Batgirl #45 Poster FRAMED (2003) James Jean

Description

You are purchasing the item pictured, framed. Priority mail, tracking and $50 insurance is included with purchase. Item will be bagged to protect from dust, packed in packing peanuts and boxed. Just open box and hang it on the wall…makes a perfect gift!

In April 2000, one of the oldest and most popular members of the Batman family finally got her own series. But this wasn’t your grandfather’s- or even your father’s- Batgirl. The new Batgirl was Cassandra Cain, a mute Asian-American martial arts expect learning the ropes of crime fighting under the watchful eyes of second Batgirl Barbara Gordon. In this issue, Cassandra dons the classic costume worn by her mentor to do battle with wacked-out Gothamites hopped up on the city’s new designer drug, “Soul.” The sartorial plot trist provided cover artist James Jean with an opportunity to put a fresh spin on an iconic character design. “I wanted to convery the idea that a small, little girl could decimate a larger opponent with confidence and style. Cassandra is wearing Barbara Gordon’s old costume, and I used the classic color palette of blue, red and yellow for the effect of an homage…Alas, I had been experimenting with halftone dots during that time, and decided to enlarge them to a ridiculous degree in the background. The smiley face in some sense of the halftone dots allude to an element in the plot about mind altering drugs that turn a person into good or evil. With the rendering of the piece, there’s particular attention paid to the effects and coloring. Though the colors are simple, I wanted them to have a soft and lush effect.”- James Jean. Struggling with internal conflict, Batgirl dons Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl costume and goes on a crimefighting spree… with some unexpected results. The criminals didn’t take her seriously and Robin was knocked unconscious when he became to distracted by her suit. Disappointed, she returns the suit to Barbara.”You know at the end of the day, when you close the door and you’re all alone… And you strip off your armor and lower your guard and peel away the mask… When there’s nobody watching and nothing to hide… And you no longer need to be strong or clever or pretty or brave… There’s just you. That’s it. That’s the soul.”– Oracle to Cassandra Cain. In the 1999 crossover No Man’s Land, the character Helena Bertinelli, known as Huntress, briefly assumes the role of Batgirl until she is stripped of the identity by Batman for violating his stringent codes. Within the same storyline, writer Kelley Puckett and artist Damion Scott introduce the character Cassandra Cain, who takes the mantle of Batgirl under the guidance of Batman and Oracle. Written as the daughter of assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva, she is trained from early childhood to read human body language instead of developing verbal and written communication skills as part of her father’s conditioning to mold her into the world’s deadliest assassin. However, after committing her first murder, she vows to never again use her martial arts prowess to kill. In 2000, she became the first Batgirl to star in an eponymous monthly comic book series as well as one of the most prominent characters of Asian descent to appear in American comics. The series was canceled in 2006, at which point during the company-wide event One Year Later, she is established as a villain and head of the League of Assassins. After receiving harsh feedback from readership, she is later restored to her original conception. However, the character Stephanie Brown, originally known as Spoiler and later Robin, succeeds her as Batgirl after Cassandra Cain abandons the role.