

Batgirl tries some small talk and asks if Jayesh is from Gotham. He said he's been saying he'd leave Gotham but then he had his daughter and joined the Order of Shiva. I have to say with all the constant Joker and Scarecrow attacks surviving Gotham for twenty years is a feat in itself. Batgirl asks why he does this. Jayesh asks if her mother never told her about this, and he considers it a 'very Shiva' thing of her to do.

Jayesh explains that they help people. While Lady Shiva is known as the Destroyer, people forget she is also the Restorer, the Healer. They study Shiva and take what they learn to use in their communities. They protect those that need protecting and heal those that need healing. He explains that in the Order of Shiva there are two paths to take. Those good in battle can be Destroyers while those good in healing can be Restorers.

Jayesh says the Gotham Chapter was the first of its kind. It replicates the temple that raised her mother and the village she protected with her sister. This new information confuses Cassandra. Jayesh says there are now Chapters all over the world, an entire Book devoted to Lady Shiva. He explains he joined the Order because Shiva saved his life and his daughter's life, and then took retribution against the ones that killed his wife. He devoted himself to the Order and his brother followed. He then says that Batgirl should meet his daughter. He tells her the night that Shiva resurrected her (Batgirl # 25 of her 2002 run) has become a legend.

Jayesh says with a hero like Batgirl by their side their enemies don't stand a chance. He grabs his tools and asks if she minds an old healer tending to her wounds. She says she'd be honored. He says she has reasons to hide her face but she looks like her mother. He says she should be proud as everything she sees is because of Lady Shiva. Jayesh gives her a drink to numb the hurt and speed the healing. 

Suddenly a ninja steps in asking for the bathroom. Batgirl recognizes him as a member of the League of Shadows and lunges at him. Shiva tells her to stop but she has already tackled him down. Shiva says he's an ally. Batgirl doesn't believe it and the ninja draws his sword. Shiva wants to explain but Cass isn't listening. The next box car is full of League of Shadows members and Batgirl starts fighting them all. Shiva explains they're all allies as the Unburied is targeting all of them. They have to set aside their differences and work together.

 

Cassie monologues that she is not her mother. She is Barbara's will, Stephanie's heart, Tim's wit, Jason's grit, Damian's guts, Duke's hope, Dick's faith and Bruce's pride. Shiva tells Batgirl to stop fighting because the more she wounds the ninjas, the more she wounds their cause. Batgirl fights her way through the box car, taking everybody down and leaps into the next one. 

A woman awaits her and says she is her favorite Batgirl. She says she'd made quite an entrance but she hates to be upstaged. All she had to do was to return to the land of the living. Batgirl recognizes her as Nyssa Al Ghul, Talia's older sister and daughter of Ra's Al Ghul. She is surprised that these threats are their allies as Lady Shiva and Jayesh go to stand by her side. Nyssa welcomes Batgirl to the resistance and asks if she wants to take a seat next to her mother.

 

My Thoughts-  

This issue focuses on Batgirl finding out more about her mother, or at least the side of her that runs the Order of Shiva. There are obvious trust issues due to Lady Shiva's character, but just when there might be a chance that Cassie might see things differently, we see that the Order has allied themselves with the League of Shadows and Nyssa Al Ghul.

Things are getting bigger as we once thought the Unburied were after Lady Shiva directly, and by extension her followers and her daughter, but now we find out that they are after the League of Shadows as well. We still have to find out exactly why, but we know this has become bigger than just targeting Lady Shiva.

Nyssa Al Ghul is 'the other daughter' of Ra's Al Ghul. From what I found out, she once managed to kill her father and take over his organization alongside Talia. There was a time where she tried to enlist Cassandra to her side, but she refused. Sometime later Nyssa died in a car explosion presumably set by the League of Assassins, which was reported by Lady Shiva. I'm curious to see if that will be mentioned next issue since she's now working alongside Shiva and the League. 

When it comes to the League of Shadows, I see it's now in the actual comics as an offshoot of the League of Assassins. Originally the League of Shadows was a nicer way to use the organization's name in the cartoons and movies. It especially worked for Nolan Dark Knight movie trilogy since Bruce Wayne was supposed to have trained with them without knowing they were killers until after the fact. That would have been hard to do if the group was literally called the League of Assassins from the get-go. So now in the comics, with all the soft reboots,  it varies between either the names being used interchangeably or that the Shadows are a sub-sect of Assassins. 

I couldn't help but look up to see if Lady Shiva's backstory she told Jayesh was true or not. After all, it's not above her to form a sect of followers based on lies. It seems Shiva did really grow up in a village with her sister Carolyn Wu-San, until she was killed by none other than David Cain. This led to Carolyn's sister, Sandra Wu-San, to become Lady Shiva. That surprised me since I thought Sandra was just a made-up name Cassandra gave to Ba' Bao to not reveal her mother's identity in the last issue. I guess Sandra is her real name, though I guess the real hardcore DC fans already knew that.

The comic also featured two-page sequential spreads showing Batgirl fight her way through the League of Shadows from train car to train car as her mother tries to stop her. That was unique and pretty awesome. To think all this started cause one of the guys was looking for the bathroom.

 

The comic also included a few preview pages of Aquaman # 1 as part of DC's All In rebranding. There was also an ad for these real cool looking McFarlane figures. 

 

 

We'll see what happens next issue. If Lady Shiva wants Cassandra to trust her, revealing that she's working with Nyssa and the League of Shadows just made that much more difficult.