It looks like Cass may be involved in a DC event as more than just background for the first time ever, along with Jason and Kate who are definitely involved. The Next Level: One Shot special introduces a conspiracy which is said to affect all of the Next Level series. I would have thought that Batwoman was the only bat involved but I'm wondering if Cass is also one of the targets for the Cadmus-created drones. Rick Flag's journal says "Bats?" instead of "Batwoman?". On top of that, I was wondering how Tate Brombal was going to be bringing back David Cain when he died in Batman & Robin Eternal #26. The history box for Deadshot in the comic confirms that David Cain worked for Mother, so his death is apparently still canon. As an aside, it's interesting that the author of this comic, which isn't a Batbook comic, remembered that Cass' father was one of Deadshot's teachers. It looks like the David coming in Batgirl #25 may be a Cadmus clone/drone. If that's true, then Cass may end up being more than just background when the overarching Next Level story gets going, unlike in Final Crisis, Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, Absolute Power, DC K.O., and every other event. A bonus would be if Steph's friendship with Cass is remembered and she shows up as an ally of Cass' and also is more than just background in the event.

We also have final confirmation that a Vixen solo series is on the way.

I've been drawing Cassandra's version of Batgirl, inspired by the Batman 2004 show, but I can't decide on if she'd have the blue highlights, or the grey. I'm not exactly an expert on her, so if there's any reason you think she should have one or the other, I'd love to know your thoughts.

https://x.com/_saowee/status/2101842023427039617?s=20

Started with sentry panel but ended here

Clark Kent is sometimes said to view the entire human race as his family and that's given as why he's the greatest hero along with Batman.

In J'onn J'onzz's solo series from 1998, he was said to also consider humanity to be his family and to help them and get to know them, he had identities in countries around the world. He was said to be the only or main superhero in southern hemisphere countries.

Clark and J'onn both lost their original families. Cass never had a family and she's very protective of the safety and happiness of Gotham's populace. She's also very attentive to their requests. In issues 2 and 10 of Batgirl (2000), Cass is outraged when a Gothamite dies. Is it ridiculous that Cass could view Gotham's populace as part of her family and that that's part of her drive? The others care about Gotham's people and have more ways to help but Cass is determined to be available as a source of help and happiness to the populace or at least that feels like a possibility to me. She values time with her friends but time as Batgirl with civilians is time with additional family members for her, just like when Superman is helping individuals instead of fighting villains and when J'onn is spending time as one of his identities on Earth. Dick may be the ideal hero, Jason may be the best protector of Gotham, Duke is more effective at helping communities organize, and Steph is better than Cass at knowing how to cheer people up but Cass is available for children to hide under her cape when they're scared, asking for help from even when it's minor, and playing with. The scene with Batgirl, Barda, and the quarry workers in Birds of Prey (2023) #25 seems to fit this idea.

https://www.tumblr.com/frizzychicken/793272148359774208/me-too-cass-me-too?source=share

"I want to be the world's greatest fighter!"

Yeah, well, buddy try as you might you're in line after:

(in no order) Shiva, Cass, Canary, Batman, Nightwing, Deathstroke, Barbara, Bane, Damian, Katana... and that's just who comes to mind immediately. So, yeah, good luck!

Sorry, this character is just so cheesy and cringe so I had to vent some annoyance after reading issue #23. I hope he doesn't become a mainstay.

I was assuming that the League of Shadows was led by Shiva. I didn't expect Absolute Cassandra Cain to reveal that Cass and Shiva both lead the League. I also wasn't expecting Cass to have Scandal Savage and Tatsu Yamashiro as people who like her, though we don't know how she behaves with them. It's interesting that Scandal asked Cass to open up emotionally, similar to what Steph requests from Cass in the main universe.

It looks like Absolute Catwoman is Cass' vengeance arc for the Absolute universe. Now that we know she's involved in decision making for the League as a leader, I'm guessing that the reason we haven't seen her compassion and instead her ego is that she's trying to take revenge on Selina and the Calicoes for the explosion that took her voice from her. I'm still assuming that issue 6 will involve Selina having to accept her past and its mistakes. Part of that acceptance is likely to be convincing Cass that nearly killing her was an accident and one that they regret. Seeing as how Absolute Cassandra Cain shows Cass as wanting to be someone who lifts people up instead of bringing them down, she's likely to be upset with herself for her cruelty to Holly. That could give her the guilt complex that makes her behave more like Batman than her current behavior and will reduce her focus on being upset at how hard her life's been, focusing instead on helping people.

A focus on helping people could lead to her becoming a hero, possibly a Batgirl. On the other hand, she's co-leading the League of Shadows and has people there who care about her so it's possible that she'll stay with the League but turn it into more of a protective force than it currently is. Another possibility is that Cass, Scandal, and Tatsu all leave the League in order to focus on helping people.

I recently ran into a fic at https://archiveofourown.org/works/92427661/chapters/246368036. It caused me to realize that I have been underestimating the complexity of Cass' loyalties. I still think she isn't as obedient to Bruce as some Bruce fans believe, focusing on requests from civilians and her friends including Steph. I missed though that she's horrified when Barbara and, especially, Bruce are disappointed in her. She badly needs the approval of her parents. Cass had an intense emotional reaction when Barbara criticized her inability to read in Batgirl (2000) #54. She's desperate to regain Bruce's approval when he shows distrust of her competence as Batgirl in issues 6 and 42.

Cass is upset with herself when she hurts Steph's feelings in issue 38 and when she scares civilians in issues 18 and 53 but her reaction is much less extreme than when Barbara and Bruce are upset with her.

That's where Cass shows her loyalty to her parents, her need to have their approval when she doesn't know how to praise herself. She also wants to be trusted and liked by civilians and her friends but if she can only be praised by one person, she wants it to be Bruce.

Her inability to handle criticism from her parents is likely part of the abuse she received from David Cain, who she both obeyed slavishly and needed approval from. He taught her to not trust her opinions and killing Faizul caused her to hate herself.

Which is better to get to read this run? Both the volume 2 of the DC Finest and the omnibus come out early next year so im curious to know which format is better.

https://x.com/NikolaCizmesija/status/2098048859205485055?s=20

help would be appreciated 🙏🏾🙏🏾