Warning: Spoilers for Batgirl #3
On the surface, the Bat-Family can be perceived as the most fortified family unit in DC lore due to their ties to each other as associates of Batman. However, one member of the Bat Family doesn't fit in with the others for a deeply tragic reason. DC is finally acknowledging that Cassandra Cain Batgirl is an outcast among Gotham's close-knit vigilantes, redefining the Bat-Family dynamic in moving ways.
The preview for Batgirl #3 by Tate Brombal, Takeshi Miyazawa, Mike Spicer and Tom Napolitano highlights the difference between Batgirl and the rest of the Bat-Family as she leaves Gotham with her mother, Lady Shiva. On the train ride, Cassandra holds a photograph of the Bat-Family, but her mother soon takes her comfort away.
When Batgirl presents the photo to her mother and insists that she show her true self, Lady Shiva coldly says: “You almost look like you belong.” Her words may be harsh, but they reveal a sad reality about Cassandra's inability to adapt properly due to the unique language she speaks.
Batgirl doesn't fit in with the rest of the Bat-family because of the way she communicates
Cassandra Cain speaks the bat family's language, but they don't speak hers
When Cassandra Cain was first introduced, she was unable to speak after being raised by her father as a weapon. Without relying on speech to communicate, Cass has developed the superpower of reading body language more effectively than most, interpreting even the smallest facial expressions with impressive accuracy. After Batman and the rest of the Bat-Family took her in and trained her as Batgirl, she was taught to speak and write so she could interact with her new teammates. Cassandra can now speak verbally to her fellow vigilantes after much practice, but this effort has never been reciprocated by them.
Batgirl's new speech abilities actually allowed her to communicate with the Bat-Family. However, although she can read them in a variety of ways, with a combination of verbal speech and body language cues, they lack the means to do the same for her. As Lady Shiva explains, “They taught you to speak their language, but they never bothered to learn yours.” Batman and the others could have tried to understand how she conveys feelings through physicality, but because they didn't, they have no way of reading her innermost thoughts like she can read theirs. As such, an impenetrable divide exists between Batgirl and her Bat-Family counterparts.
Lady Shiva is the only DC character who truly understands Batgirl
Cassandra Cain's mother believes she does not belong to the bat family
Lady Shiva is the only one who recognizes that Batgirl is an outcast from the Bat-Family, because she is the only one who speaks Cassandra's language. Like Cass, Shiva can extract meaning from her smallest movements, and she uses this to insist that she is her real family, as opposed to her family in Gotham. However, because Lady Shiva can speak this language, she is also capable of manipulation through calculated glances and gestures. Batgirl is seen by her mother, but Shiva is not really trustworthy the way Batman and her family can – even if they can't actually see her.
Batgirl #3 is available January 1, 2025 from DC Comics.