In an adorable new piece of fan art, Red Hood and Cassandra Cain’s Batgirl bond high atop the Gotham City skyline. Artist Nina Linovna captures the Bat-Family’s two fiercest members in a moment of downtime, addressing a relationship that has been under-explored in the official comics.
Cassandra Cain is the daughter of Lady Shiva and was trained from birth to be the ultimate assassin. After breaking with her father, the assassin David Cain, Cassandra Cain came to Gotham City during the “No Man’s Land” storyline, eventually taking the name Batgirl and becoming the first Batgirl to headline her own title. The character was sidelined for the first few years of DC’s New 52 era, and has only returned to prominence during Infinite Frontier, fully restored to the Bat-Family and sharing adventures alongside fellow Batgirls Stephanie Brown and Barbara Gordon. Cassandra worked as a loner for most of her career, much like her fellow Bat-Family member Red Hood. The second Robin, Red Hood worked outside the law for years after his return from the dead, and only within the past year has he truly gotten back into Batman’s good graces. He has worked hard to reintegrate himself into the Bat-Family, having given up his use of guns and lethal force.
In a post on Instagram, artist Nina Linovna introduced the picture, with the caption “Batsiblings.” Set at dawn, the picture shows Cassandra Cain, in full uniform, sitting atop a building with Red Hood, who has taken off his mask. No context is provided for what might be on their minds, and none is needed - it is simply a cute moment between friends. Fans have responded enthusiastically to the picture, giving it over 8,000 likes; selected comments praised the picture’s composition. Fans noted that despite their similarities, Cassandra Cain and Red Hood are rarely seen together, making it especially moving to see them bonding.
Red Hood and Cassandra Cain have, so far, rarely interacted with each other, which is odd, given how much they have in common. Both come from rough and tumble beginnings: Cain was conditioned from birth to be the world’s top assassin and Red Hood was an orphan who had to fight for survival on Gotham's streets. Both worked through their dark pasts and found purpose fighting alongside Batman. Both Red Hood and Cassandra Cain have not always had the best relationship with Batman, and each has spent time trying to get back in his good graces. Yet Batman believes in both of them - that there is still good within them - and his faith has been largely well placed.
Cassandra Cain and Red Hood would make one of the most interesting teams in the Bat-Family, yet creators seem hesitant to put them together. A new piece of adorable fan art from Nina Linovna shows these two sharing a quiet moment at dawn in Gotham, with a fan response that will hopefully make DC aware that fans wants to see Cassandra Cain's Batgirl and Red Hood share more adventures together.
Source: @ninalinovna