Product Description

Exploding out from no man's land -- the all-new batgirl! In the midst of No Man's Land, Batman gave a nameless girl with a violent past the costume and title of Batgirl. Exceeding his expectations, the new, silent Batgirl quickly made the role her own, earning the trust of the Dark Knight's allies, including the first Batgirl, Oracle. Now, in post-No Man's Land Gotham, Batgirl struggles to learn the lessons of how to live a normal life, lessons she never learned from her mentor, the deadly assassin known as Cain. And when a mercenary from her past resurfaces, bent on revenge, can Batgirl bury her own violent tendencies and break the cycle of death and destruction that has dogged her since childhood?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #226590 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

About the Author
Kelly Puckett has written for numerous titles, including Legends of the DC Universe and Batman/Batgirl, while former Batman editor Scott Peterson has previously provided scripts for Batman: Gotham Adventures. Damion Scott was one of the regular artists on the Batman: No Man's Land epic.

Customer Reviews

Introducing a new Batgirl
In the 'No Man's Land' story arc, Batman gave the mantle of Batgirl to a new character, a young, mute, asian girl, who had been working for Oracle- and whom Barbera had named 'Cassandra.'

It was soon discovered that she had been trained by David Cain, one of the worlds deadliest assasins, and a former mentor of Bruce Wayne's (before Bruce found out about his occupation). The reason for her inability to speak was because Cain never taught her to, instead making her use her brain's language centre to learn martial arts.

This Batgirl is a very enigmatic and interesting character. She is a fantastic martial artist, able to 'read' her opponents body language and respond to it before they have even moved.

One of the previous reviewers is quite critical of Batman's portrayal. Without giving away too much of the plot, Batman is concerned about Batgirl's motivations in her crime fightin 'mission.' She charges down a gunman to protect someone, knowing if she dives out of the way it would mean their death. Upon regaining conciousness in the Batcave she announces that it was 'instinct' that made her do it, causing Batman to raise a smile- it's exactly the sefless gesture he would do.

And yep, Batgirl does speak at the end of the book, but I won't give the game away by saying how.

This is a great story, about an interesting new character. The art is in something of an Anime style, approriatly as Batgirl is of asian descent. It's well worth a read.

Good start, good art.
Cassandra Cain is the perfect trained assassin, who doesn't kill. She can learn a new combat style in five minutes, she knows what you are about to do before you do because she body language is the only lanuage she knows. No wonder Batman trusts her to take care of herself, he trusts her but does he know her?

Some people might find it hard to grasp a character who can't speak, like Oracle said it is hard to connect. But Batgirl's expressions and gestures tell you what you need. The flashbacks may not seem important, but help to explain some of her actions.

The art is good, the colours and inks suit it well and the best thing is it's the same team throughout. The writing flows well within the story, but is a little slow leading to a plotline, but it's to be expected with a new character I guess. Overall I liked it enough to get second one, A knight alone.

good story, shame about the...
i really enjoyed this novel, it was about time that the dark knight had a teammate as mysterious, driven and deadly as himself and neo-batgirl is all that and more.

The premise is this, when batgirl was young she was taken and trained as an assasin by Cain using some very unusual techniques. Now 15 years on she is a fighting machine and able to "read" oponents moves and actions before they are made. This however uses the part of the brain that is usualy for communication so Cassandra (her real name) is unable to read and speak. This mechanism is a nice touch and the novel is so enjoyable just because she is so good at fighting.

Meanwhile Batman is trying to work out her past and old batgirl os trying to form a relationship with her replacement. Plus Cain is trying to get his psuedo-daughter back.

The only problem with this novel is the artwork, some of it is really nice but other parts let it down quite badly. I suppose it really does depend on what kind of artwork you like.

Also if you get this book, make sure you get the follow up, it makes this novel stronger and more enjoyable for re-reading.