All of that you wrote Babs is why Cassandra and Jason would make a GREAT couple.

Whilst I loved Cassandra's pre-OYL characterization, I have to honestly say I haven't been too much of a fan of how her abilities have been written.  Well, at least any of the times it shattered my suspension of disbelief such as her dodging gunfire after the rounds have been fired.  Which in all honesty wouldn't bother me at all if she was a metahuman instead of another one of the batfamily supposedly peaks.  But her abilities aside, it's the powerful way in which Cass has always been able to get across so much relying on so little that always drew me in to her.
 
 As far as batgirls go I honestly prefer Steph in the mantle, but I find it ridiculous that having Steph in the mantle basically amounted to shoving such a great character like Cass under the rug with a few sparse appearances.  Especially as I personally would hesitate to say any of the three is the 'best' as they each bring something different to the table and connect with people differently.
 
Although a lot of comparisons have been made with Cassandra Cain and Bruce Wayne, in my opinion Barbara's more like Bruce(And eventually Tim) while Cassandra's more like Jason(without his bad parts of course).  Stephanie Brown is the female Dick Grayson just without the looks.  By saying that the three main Batgirls had similarities with three of the Boy Wonders isn't meant to imply that the Batgirl moniker is second to Batman.   In fact, over the years I think the Bat Family itself has grown into a group of equals instead of soldiers under one man who needs to get out more.   
 
And it's because, I find each of them to be equal to one another that I don't flat out call Stephanie the best Batgirl imo(or Cass or Babs).  But it's also because of that it becomes easier to notice the fact that the Batgirls, all of the batgirls, get the short end of the stick in Gotham.  Do I think the three of them always need an ongoing or a mini?  No, but I do think they should have the same thought put into them that Robins get. 
 
Even if DC feels that they can't work in an ongoing anymore(despite the fan support to the contrary) there's no reason why a mini can't be used every so often.  No reason why the characters can't be included in the stories of other heroes or hell just get mentioned more often.  Yet, for Cass and Steph we always get the same song and dance.  Broken promises.   
 
While I'm in no hurry to see Babs back in black, I am glad she's at least getting her own book.  And all the tangents I ran off on aside, even though I don't necessarily agree with the whole Cass is the best Batgirl opinion(but heck everyone's opinion is their own so who cares if I agree, lol) I can agree with the last point made.  I can't wait for Cass to get her own book again even if it's just a mini.  And after the next Batgirl issue comes out I'll have to say the same thing about Steph.   Although fingers will be crossed for a Hong Kong based team up group for Steph and Cass or a  female teens titan-esque/BoP experience for them. 

I still love Cassie to this day!! <3

I never read Cassandra as Batgirl. Her new look was interesting and cool to me but I think I was too put off the change you were mentioning to try her out. You've made some great points and I think I need to pick up some back issues now! :)

Whilst I loved Cassandra's pre-OYL characterization, I have to honestly say I haven't been too much of a fan of how her abilities have been written.  Well, at least any of the times it shattered my suspension of disbelief such as her dodging gunfire after the rounds have been fired.  Which in all honesty wouldn't bother me at all if she was a metahuman instead of another one of the batfamily supposedly peaks.  But her abilities aside, it's the powerful way in which Cass has always been able to get across so much relying on so little that always drew me in to her.  As far as batgirls go I honestly prefer Steph in the mantle, but I find it ridiculous that having Steph in the mantle basically amounted to shoving such a great character like Cass under the rug with a few sparse appearances.  Especially as I personally would hesitate to say any of the three is the 'best' as they each bring something different to the table and connect with people differently. Although a lot of comparisons have been made with Cassandra Cain and Bruce Wayne, in my opinion Barbara's more like Bruce(And eventually Tim) while Cassandra's more like Jason(without his bad parts of course).  Stephanie Brown is the female Dick Grayson just without the looks.  By saying that the three main Batgirls had similarities with three of the Boy Wonders isn't meant to imply that the Batgirl moniker is second to Batman.   In fact, over the years I think the Bat Family itself has grown into a group of equals instead of soldiers under one man who needs to get out more.    And it's because, I find each of them to be equal to one another that I don't flat out call Stephanie the best Batgirl imo(or Cass or Babs).  But it's also because of that it becomes easier to notice the fact that the Batgirls, all of the batgirls, get the short end of the stick in Gotham.  Do I think the three of them always need an ongoing or a mini?  No, but I do think they should have the same thought put into them that Robins get.  Even if DC feels that they can't work in an ongoing anymore(despite the fan support to the contrary) there's no reason why a mini can't be used every so often.  No reason why the characters can't be included in the stories of other heroes or hell just get mentioned more often.  Yet, for Cass and Steph we always get the same song and dance.  Broken promises.    While I'm in no hurry to see Babs back in black, I am glad she's at least getting her own book.  And all the tangents I ran off on aside, even though I don't necessarily agree with the whole Cass is the best Batgirl opinion(but heck everyone's opinion is their own so who cares if I agree, lol) I can agree with the last point made.  I can't wait for Cass to get her own book again even if it's just a mini.  And after the next Batgirl issue comes out I'll have to say the same thing about Steph.   Although fingers will be crossed for a Hong Kong based team up group for Steph and Cass or a  female teens titan-esque/BoP experience for them. 

