Batgirl (2024-) #5

Batgirl (2024) #5

by Tate Brombal, Takeshi Miyazawa (artist)

As Batgirl continues to unravel the complicated relationship with her mother, she finds herself alone in the dark den of her enemies. Plunged into poppy-induced hallucinations, Batgirl relives her past alongside a surprise visit from a Bat-Family member, who helps Cass confront the tangled roots of her origins. The lines between love, shame, and legacy begin to blur. Will Cass survive long enough to embrace her heritage…or break free from it at last?

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes

Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2025

Reviews

[Arianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The exploration of Cassandra's inner struggles is immaculate, as is the art. But at this point the background story has completely lost its relevance. There's a secret organization of assassins who use blue flowers to get magic powers. Okay??? They show up and Batgirl fights them. The she goes to their secret cave and fights them. Would it make any difference if she was beating up other people? Not really.

[Hannah Call · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5/5

[Jadyn❀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plot really takes a backseat to the exploration of Cassandra’s relationship with her mother here, and that’s fine with me. Cass is a character who struggles not to be defined by her biological family. The found family she claims are integral to her for this reason— they represent the parts of herself she has worked hard to recognize and cultivate. In this issue, Cass is able to find her voice by calling upon the image of her best friend Stephanie Brown in her dreams. Cass is not as “bad at words” as she thinks she is, but Stephanie helps her find her confidence and feel comfortable expressing herself. Yet Cass continues to feel conflicted, because her parents are part of her, too. How is she supposed to love herself when her mother is part of her, but how could she not love her mother when she is part of her? Are we ever fully distinct from our parents? Can we outrun their influence? I think these themes can be deeply relatable for a lot of people. They certainly resonate with me.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best issue of all that have been released. Goes more into the inner struggle of Cass and her complicated feelings about her mother. The main bad guys are pretty boring and generic and are honestly the weakest part of this story.

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was really good! The best one so far imo!
I loved the Stephanie cameo and the whole dream sequence was just too good!
Also hell of a cliffhanger! So curious about what’s going to happen next!

[Cybernex007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

If we were judging by cover alone, this would be the best issue. But we are not and it is still single handily one of my favorite issues of this series thus far. A lot of time is spent in this issue as Cassandra tracks down Shiva to the “Nest of the Unburied,” using the tracking device she stuck on her. And as she effortlessly and effectively sneaks into their underground civilization, it’s very apparent that she is now hearing shiva in her head. I love these scenes of pure silence, mainly because of how well it shows of Cassandra’s stealth abilities. But as I look at how huge the unburied’s operation is, I can’t help but wonder why cave Carson hasn’t accidentally stumbled upon it yet, lol.

As Cass is able to listen in on the unburied leaders, it seems all their plans are succeeding…especially with the breakdowns of the league of shadows, the blood, and Shiva’s order. But unfortunately for Cass, the unburied are not as foolish as they seem knew about the tracker Cass left behind…and were ready for her. Even with her mother’s voice in her head she is able to put up quite an impressive fight against a squad of the unburied and their biggest general…but that doesn’t stop her from being susceptible to a sleep gas.

But through this sleep gas and the roaring past of memories between Cass and Shiva that follow…this leads to my favorite moment in this issue. As Cass wakes up in a lucid dreaming state she is greeted by Stephanie!! As they embrace, Stephanie acts as the voice of reason, assuring her that she is not dead and in this state has the chance to find the words she has been looking for this entire time. And it’s at this moment that Cass finally unloads everything we have seen she has been feeling. She talks about how every time Shiva comes into her life she falls apart like a little kid with no control. And she doesn’t know why she didn’t even meet her until she was older…but once she did finally meet her, the idealized good that she always thought her mother would have disappeared…and all she saw was a killer. Heartless and manipulative…Cass saw herself in her mother. Everything that she is, was, and will become…”I cannot love her because I do not love those parts of me. I love her because she is those parts of me! How does that make sense?!” Now hearing Shiva’s voice in her own head she has to think that if she can save Shiva she can save herself. Unfortunately, with a final embrace from Steph the dream comes to an end with batgirl feeling better and worse. as she wakes up, she finds herself bound and hanging upside down…staring right at Shiva. It’s time they put an end to this.

