Batgirl: A Knight Alone

Rating:
Summary: Out of the Shadows
Review: Cassandra Cain, the young woman that inherited the Batgirl mantle from Barbara Gordon, rose from the cataclysmic upheaval of NO MAN'S LAND. During the aftermath of the earthquake that leveled so much of Gotham City, she became a hero and caught the eye of the city's fiercest protector: Batman. Her origins were mysterious, and-upon discovery-just as debilitating as the murder of her mentor's own parents. Raised to be the world's most dangerous assassin, Cassandra was trained never to speak, never to think, only to act and react. In the second graphic novel of her adventures, Cassandra is dealing with the fall-out of having been given the "gift" of speech. Bereft of her usual fighting ability, she trains and trains, trying to get back what she once had and accepted so casually. Batman counsels Cassandra, and Barbara Gordon counsels her, but only when Batgirl steps into the field of fire of the dangerous living legend, Shiva, does she begin to come to terms with what she is, what she was, and what she wants to be. Only by agreeing to Shiva's terms can Batgirl reclaim what she lost-and those terms could mean the death of her. Even as Cassandra regains her old skills, they're immediately put to the test in the rest of the collected stories. David Cain, the man who raised Cassandra, steps back into her life as well, bringing more pain and tragedy as he tries to recover tapes of Cassandra's aberrant childhood and the training he forced on her. The last arc brings Cassandra under the watchful eyes of a government agency dedicated to bringing her down.

Kelley Puckett has been the regular BATGIRL monthly writer for years, with only a few time-outs for fill-in issues. He's also written for BATMAN ADVENTURES, GREEN ARROW, and LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE. Damion Scott has drawn for DETECTIVE COMICS and BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT.

Kelley Puckett's script work for BATGIRL: A KNIGHT ALONE is excellent. The story flows quickly through the action and meat of the plot. Driven along by razor-edged, lean dialogue and first-person narrative that adds tension, insight, and immediacy. Puckett has created a very savvy new heroine, yet at the same time gifted her with a vulnerability that draws the reader's interest. Cassandra Cain has basically been plucked from everything she's known and plopped down in an alien world. With the addition of the speech ability, she lost much of the nature of herself. Of course, having constant stories without the character speaking would become impossible after a time, and the way that Puckett chose to deal with the issue was good, solid work that comes from the character herself rather than the writer's need to erase a problematic point. Damion Scott's pencil work is a beautiful blend of reality and manga. He works with intricate backgrounds or with no background at all, drawing the eye naturally through the story and pushing the action scenes into sequences that explode from the pages. When someone gets hit in the book, Scott puts the reader into that impact, on both the delivering and receiving ends with equal skill. Most of all Cassandra Cain comes off as a real character, even when literally dodging bullets sprayed at her from an automatic weapon. Her relationships with Batman and Barbara Gordon have a familiar feel to them, adding layers to those characters as well as her own. Scott renders Cassandra as very human and very compassionate. She has wide, knowing yet innocent eyes, and can smirk in disdain or smile with real humor at the drop of a hat-just as the young woman she's written to be can. She wins and she loses fights in the graphic novel, and neither of those comes without a price. Batgirl is an endearing character, and one that has much to learn about herself and the world she's chosen to inhabit.

BATGIRL: A KNIGHT ALONE is recommended for any fan of Batman. And Kelly Puckett's authorial skills rank right up there with Chuck Dixon, Devin Grayson, and Denny O'Neill.

Rating:
Summary: Out of the Shadows
Review: Cassandra Cain, the young woman that inherited the Batgirl mantle from Barbara Gordon, rose from the cataclysmic upheaval of NO MAN'S LAND. During the aftermath of the earthquake that leveled so much of Gotham City, she became a hero and caught the eye of the city's fiercest protector: Batman. Her origins were mysterious, and-upon discovery-just as debilitating as the murder of her mentor's own parents. Raised to be the world's most dangerous assassin, Cassandra was trained never to speak, never to think, only to act and react. In the second graphic novel of her adventures, Cassandra is dealing with the fall-out of having been given the "gift" of speech. Bereft of her usual fighting ability, she trains and trains, trying to get back what she once had and accepted so casually. Batman counsels Cassandra, and Barbara Gordon counsels her, but only when Batgirl steps into the field of fire of the dangerous living legend, Shiva, does she begin to come to terms with what she is, what she was, and what she wants to be. Only by agreeing to Shiva's terms can Batgirl reclaim what she lost-and those terms could mean the death of her. Even as Cassandra regains her old skills, they're immediately put to the test in the rest of the collected stories. David Cain, the man who raised Cassandra, steps back into her life as well, bringing more pain and tragedy as he tries to recover tapes of Cassandra's aberrant childhood and the training he forced on her. The last arc brings Cassandra under the watchful eyes of a government agency dedicated to bringing her down.

