⚡ Quick answer

The key issues for Cassandra Cain are: Batman #567 (July 1999), her first appearance, created by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott during "No Man's Land," an issue that also introduces her father David Cain; Legends of the Dark Knight #120 (August 1999), where she becomes Batgirl; Batgirl #1 (2000), the first series in her name, 73 issues until 2006; Justice League Elite #1 (2004) for the Kasumi identity; Batman Incorporated #6 (2011) for Black Bat; Batman & Robin Eternal #26 (2016) for Orphan; Batgirls #1 (late 2021); and Batgirl #1 by Tate Brombal and Takeshi Miyazawa (late 2024), her return as a solo. Batgirl #25 on November 4, 2026 marks the return of David Cain. Batman #567 remains the centerpiece in a collection.

Cassandra Cain is a character apart in the Batman family. She was not conceived as a sidekick, nor as an heir: she was raised to kill, deprived of speech from childhood by her father, who wanted to make combat her only language. Her path, from reluctant assassin to Batgirl, then through several identities imposed by editorial relaunches, is one of the most turbulent in the DC universe.

The site already covers the history of all the Batgirls in the character's history and their landmark issues in the key issues of Batgirl. This page is devoted to a single bearer, Cassandra, and follows her name changes issue by issue, just as her current series prepares the return of the man who made her.

The key Cassandra Cain issues in order of importance

The key issues, identity by identity

1

Batman #567

July 1999 · Kelley Puckett, Damion Scott · "No Man's Land"
First appearance

Gotham, devastated by an earthquake, is cut off from the rest of the country. In this chaos, a silent teenage girl saves Commissioner Gordon's life. This is Cassandra Cain. The same issue introduces her father, David Cain, a top-level assassin, created by the same team. The issue thus brings together the two characters whose relationship drives the 2026 news.

Good to know: it is the reference issue for Cassandra, and now also for David Cain. The "No Man's Land" issues had large print runs: condition makes the difference.
2

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120

August 1999 · Cassandra becomes Batgirl
Batgirl

A month after her first appearance, Cassandra receives the Batgirl costume, briefly worn before her by the Huntress during "No Man's Land." Barbara Gordon, now Oracle, takes her under her wing. She thus inherits the full mask, with stitches drawn over the mouth, which remains her best-known image.

Good to know: this issue is often forgotten in favor of Batman #567, even though it marks the identity that defines the character.
3

Batgirl #1

2000 · Kelley Puckett, Damion Scott · 73 issues until April 2006
First series

The first title in her name, and the first regular series devoted to a Batgirl. Puckett and Scott develop an almost silent story at the start, where action says what Cassandra cannot express. The series then explores her learning to speak, the truth about her mother, Lady Shiva, and her relationship with David Cain. It ends at #73, in April 2006.

Good to know: #1 is the second pillar of the collection; the complete run, accessible issue by issue, is a realistic goal.
4

Justice League Elite #1

September 2004 · the Kasumi identity
Kasumi

Under the name Kasumi, Cassandra joins a Justice League covert-action team. The identity is secondary in her path, but it matters for anyone following all her incarnations.

Good to know: a completist's curiosity, little present in Batgirl-centered collections.
5

Robin #150

July 2006 · "One Year Later"
The disputed turn

After the one-year jump imposed on the whole DC line, Cassandra reappears at the head of the League of Assassins, as an adversary of Robin. The reversal is one of the most contested of the era: readers organize protest campaigns, and DC ends up explaining this behavior in a six-issue Batgirl miniseries in 2008, which puts her back on the side of the heroes.

Good to know: to read in order to understand why the character disappeared from the foreground for several years.
6

Batman Incorporated #6

May 2011 · Grant Morrison · Black Bat
Black Bat

In Grant Morrison's series, which imagines an international network of vigilantes funded by Bruce Wayne, Cassandra operates in Hong Kong under the name Black Bat. Her costume echoes that of Batgirl, with a domino mask and a tattered cape.

Good to know: the identity does not last, the New 52 relaunch erasing the character a few months later.
7

Batman & Robin Eternal #26

March 2016 · Orphan
Orphan

Reintroduced into continuity after her disappearance in the New 52, Cassandra takes the name Orphan, which David Cain had carried until then in that version. She then joins the team of young vigilantes trained by Batman and Batwoman in Detective Comics from 2016.

Good to know: the name Orphan is a paternal inheritance, which gives a particular resonance to David Cain's return.
8

Batgirls #1

Late 2021 · Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Jorge Corona
Back to the name

Cassandra takes the name Batgirl back, alongside Stephanie Brown, in a series that pairs them under Oracle's supervision. It is the first series where she carries the title on the cover again since 2006.

Good to know: a shared series, but the first step toward the solo return.
9

Batgirl #1

Late 2024 · Tate Brombal, Takeshi Miyazawa
Solo return

Announced in August 2024, this series gives Cassandra a title of her own again, nearly twenty years after the end of the first. Brombal explores her relationship with her mother, Lady Shiva, and an assassin organization called the Unburied. The first issue carries a cover date of January 2025.