• Dick Grayson - physical ability/fitness
• Babs Gordon - intelligence
• Jason Todd - anger/violence
• Tim Drake - problem solving
• Cass Cain - martial prowess
• Steph Brown - idealism (yes, Bruce Wayne is idealistic)
• Damian Wayne - determination

They  need to give Stephanie more of a chance before they bring her (Ms.Doom&Gloom)  back.

I liked Cassandra because she seemed to have more depth as a person from the begining 

best article ive read on comicvine... love cassie... dont know why shes not batgirl...

Sorry, have to disagree here. I never liked Cassandra as a character or her costume. Glad she's not Batgirl anymore and Barbara is back where she belongs. Oracle was a mistake.

I never read Cassandra as Batgirl. Her new look was interesting and cool to me but I think I was too put off the change you were mentioning to try her out. You've made some great points and I think I need to pick up some back issues now! :)

Barbara is the best Batgirl IMO.

@coslopis: Stephanie is kinda pathetic compared to how badass cassandra was. 

@difficlus said:

@coslopis: Stephanie is kinda pathetic compared to how badass cassandra was. 

As far as fight capability maybe but that's not everything. And I like Stephanie a lot because of how great they are in shared scenes together. 
 

Best Batgirl yes...but character who wore the cowl, I respectfully disagree. 
 
Cassandra Cain was the kid in 7th grade who got straight As, took home every trophy, and had this heir of invincibility. She even had a handicap so you can't even touch her plight. 
 
I can't relate to that.  
 
I relate best to Stephanie Brown. Bryan H. Miller broke fresh ground with brass cajones in his Bat girl. No you don't have to be the "The Darkness in my soul" type that is such a tired trope in the Bat universe. The best part about Stephanie was not her resilience against villains but against the Bat family. They rejected her. She wasn't good enough...which is funny because neither were Dick, Tim, etc when they started in this business. Yet, Steph has faced her own death. Has a dad who is a criminal. But you can't tell the way she fumbles along through being a super hero.  
 
To bottom line it, she's a simple girl trying to get respect...with a healthy sense of humor.  

Great article, and I understand the dynamic of folks liking a Character.  However, I despise Cassandra Cain; two dimensional unstoppable Waif Fu plot device of the month characters annoy me, so I'm on the Pro Bab's track (Though I admit to liking where the Stephanie Brown stuff was going)....  Besides, when they slapped the Black Bat name on her, that was the final straw.  The Black Bat is far to rich a History to be carded off as a catch name for Cassandra Cain.  Being a Waif Fu Bat-Chick in skin tight Leather does not measure up to the legacy of The Black Bat.
 
~Rex

Am I the only one who wishes DC would make Cassandra as Batgirl and Barbara as Oracle again?

I want to see where they take this with Babs are Batgirl.

@ReVamp said:

I want to see where they take this with Babs are Batgirl.

I tried to get into Barbara being Batgirl again...but I'm always going back to Cassandra as my favorite...=/

@War Killer said:

I tried to get into Barbara being Batgirl again...but I'm always going back to Cassandra as my favorite...=/

Well, honestly I have to say that I never gave Cassandra that much of a chance, perhaps I should have given her more. I feel that while Cassandra is undoubtedly a great character, I think that she, much like Steph shouldn't actually hold the title as Batgirl. Of course, the other name that she ran with is horrendous, but having her be Batwing instead of the guy who's now taken that title would have been more prudent.

To be honest though, I'm not sure that Barbara is settling into Batgirl all that well. I think that the story feels kinda old and while I like to have her back I think that the type of story would have worked 15 years ago, but right it just feels overall lackluster.

@ReVamp: My thing is that we have what, four Robin's? (Not counting Stephanie) and we've seen Dick, Jason, and Tim all grow up and move on from that original role. And I liked that we saw that with Batgirl, seeing Barbara move on and grow into another role and letting Cass take on the role as it was what she needed. But now we've got Barbara back as Batgirl and in that original role with all of her growth and development thrown out the window and Cass is nowhere to be found.

I personally think DC should have brought the new Batgirl series with Cassandra as Batgirl with Barbara mentoring her as Oracle. I think newer readers would relate to a younger Batgirl and relate to her broken character, allowing Barbara come in as a mentor as well as acting like an older sister of shorts to help her. I think Cassandra and her past make for a character that new readers could probably get into as they watch this girl find her voice (both literally and metaphorically).

This is one of my favorite articles you've written during my time here, Sara.

bump

i love barbs and Cass damn my two fave batgirls. Gotta love cass more though she was just badass i hope her return will be epic

Cass is pretty great. I like Steph better as a character. But Cass owns the mantle of Batgirl, in my opinion. Steph has the Spoiler mantle.