Barbara being mean to Cass

[espanolbot.insanejournal.com]

Due to the previous two issues of the new Batgirl series seem to have Oracle being... somewhat abrasive towards the title character, I've decided to post this (trunkated) story where Barbara is mean to Cass as well.

The story is that a mysterious murder is out murdering a writer and torching book stores around Gotham. Barbara sends Cass to the library to investigate,



Anyway, Cass, one of the librarians and Oracle work out that the robot is out to destroy all copies of a certain book. This is because the guy who created it wrote down the self-destruct word within the novel so that people could stop it if it went crazy.

Unfortunately, the robot DID go crazy and is now out to get rid of the one thing that can stop it.

The librarian speed reads the book to find the word, while Cass tries to stop the robot from killing the two of them.





Oh, that's another thing that's happened a lot in the new series. People getting blown up in ways that they technically shouldn't have survived.

Anyway, Cass survives being kerploded, 'cause she's awesome, and now she and Barbara have words.


Barbara calling Cass "stupid" hung around for a while, as this was the last issue before War Games, where upon Steph "died", Cass got moved to Bludhaven to watch over Tim etc. etc.

However, Barbara did apologise properly during Destruction's Daughter, where this explanation is give for Cass' illiteracy,

But she's cut off before she can say what those methods are. So she isn't "stupid", she's dyslexic. Feel much guilt Barbara!

Then Infinite Crisis, 52/World War Three, Robin: Wanted etc. happened, and I don't actually think that Cass and Barbara have met face to face since that last point.

On the plus side there's apparently a big storyline with Cass next year, so there's a possiblity Cass and Barb will have the chance to chat. :)

Comments

[xdoop.insanejournal.com]

And then Cass learns to read and write offscreen by taking an English class. Thank you Beechen.

[espanolbot.insanejournal.com]

And ASL too.

Though at least Alfred was the one who arranged it, that makes it mildly better considering his grandfatherly relationship with Cass and stuff.

[scottyquick.insanejournal.com]

It almost feels like Beechen is trying to cross the line twice by having Alfred able to get her classes that are better then Barbara "Oracle" Gordon's teaching, but he comes short.

[lieut_kettch.insanejournal.com]

Not to mention learns Navajo. And not just standard Navajo, but the coded version used in World War II.

[aaron_bourque.insanejournal.com]

There's really only one way I can think of for her to have learned what she learned, aside from a bad writer not knowing shit about her character.

Anarky--Lonnie Machin--developed a teaching machine. It also allowed him to bridge both hemispheres, which in comic book science land, made him even smarter. If Cass somehow got access to that, or if Deathstroke did, it's conceivable for her to learn full english, how to read, how to write, ASL, Navajo, you name it. How long it would last . . . who knows.

[jlbarnett.insanejournal.com]

after she was dumped into a Lazarus Pit. I say it healed her brain to normal.

Cass's condition isn't real so any sort of thing they did to let her eventually read would have been an asspull anyway.

[ada_c.insanejournal.com]

The Lazarus Pit could have easily been used as a clean explanation for both her sudden language skills AND her insanity. Why they chose the nutty route of a good English class and Deathstroke-brainwashing-drugs I'll never understand...

[sailorlibra.insanejournal.com]

Isn't it a fact that people who don't learn a language until later in their life usually don't ever manage to speak properly? (Psychology was a looong time ago, so that's a real question.) I don't know how that would apply to Cass exactly, since she "learned" a language, but not how to speak it. But it seems like reading would be similar...

[parsimonia.insanejournal.com]

A wizard psychic did it. Seriously. A psychic messed with her head a bit and gave her the ability to understand English speech, and she learned to speak from there.

[ada_c.insanejournal.com]

Well that would have been the only way it would work since IIRC children who are never exposed to language actually *cannot* learn to speak or read or write.

It always makes me wonder how she got around before her intro.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

I still say that her illiteracy should have made any sort of a crimefighting career completely verboten. A city where the Riddler stages complex crimes based on wordplay. Where you can't actually tell which of the two buttons connected to the bomb will switch it off even if it has "This is the button that will switch the bomb off, honest" written on it.

[jarodrussell.insanejournal.com]

*points below*

Barbara has the tech to see what Cass sees. She's had it since way back when in Birds of Prey. Cass not being able to read should have been dealt with better, but it's a handicap with a technological work around.

Saying she shouldn't be able to fight crime because she can't read Riddler's stuff is like saying Barbara shouldn't be able to fight crime because she can't leap across rooftops. The Bat-family has the means to adapt, they just choose not to do so.

[espanolbot.insanejournal.com]

See, the thing is: in the most recent issue of 'Batgirl' Barbara references 'tech' that she put in Cass' outfit (which apparently isn't waterproof as she implies that if Steph had washed the costume it wouldn't work... though Steph wearing Cass' sweating costume isn't the point here).