Good to know: the ongoing series, leading to #25 on November 4, 2026.
Timeline of Cassandra Cain issues and series

Batgirl #25: the return of David Cain

On November 4, 2026, Batgirl #25, written by Tate Brombal, marks the return of David Cain. The anniversary issue of the current series thus reopens the character's founding relationship: that of a daughter raised as a weapon by an assassin father. Since 1999, this relationship has fed Cassandra's strongest moments, from her first issues to her Orphan period. After a series centered on her mother, Lady Shiva, the father's arrival completes the picture.

Nothing more is confirmed about the issue's content as of this article's date. The site does not speculate on what David Cain will do, or on the series' future. For a reader, the advice is simple: read, or reread, Batman #567 and the first issues of the 2000 series, where the father-daughter relationship is set up.

What to read before November

1

The origins

Batman #567 and Legends of the Dark Knight #120, then the first issues of Batgirl (2000). They set up everything: the muteness, the father, the first killing that David Cain uses to discredit her in front of Batman.

2

The end of the first series

Issues 65 to 73 of Batgirl (2000), which lead Cassandra to the confrontation with Lady Shiva and close her first cycle.

3

The current series

Batgirl by Brombal and Miyazawa from its #1, through #24. It is the direct preparation for #25, and the best way to arrive at David Cain's return with recent context.

Our Batgirl reading guide places these steps among the other bearers of the costume, and the article on the third bearer revisits Cassandra's place in the lineage.

Collecting Cassandra Cain

The market hierarchy is clear. Batman #567 dominates, and its double quality as first appearance of Cassandra and of David Cain gives it extra interest now that the current series puts the father back in the foreground. Batgirl #1 (2000) comes next. Legends of the Dark Knight #120 remains underrated given its importance: it is the issue of the identity takeover.

The later identities, Kasumi, Black Bat, Orphan, mostly interest completists. The recent issues, from Batgirls to Brombal's series, exist in multiple covers, like all current output: choose for the art, not for a hypothetical gain. No price is given here. For a specific copy, the free estimate starts from its actual condition, and the Batgirl hub gathers the pages devoted to the different bearers.

Frequently asked questions

Batman #567, dated July 1999, written by Kelley Puckett and drawn by Damion Scott, her creators. The issue belongs to the "No Man's Land" crossover, during which Gotham is cut off from the rest of the country after an earthquake. Cassandra saves Commissioner Gordon's life there. The same issue also introduces her father, David Cain. She becomes Batgirl a month later, in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120, dated August 1999. Batman #567 remains the reference issue for the character.
Seventy-three issues, published from 2000 to April 2006, with special issues and an annual. The series was launched by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott, the character's creators, then passed through several teams, including Andersen Gabrych for the last part. It follows Cassandra's learning to speak, the discovery of her mother, Lady Shiva, and her relationship with David Cain. The complete run remains accessible in a collection, issue by issue, which makes it a realistic goal for a patient reader.
Five main ones. Batgirl, from Legends of the Dark Knight #120 in 1999. Kasumi, in Justice League Elite in 2004. Black Bat, in Batman Incorporated #6 in 2011, under Grant Morrison's pen. Orphan, from Batman & Robin Eternal #26 in 2016, a name previously carried by her father in that continuity. Then Batgirl again, in Batgirls from late 2021 and in her own series since late 2024. These changes often follow DC's editorial relaunches more than the character's evolution.
He is Cassandra's father, a top-level assassin created by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott, who appeared in Batman #567 in 1999, the same issue as his daughter. He raised her without speech, making combat her first language, to turn her into a perfect weapon. Lady Shiva is her mother. In recent continuities, David Cain has also carried the name Orphan, later taken up by Cassandra. His return is announced in Batgirl #25, on November 4, 2026, under Tate Brombal's pen.
November 4, 2026. This issue of the series written by Tate Brombal marks the return of David Cain, Cassandra's father. The series, drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa at its launch, began with a first issue dated January 2025, released in late 2024. The exact content of #25 is not detailed as of this article's date. To prepare, the best read remains Batman #567, where father and daughter first appear, then the first issues of the 2000 Batgirl series.
After the "One Year Later" jump imposed on the whole DC line, Robin #150, in July 2006, shows Cassandra at the head of the League of Assassins. This reversal, with no immediate explanation, was very poorly received by readers, who organized protest campaigns. DC then justified this behavior as manipulation, in a six-issue Batgirl miniseries published in 2008, which brings her back to the side of the heroes. The episode partly explains the character's reduced place in the years that followed.
Batman #567, without hesitation. It is her first appearance, and also that of her father, David Cain, whose return in November 2026 puts this issue back in the spotlight. Next come Batgirl #1 from 2000, the first title in her name, and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120, often underrated although it marks her takeover of the Batgirl identity. Since the "No Man's Land" issues had large print runs, the copy's condition is the first factor of difference between two issues.
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