Ah, is it where the codename BlackBat is from?

[minyandu]

I actually like Tai’ Darshan a lot. I like Cass' time with him. It's cute to see how they deal with their own feelings.

Batgirl v2  #40

Comments

[shadowpsykie]

is he the sand elemental she fell for but then got blowed up?

[minyandu]

...wind elemental?
I remember Tai' Darshan died when using his wind(or so) holding up some deadly drug/liquid/whatever. I thought that's a heroic death and think it would be nice if Cass use this name in memory of that.

[shadowpsykie]

you know i never read that issue. all i know is he had wind powers so if they have elemental powers i always call them elementals (in that thier powers are elemental based, not as in they have a connection to the Elementals)

[minyandu]

I get the elemental part, but I never read the Elementals, LOL.

[shadowpsykie]

lol no not the Elemental series, Elementals as in Swamp thing, as in Firestorm... ect

[q99]

Yea, he controlled the wind and moved like the wind, and he used his powers to contain/get rid of a chemical weapon, which killed him.

[darkknightjrk]

I've heard two likelier sources: one that Black Bat was a series of Pulp characters created around the time Batman was and was very similar (so much so that there was a lawsuit); and, there was an Air Force squadron for China during the Cold War called the Black Bats.

I think what we have here with this is just a happy coincidence. Or maybe Morrison took a hit of his psychadelic space drugs and he got all three of those wrapped up, packaged in his head and he knew it was meant to be.

[minyandu]

Now you list the other posibilities, I really hope that it's just a happy coincidence...OTL

[ardat_lili]

I'm suddenly wondering how the "Batman" shtick carries over in cultures where bats aren't considered scary or spooky. In a lot of places, including most of China, bats are considered good luck--and in a few places, they're also food. I've seen cheerful teahouses adorned with bats, you know? It must bring a whole new angle on the "I WILL BECOME A BAT" image.
It's kind of sweet to think of people looking up at Cass and being excited that the friendly neighborhood bat has come to save the day.

[darkknightjrk]

Well, every once in a while it's repeated that only the criminals fear the Bat-Family--the good people of Gotham, and now the world, see them as a beacon of hope.

[icon_uk]

IIRC back in the Golden Age, Batman used to be welcomed in Gotham's Chinatown because of that very fact.

[bariman]

I've got this wonderful image of Batman in full costume at a nice tea ceremony.

[pepperspray101]

omigod! I didn't know that, that's so awesome! ^o^ Very sweet indeed! :D

[ardat_lili]

It's partially because especially in Southeast Asia and Oceania, bats are often large, daytime, tree-dwelling fruit bats, so they're not mysterious--they're just another animal you see around. In Europe and North America, bats are almost exclusively small, insectivorous, prone to living in places like caves and abandoned buildings, and only come out at dusk. And mosquitoes come close to people and moths near people's lights at night, so bats that eat them come close to people in the dark. It's no surprise that when it comes to culture an animal you can't really see that flutters at you out of nowhere in the dark when you're near, say, spooky ruins and caverns and already nervous, gets a very different rep than a cuddly-looking thing you can see hanging from a tree next to your house and munching on a mango. It's similar to the very spooky rep that owls get in northern and eastern Europe, historically.
But yes! Bats are lucky and a welcome, cheerful sight in a lot of places, and in a lot of sometimes-overlapping places, just as likely to end up on the barbecue as, say, a comparably-sized bird. I know they always cheer me up, but I used to work with them hands-on. (There is no softer, cuddlier animal in the world.)

I love the idea of it being a dual symbol in places--the spooky, unnerving, scary bat to the people who have guilty consciences, and the inspiring good-luck charm to the people who need a helping hand.

[airawyn]

Someone on Tumblr yesterday (sorry, I forgot who!) pointed out that it could also be a reference to this Black Bat.

[minyandu]

And she's in S.H.I.E.L.D. Now you make me want to read that. :d

[ebailey140]

That's probably it, actually. It's obscure, but another identity of Barbara's.

[q99]

Ooooh, that makes a lot of sense. Named after one of her first crushes ^^

[ebailey140]

Given how meta Morrison is, I'm sure it's a homage to the 1939 pulp Black Bat.

[salinea]

Oh, that's adorable.

[harbringer]

iirc wasn't this guy pretty gross and aggressively coming onto her all the time? didn't daddybats get super pissed about it too and snap on him?

[salinea]

... well he was flirting with her... whether or not that was "gross" and "aggressive" is a question of point of view, I guess. Cass didn't really seem to view it as harassment if that was your point.