Adam Beechen @ CBR
November 6th, 2006 by david brothers | Tags: batgirl, interviewAdam Beechen interviewed at CBR
It is sure to make a few waves regarding Cass Cain, but here’s a bit that I liked:
RT: Did you like the character?
AB: She’s a great character. Her central struggle to rise above what she was raised to become is terrifically compelling stuff. I went through and picked up a number of months’ worth of issues prior to One-Year-Later. So I was around for the last major storyarc, and I got the trades of the first few storyarcs, all of which were excellent.
Ours was not an easy story to write because it was a radical shift in a major character who had struggled for so long for her entire existence to overcome the way she was brought up. But I have friends who have worked hard to triumph over bad decisions or bad circumstances and have done really well for a time, only to fall back. It’s a sad thing to watch happen, really painful, but it happens, so it seemed plausible to me in Cassandra’s case.
RT: Are you satisfied with the way it was handled?
AB: I wish I could have taken more time with it, and explored more about why she changed and more about the information that shook her life up. My inclination is to spread that information and build the story gradually. Initially the arc was going to be six issues, but the arc was compressed to four issues, so some of the information was compressed as a matter of necessity. Maybe too much.
If I could do it over again, I would get into it a little more so that, while it wouldn’t make fans of Batgirl happy, it would get in there and explain what happened a little bit better.
Beechen isn’t exactly the pitchfork-and-tails demon I’ve seen him described to be on message boards by Cass fans. His mustache isn’t even long enough to twirl!
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[…] David Brothers at 4th Letter points out a particular part that he liked from one of the interviews. […]
As a raving Cass fan, I’d like to say that I don’t consider Beechen a devil per se. I’ve always suspected that he was *told* to make her a villain, and the interview confirmed that.
What I *do* take issue with in Beechen’s work in the manner Cassandra was depicted. There seemed to have been little to no research done about the character before that story was written, as many, many things in that story contradict things that have been known or revealed about Cass for quite awhile.
And I should also note that I’m still reading Robin, and despite that first story arc I’m really enjoying it.
I appreciate the opportunity you give here to apply some personal thinking, David. At first, I was outraged as a Batgirl fan… then I realized that the last few arcs in her run just seemed so poorly written, and Cassandra never really seemed driven beyond being exactly what her father wasn’t. From personal experience, I felt that way for a time. I slowly realized that my father and I would have more in common then I would let on, so the “idea” he presents definitely hits home. And I think that’s good stuff in and of itself.
I don’t necessarily agree with what Adam says in the second paragraph, though I do find it believable that Cass could stray from the path of justice she was on. Mainly because her character seemed to lack any personal drive other than using her skills opposite of what her father would have. It seemed nigh directionless for a time. I can imagine she’d have become as disillusioned following orders or following in the footsteps of others so blindly, that she may very well have found herself taking her skills elsewhere. I didn’t quite like the vocal Cass I read in the latest Robin series, but I feel the idea has potential and perhaps it can still be done well.
If this is the direction DC wants the character to go in, I can only hope they can turn people around.