Kelley Puckett has been the regular BATGIRL monthly writer for years, with only a few time-outs for fill-in issues. He's also written for BATMAN ADVENTURES, GREEN ARROW, and LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE. Damion Scott has drawn for DETECTIVE COMICS and BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT.

Kelley Puckett's script work for BATGIRL: A KNIGHT ALONE is excellent. The story flows quickly through the action and meat of the plot. Driven along by razor-edged, lean dialogue and first-person narrative that adds tension, insight, and immediacy. Puckett has created a very savvy new heroine, yet at the same time gifted her with a vulnerability that draws the reader's interest. Cassandra Cain has basically been plucked from everything she's known and plopped down in an alien world. With the addition of the speech ability, she lost much of the nature of herself. Of course, having constant stories without the character speaking would become impossible after a time, and the way that Puckett chose to deal with the issue was good, solid work that comes from the character herself rather than the writer's need to erase a problematic point. Damion Scott's pencil work is a beautiful blend of reality and manga. He works with intricate backgrounds or with no background at all, drawing the eye naturally through the story and pushing the action scenes into sequences that explode from the pages. When someone gets hit in the book, Scott puts the reader into that impact, on both the delivering and receiving ends with equal skill. Most of all Cassandra Cain comes off as a real character, even when literally dodging bullets sprayed at her from an automatic weapon. Her relationships with Batman and Barbara Gordon have a familiar feel to them, adding layers to those characters as well as her own. Scott renders Cassandra as very human and very compassionate. She has wide, knowing yet innocent eyes, and can smirk in disdain or smile with real humor at the drop of a hat-just as the young woman she's written to be can. She wins and she loses fights in the graphic novel, and neither of those comes without a price. Batgirl is an endearing character, and one that has much to learn about herself and the world she's chosen to inhabit.

BATGIRL: A KNIGHT ALONE is recommended for any fan of Batman. And Kelly Puckett's authorial skills rank right up there with Chuck Dixon, Devin Grayson, and Denny O'Neill.

Rating:
Summary: Second Batgirl TPB A Knight Alone Review by Me
Review: I won't go into too much detail, fellow batarangers. Also I will be sure not to spoil too much.
Our newly christened Batgirl is off and running. I felt the first collection of issues (Silent Running) was very sporadic and all over the place, in other words hard to follow. The second one (A Knight Alone) proved to be much more grounded and linear. Cassandra learns how to speak, kind of. And this ends the frustration of her not being able to communicate, but it comes at a price, one that almost kills her. I feel a great haunting about this new batgirl, and the same hint of mystery that drew me to Batman in the first place. I would most definitely put this as required reading for any bat-fan, it will not disappoint. Kelley Puckett has strong stories, and I feel she writes Batgirl with a sense of sadness, which is the root of Cassandra's character. There was not a one cheesy one-liner to be found in this tome, and I felt a great relief because of that fact. Chuck Dixon is a master at his craft, but sometimes the things that come out of Nightwing's mouth make me wince as if poked with a hot needle in my bathing-suit area.
The book is graphic at times, and melancholy throughout, but it represents the heart of the girl who now bears the cowl. Her tortured past catches up with her, but her iron-hard resolve and her selfless acts of heroism shine bright as the signal of her mentor in the Gotham sky.
Long Live Batgirl.

Rating:
Summary: Puckett Tops Himself
Review: I've been reading the name Kelly Pucket since he used to answer various DC letter columns. The first time I saw his name credited as a writer was towards the end of the last Green Arrow series. I approached his work with skepticism, but his writing proved more than adequate.

I approached the first Batgirl trade Silent Running with even more skepticism because I had read so many bad things about the series, mostly from the DC Commics message boarders. I was pleasantly surprised when I actually read the book that it was much better than I was led to believe. And in this second trade A Knight Alone, Puckett does even better.

Without giving anything away, I didn't like the way the last trade ended because it seemed like he took the easy way out after writing himself into a corner (this is regarding Batgirl's speach problems). But this trade proves that maybe I was wrong because rather than just wiping out her problem, her story is developed and now she has entirely new and more difficult issues to deal with.

The only thing I didn't like about this trade was the treatment of Cain, Batgirl's father. His portrayal here seems to turn him into a caricature of his former self. There seems little or no more menace about him anymore whereas previously he was portrayed as a very serious threat. This approach has ruined many characters in the past and I hope it doesn't happen here too.

The art is very suitable for the comic and Batgirl has one of the coolest costumes of any heroine in comics (even though it does cover her from head to toe!) I look forward to reading the third trade Death Wish soon.