[cauldronofevil · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Batgirl Mother Part 5 of 6”

Somehow Batgirl and Jayesh ride his motorcycle to a cave which a caption says is the ‘Nest of the Unburied’.

Why didn’t they just go there in the first place?!

The at the bottom of the cave is a whole city, plus secret headquarters plus training ground for the Unburied.

And why doesn’t Cassandra keep her mask on!?!

Batgirl hides behind stalagmites and eavesdrops.

It seems really weird that this really large hole in the ground has no security whatsoever.

She is caught. They found her bat-tracer. They pounce. She fights back, and apparently wins

There are a lot of full page spreads in this issue. They look good, but they are light on story. I do think that Cassandra is best told in as much silence as possible. The few quips she makes (“Test your luck.”) come out as groaners. So maybe I’m contradicting myself here.

Big sword woman sneaks up and blows sleeping powder in her face though and Batgirl goes down.

She dreams of Stephanie coming to her.

This is really cool and unexpected. It’s rather… well some might see it as cheesy (and they’d be right!) but I actually like it a lot.

She wakes up tied up next to Lady Shiva.

The action was definitely a little weak here, but the dream sequence saved this. The art actually really helped this issue too. It’s winning me over.

I’m giving this issue 4 stars.

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Número de auto exploración del personaje que pega más duro que todos los golpes que ya ha recibido nuestra Batgirl en esta cruzada en la que se ha visto inmersa por conexión maternal con Lady Shiva. A veces se nos olvida lo CRUDO que es el backstory del personaje de Cassandra Cain, y como, aún habiendo vivido uno de los arcos de personaje más interesantes de la Batfamilia en cómo esta relación con los demás "cruzados de las capas" realmente ha sanado profundas heridas emocionales y descubriéndole el camino de ser una salvadora como quien querría haber tenido en sus momentos más oscuros.

Por supuesto, la amenaza de los Insepultos ya demanda ver a donde acaba toda esta aventura individual para Cass.

[Alexis Moreno · Rating 3 out of 5]

not bad, i’m getting more invested just from more contact and the sterility is feel more lived in, but the story is from the sterility. it was too painful for anything hot, per Cass experience but I think that’s almost not all of it. She wanted to do it over but afraid of actually confronting what she lost and what was to painful to give up on. the thought that someone was out there to save her, but she had to save herself because no one came. not really, so she must do it alone. maybe i’m not liking because it’s too close of a mirror for me.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

In order to defeat her enemies Cassandra has to be able to fight back. But in order to do so she has to come to terms with her past, and her mother's actions. A solid build up to the final issue coming next.

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The character work is immaculate but the plot is meh at best. I really like the steph cameo and I wish she was really here instead of in a dream while Cass has to chase assasins in a plot that I haven't been made to care about

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good comics are never long enough 😭

[Yasser Maniram · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for the art in this issue alone but the story is getting quite good as well. A well deserved 5/5.

[Richard A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so enjoying this series and hope that it lasts hundreds of issues.

[alejandro galvez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of short.

Very short chapter. Not as good as previous issues. But still a solid book. Can't wait for the end. Its been a fun ride.

[Star · Rating 5 out of 5]

This run and this issue does such a service to Cassandra Cain's character. The art, the story, and the depth are all so incredible!!

[mano · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS COVER ART????? 🗣🗣🗣🗣

[moni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephcass :')

[nerdsiren · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was like oh this show is going downhill, but I liked the fragile side of Cassandra and the deeper look into her relationship with her mother.

[Joaquin · Rating 4 out of 5]

perdí un poco el hilo de la historia principal pero STEPHANIE TE AMO

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Oh, this one was GOOD! More of Cassandra and her complicated feelings about her mother and I loved it. I will always be a sucker for complicated Mother/Daughter relationships.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

It hit hard when Cassandra admitted she falls apart when she’s around her mother.

[Karymme Leite · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolute comic!

[Annemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I cannot love her, because I do not love those parts of me. I love her, because she is those parts of me."

YES. This issue was very good. The art was absolutely amazing. I loved that e went deeper into Cass' psyche. There were some really powerful lines in this too. The start wasn't my favourite, but it turned into a really strong issue.

Also, that cover is absolute fire!

[Clover Gislason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This batgirl run is so iconic