This week has been all about celebrating my favorite features of the first eighty years of Batman comics. I’ll finish with one that I don’t think has gotten enough attention, at least not in recent times… I’m referring to all the awesome covers focusing on the early 2000s’ version of Batgirl.
For most of the first decade of the 21st century, the title of Batgirl belonged to Cassandra Cain. Introduced during the epic No Man’s Land crossover, Cassandra Cain was the young daughter of a sadistic contract killer who raised her to be a deadly living weapon, to the point where she couldn’t even speak – her communication centers had been entirely rewired towards body language, so that combat became her primordial way of communicating.
Yeah, she was a hell of a character. And she starred in an equally eccentric series, initially with ultra-dynamic scripts and art by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott, respectively. And, sure enough, that series had some kickass covers, first by Scott himself (inked by Robert Campanella and colored by Patrick Martin)…
…and later by James Jean:
As you can see from these images, Cassandra Cain had a faceless costume, covering all of her body and features. This, plus the petite stature and feral moves, made her look darker and less human than the other crimefighters in Gotham City (which is quite appropriate for the character). In addition, the stitches in her mask gave her a kind of gothic, Tim Burton-worthy vibe.
There were occasional variations on the costume, all stylishly delivered:
Indeed, Cassandra Cain made for some truly neat visuals, especially when combined with the quasi-surreal, psychedelic layouts of Batgirl’s covers:
Somehow, artists still managed to make the character quite expressive underneath that mask, both through strategic wrinkles and through overall body posture. When Cassandra Cain first joined the cast of Batman and the Outsiders, she ended up starring in a few of that series’ most entertaining covers as well:
Yet my favorites are still the Batgirl covers by James Jean, during his incredible run in 2003-2004. I could choose any cover from that period to display here, but I’ll finish with two examples that beautifully merge symbolism and breathtaking design:
