Posted by This week I’m going to be reviewing Absolute Cassandra Cain: The Shadow’s Hand. It’s a straightforward one-shot issue detailing the backstory of the enigmatic assassin featured in Absolute Catwoman. Last week, I reviewed Absolute Catwoman #3. I had some gripes with that one. Absolute Cassandra Cain partially rectifies some of those complaints.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
The comic explores Cassandra Cain’s backstory, beginning with a brief prologue of sorts that introduces the League of Assassins. The League is headed by Lady Shiva, who is eventually revealed to be Cassandra’s mother. One day, a mysterious figure reaches the League’s base of operations in the Himalayas. Lady Shiva begins training him, and he excels. He eventually makes a request, and Shiva denies him. The man is Jack Grimm–the Joker of the Absolute Universe. He turns into a monster and almost singlehandedly destroys the League, forcing the survivors, including Shiva, to go into hiding. The story cuts to Cassandra in the aftermath of the explosion at her father’s. The explosion damaged her larynx, so she’ll never talk again. Lady Shiva appears and scolds Daniel Cain, Cassandra’s father. Shiva takes Cassandra under her wing and begins training her as an elite assassin. Once her training is complete, Shiva and Cassandra embark together to track down the remaining members of the League. Some come willingly, others try to fight, and one even throws herself off a cliff only to have Cassandra save her. There is, however, one last member who has gotten herself captured in an Ark–a prison/storage warehouse/laboratory teeming with weapons and prisoners. Shiva has no interest in looking for this last member. Cassandra sneaks off and finds her. She and the survivor fight through the horde of undead that inhabit the Ark, and Cassandra picks up some daggers. The two are on the verge of escaping when Shiva arrives and begins reprimanding Cassandra. Cassandra is defiant, which leads to Shiva fighting her. Shiva has the advantage, until Cassandra embraces her own strength and rejects the role that she’s been forced into, allowing her to defeat her mother. After the battle, Cassandra accepts her place, not under her mother as her enforcer, but as her equal in leading the League.
I liked the story. The pacing is pretty quick, but that’s kind of the point. This isn’t an ongoing series; it’s a one-shot issue meant to flesh out Cassandra Cain’s character. I think it does an excellent job of doing that. It establishes her as a lot more nuanced than Absolute Catwoman does. This one-shot also answers the question of what the explosion did to her, which was a really frustrating lingering detail. I can understand now why Absolute Catwoman #3 didn’t provide an answer, but at the same time it kind of sucks needing a separate comic to explain such an important character detail. Still, it can make be better enjoy the Absolute Catwoman story now.
Returning to characterization, Cassandra is an assassin, but she doesn’t see strength in cruelty like her mother does. Instead, she sees strength in compassion. She would rather save those that she can than sit by and do nothing. She values her allies. It’s nice seeing her characterization because so far, she hasn’t done a whole lot in Absolute Catwoman other than be mysterious. It definitely makes me curious to see how she develops in Absolute Catwoman because I think that she’s a lot more nuanced than just wanting revenge or to run the League of Assassins. I wonder what she plans to use the Yarn for, though if I were to guess, I suspect it may have to do with getting her voice back (somehow). And if not her voice, then probably to reclaim the life that she wants to lead. It’s pretty clear that she doesn’t want to be an assassin, at least at first, so this may be her way of reclaiming her life fully.
It was also interesting getting to see some new characters in the spotlight. I’m not far enough in Absolute Batman that Joker is showing up consistently, so watching him literally tear through the League of Assassins was a surprise for sure. He’s definitely a terrifying threat, and I’m excited to see more of him in Absolute Batman. Even though his time in the pages is short, he and his actions loom large over the narrative, especially at the end when it’s revealed that he asked to lead the League, and after he was told he couldn’t, he slaughtered them all. It shows a lot about his character in such short and condensed details. It was also cool getting to see Lady Shiva. She seems relatively similar to her normal incarnation, though my exposure with her there is quite limited. Regardless, it’s fun seeing semi-familiar characters in a new light.
As always, the art is spectacular. The Absolute Universe does not disappoint. The action sequences in particular are quite good, especially with how fluid and visceral they can be. The final fight is especially jaw-dropping in its gorgeous stylizations. It’s only about two full pages, but it looks fantastic and really allows the comic to end strong.
SPOILER END
Overall, I think that Absolute Cassandra Cain was a strong comic, and a useful addition to the Absolute Universe. I do think that Absolute Catwoman has been doing a mediocre job of characterizing and developing her, so this standalone issue had to do a lot of heavy lifting. I think that it succeeded. It definitely makes Absolute Catwoman better, which is a little frustrating. I think that you can’t appreciate Absolute Cassandra Cain if you aren’t following Absolute Catwoman, and vice versa. While it does make sense seeing as the two characters are inextricably linked, it does mean that the two narratives aren’t complete without each other despite technically being separate series. While it’s not that big of a deal, it is worth noting because it can create a bit of a chronology wrinkle for those who want to be caught up with everything Absolute. Regardless, I did enjoy the issue, and I would recommend it, especially for $4.99. It does make me hopeful that Absolute Catwoman is about to see a big jump in quality too, but only time will tell there.
