One of the joys of reading a team book is watching the focus shift between stories, learning more about the individual members of the team. It’s always interesting to see what motivates a character to be part of something greater. But the thing that makes James Tynion IV’s run on “Detective Comics” so compelling is the various character’s relationships with Batman. Tynion takes advantage of Batman’s reputation of being a “loner” to help build up the individual character stories. Batman chose them to help, he must see something in them that they don’t see in themselves. It also doesn’t hurt that, as Stephanie realized in ‘The Victim Syndicate,’ most of the team has connections to Batman’s foes. Not only does Batman believe in them, he believes that their past doesn’t define their present. In the third arc of “Detective Comics,” ‘The League of Shadows,’ Tynion creates a compelling family drama about the choice of living in the shadow of your family or becoming your own person.
“Detective Comics” #950-956Cover by Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Adriano Lucas
Written by James Tynion IV
Illustrated by Marco Takara, Alvaro Martinez, Eddy Barrows, Christian Duce, and Fernando Blanco
Inked by Eber Ferreira and Raul Fernandez
Colored by Dean White, Brad Anderson, Adriano Lucas, Alex Sinclair, Fernando Blanco, John Rauch, Allen Passalaqua, and Marcelo Maiolo
Lettered by Marilyn Patrizio and Sal Cipriano
Published by D.C.
Of the members of the Batfamily, Cassandra Cain is arguably the most compelling character. She’s the daughter of two world-class assassins, raised by her father as a human weapon. Her first language is violence, the ability to read body language to the point that she can see death. But she wants to be more. In the prelude to ‘The League of Shadows,’ Tynion uses the narration to explore who Cassandra is. Tynion captures her sadness in the narration. She’s a person who is full of emotion, but unable to express it in a way that others will understand. She has also lost one of her few friends in Spoiler and lost a place where she felt safe, the Gotham ballet, after accidentally being seen. What makes this even more tragic is that not only does she want to express her emotions, she wants to give comfort to others who are hurting, especially Clayface. The growing friendship between Clayface and Cassandra has always been good, but in ‘The League of Shadows,’ Tynion takes it to the next level. They both try to comfort one another in their own way. Clayface gives the Shakespeare book he was given as a child to channel his rage and Cassandra is there for her friend but frustrated that she can’t do more. One of the best things about the arc is the way that the various artists draw Cassandra. There is one sequence in particular from Marcio Takara which contrasts Cassandra fighting and dancing. In both cases, there’s a fluidity and grace, both use the art to track her movement through space, but the narration of her dancing describes it as a shouting that turns into a song. It’s beautiful and tragic, a person trying to find her value in the world. Tynion then ramps up the intensity by making her confront her mother.
It was honestly pretty shocking that Tynion introduces The League of Shadows so early in his run of “Detective Comics.” After ‘Rise of the Batmen, it felt like they would become the culminating conflict, that through the other arcs there would be a looming mystery building. Something along the lines of the Joker attack early in ‘The League of Shadows’ where the team faces an established threat with the resolution that there was some larger puppetmaster in the wings. That being said, ‘The League of Shadows,’ is the best arc so far, with some truly masterful pacing and spectacular art. Batman once again becomes a public enemy after being framed for the murder of Gotham’s mayor, the League of Shadows effectively takes down the team, and Cassandra is forced to confront the ghosts of her past. Specifically her mother. Christian Duce and Fernando Blanco do an excellent job of capturing the efficiency and ferocity of Shiva and her soldiers in the League of Shadows. Early in the arc, we see that it takes Shiva a mere ten seconds to take down members of Ra’s Au Ghul’s League of Assasins. While this is done offscreen, it’s much more powerful to see her standing amongst the corpses. It’s so fast we couldn’t comprehend it. The offscreen combat also makes it more impactful when she faces her daughter. We know these are two of the deadliest people on the planet, watching them go toe to toe is riveting. It’s even more compelling when Shiva then rejects her daughter for being weak by choosing to show mercy. The final conflict, where Cassandra shows that mercy is not a weakness, that she can be more than a weapon, culminates the masterful storytelling though the art. Marciello Maiolo creates a clear palate for these conflicts, which grows in intensity over the three fights, first all-white, then contrasting whites and reds, and then finally all reds and oranges.
While ‘The League of Shadows,’ really gives the focus to Cassandra and her inner conflict, there are also other compelling dynamics throughout. One of the highlights is the growing relationship between Batwing and Azrael, as they have a conversation about science, faith, and how Jean-Paul harnesses his power. The dynamic between Jacob and Kate continues to grow. While Jacob is unhinged, he still has his daughter’s best interest at heart and prevents Ulysses from destroying the League of Shadows because his daughter will be caught in the crossfire. But the most compelling dynamics are between Ra’s Au Ghul and Batman. Ra’s comes to Batman seeking help with The League of Shadows, they’re gone too far and he is simply looking to keep the world safe. Yet, in the end, right when it seems that Cassandra might make a breakthrough with her mother, Ra’s kills Shiva, making it seem like this was all simply part of a larger plan. The way Tynion writes Ra’s is very compelling, he feels like the chess master’s chess master, an opportunist who knows how to play any situation to help him in the end. While the threat of Shiva might be gone, it’s possible that helping Ra’s could have made things worse.
But in the end, ‘The League of Shadows’ is about Cassandra’s acceptance of herself and what makes her different from her parents or their intentions for her. Early in the arc, she tries to deny who she is, telling others that she is “Orphan,” not Cassandra Cain. But in the end, after making a new friend and seeing the strength she has, she owns her name and how she can use it to become more. It’s triumphant, well written, and exciting to see what happens next to her. ‘The League of Shadows’ has certainly been a highlight so far, and it’s exciting to see where Tynion goes next, now that what felt like the series biggest threat is taken care of.