Since Cass was never really the technology and gadgetry kind of hero, prefering to use observations and restrained violence instead, might the technology have been there for Barbara's benefit instead.

Though that leads into when exactly did Barb install it, and if it was post-EvulCass did she really think that having something that makes an irritating noise in Cass' cowl would slow her down any?

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Saying she shouldn't be able to fight crime because she can't read Riddler's stuff is like saying Barbara shouldn't be able to fight crime because she can't leap across rooftops.

Not really comparable at all. Babs can fight crime all she wants as Oracle, but I wouldn't pick her to be the hero who engages in a rooftop chase after Catwoman now. Such a activity is no longer suited to her skills.

I'm saying that Cass running around Gotham like Batman and Robin do, facing the sort of criminals who tend to show up in Gotham, likewise isn't suited to someone with HER skills, or lack of same.

Cass can kick seven kinds of crap out of everything that moves, but couldn't solve a riddle to save her life, and wouldn't even be able to perform large chunks of basic first aid, such as select which medicine bottle to treat the person having a heart attack in front of her with.

Being able to read is simply TOO fundamental a skill to be lacking.

[mullon.insanejournal.com]

What she needed was a sidekick: Language Boy!

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

If only they'd ever created a comic character whose entire power was based on communication and translation. Nah, they'd never create a character THAT awesome. ;)

[batcookies.insanejournal.com]

I still say that her illiteracy should have made any sort of a crimefighting career completely verboten.

Gotham has no shortage of crimes that you can stop without being able to read. The vast vast VAST majority of them, in fact.

[jarodrussell.insanejournal.com]

Hey, Barbara...REMEMBER THOSE CONTACTS YOU GAVE CANARY SO YOU COULD SEE WHAT SHE SAW? You don't? But what about you're photographic memory?

*beats head on keyboard*

Not that I expect anything but fertilizer grade poop from DC, but if I were in charge, I'd probably have Cass ditch the Gotham Family Robinson too just so she could be in a Justice League: Elite as Kasumi. The members of Elite may be broken and quirky as people go, but at least they admit it; the Bat-family on the other hand...rrgh. Hate them so much.

[scottyquick.insanejournal.com]

I still haven't read the Elite, I can only find volume 2. Is it good enough to buy if the only thing I'm interested in is Mahnke art and Cass?

[newnumber6.insanejournal.com]

I thought this issue (the first one) was dumb. I mean, not only is the self-destruct button such a common word that it might come up in ordinary conversation (albeit, not as likely as many other words, but then how does it know if you're saying Peace or Piece). But then, when the librarian she gets to help her finds the word and knows the killer robot is out there, she starts running and screaming, "I've found the word! I've found it! And I'll tell it to you in just a second, if the killer robot doesn't zap me first. It's..." (zap).

I mean, if that was me, I'd be running out there shouting "PEACE PEACE PEACE PEACE PEACE PEACE PEACE PEACE!"

It was a decent idea to have a threat that Cass can only resolve by reading, and then of course being unable to do so, but the execution was just terrible, IMHO.

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

Reasons why I will never be able to like Gabyrich's run as much as I should have, #16.

[werehawk.insanejournal.com]

Do you have a scan of Batgirl and the mosh pit from Batgirl 63?

[espanolbot.insanejournal.com]

I should do. :) I'll try and post it soon.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Speaking as someone who has a learning disability, albeit of a different kind, I thought this scene was pretty much on spot.

People will tell you what to do, why, all kinds of lectures, but they will rarely tell you *how* and don't seem to get that because of said learning disaibility, that you don't pick up information the same way as everyone else.

[retro_nouveau.insanejournal.com]

Well, I love it. In 10 years, Bruce and Shiva will slow, Cass will be more experienced and at the peak of her game, and there will be one person who is the most badass fighter in the world. It thrills me to no end that she has her own form of kryptonite. Sure, this is a "catastrophic limitation", but it just closes a lot of doors and makes her have to think on her feet and have to go with the rest of her options. The added balance makes her so much more interesting, one of the most unique people in DC or Marvel. I also think she should always be this terse.

On the other hand, let's not forget her communication skills are actually awesome, just not verbal. She should always have abilities like lie detection, perception of moods and feelings bordering on actual mind-reading, and decent bullet-dodging. Also, the shipper in me wants to see her on a first date with someone nice (so I can scratch her from retro's List of People Who Need OTPs ASAP) where the normal awkward first kiss goes very smoothly after Cass determines exactly when it's starting to happen and takes the initiative.

As for Babs losing it and using the "S" word... I don't know, it's a big slip for Babs. Ignoring that part, I like the way Babs apologized, and I definitely like that it's another display of the normal human feelings that Cain failed to brainwash away during the lifelong training. Maybe if it wasn't Babs, but someone else who Cass cares about and who puts her foot in her mouth now and then...

Now, I want you to empty your mind... Empty your mind.... Empty your mind of everything that doesn't have to do with fine dining fighting. Fine dining fighting and breathing. XD