Writer: Tate Brombal
Artist: Isaac Goodheart
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Cover Artist: Reiko Murakami
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 7, 2025
Brief Summary
The Book of Shiva, Chapter One - As Cassandra Cain journeys home to the Bat-Family, she listens to her mother Lady Shiva's life story.
Plot Summary
We open with Cassandra Cain getting on a train. She's on a call with Stephanie telling her not to worry and that she'll be home soon. Cass has received a mysterious package in the mail and as she takes her seat, she opens the envelope. A small walkman and a book drop out. Cass puts on the earphones and presses play. For a second I thought she was listening to the Weird Science DC Podcast, but no, it's a recorded message from her mother Lady Shiva. The recording accompanies the beautiful-looking book that Cass picks up. It's Lady Shiva's life story and she wants her daughter to both read and listen to it. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.
"If you are listening to this, I am dead." We may have experienced this before, but it's still a gripping opening. What follows is Lady Shiva's origin story and I have to say it is beautifully illustrated by artist Isaac Goodheart. Apparently he is doing both issues of this two-part story. I've enjoyed Takeshi Miyazawa's art up to now, but this makes a nice change.
Lady Shiva (Ming-Yue) grew up in the Himalayas with her older sister Mei-Xing and her mother and father. They were nomads, always on the move "fleeing something or someone." Suddenly the family are attacked by a large group of what look like ninja dressed in red. Shiva's parents tell the girls to run as the fight begins. Is this the League of Shadows or another deadly clan of assassins? Whoever they are they make quick work of her parents, leaving the snowy ground soaked in blood. Fortunately the two girls got away. They are found unconscious outside the doors to a temple and the monks take them in.
We jump forward ten years. The sisters have been training in the martial arts with the temple monks. On a walk through the local village, they go to help an old woman being threatened by a pair of thugs. Mei gets slapped for her interference causing Ming-Yue (Shiva) to launch into a stunning flying kick which knocks out one of the men. She follows this up with a jumping-knee attack to the chin of the other thug. It's a cool and kinetic action scene drawn by Goodheart. As the men lie dazed on the ground, we hear them saying "it's them, it must be!" The girls leave and are oblivious to this seeming recognition. Will it come back to haunt them?
Following this, the scene shifts to a local festival where Ming and Mei are performing a traditional dance. It's a beautiful double-page spread by the artist Isaac Goodheart and is backed up by Mike Spicer's impressive coloring.
Suddenly, the festival area is peppered with flaming arrows as a horde of red ninja come charging in. It's the same ninja that attacked and killed Ming and Mei's parents. Their leader is a huge bare-chested warrior who calls himself "Wu Feng, leader of the Blood!" The girls' sensei warns them that these Blood Ninja have "dark gifts" granted by the spirit world, dark powers that allow them "to wield their very blood as a weapon!"
Wu Feng calls to the sisters telling them that they are his "nieces," his family. Ming and Mei refuse to believe it and flee the village. Their teacher-monks give their lives to buy the girls time. The village burns behind them as they run and we return to Cass on the train still listening to the story. To be continued!
Sharp Points!
The story is framed nicely with Cass taking her journey both on the train and deep into her mother's life story. Lady Shiva's origin story might include a few cliches but it's well told by Brombal and beautifully illustrated by Goodheart. Some of the fight scenes are exciting and fast-flowing, plus we get to see a lovely local dance performed by the two sisters.
Dull Points!
The only thing I can say is that those readers who have come solely for Cassandra Cain might be disaappointed because she is barely in the issue.
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed this much more than the last few issues of Batgirl, which were feeling a bit drawn out. As the first part of Lady Shiva's origin story, this is an entertaining and exciting read impressively presented by the creative team. Isaac Goodheart's art style makes a nice change from Takeshi Miyazawa's, although I'm a fan of both artists' work. Unless you are only here for Cassandra Cain, I'm sure that, like me, you will enjoy this deeper dive into Lady Shiva's past. Bring on part two next month!
8/10
About the reviewer: Wakizashi Gray has a YouTube channel where he reviews comics. It has the rather bizarre name of Wakizashi’s Teahouse. He also keeps a WordPress blog called Wakizashi Teahouse Blog.
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