Batgirl & Superboy’s whirlwind romance

Even not-really-sorta sidekicks need love.  Only problem with being a superhero, besides the constant fear and danger, is the almost always tragic and traumatic origin stories.  Makes for some interesting stories, great personalities, and horrible ability at long-lasting relationships. Cassandra Cain (Batgirl) didn’t learn to speak until her teens, trained by her adopted father to read body language as the world’s greatest assassin.  Connor Kent (Superboy) is the genetically-engineered hybrid clone of Superman and Lex Luthor.  Perfect romantic match.

In Batgirl #39-41, written by Dylan Horrocks and drawn by Adrian Sibar, the two make the best out of disturbed teenage love.  We’ll start from the beginning.  Barbara Gordon (the paralyzed Oracle) decides she and Cassandra need a vacation on Batman’s dime.

As it happens in the it’s-a-small-world of superhero comics, Superboy’s vacationing on the same cruise.  Maybe they have discounts for the heroic types.

And the girl talk begins:

Okay, I’m not exactly sure what girl talk sounds like.  Probably not that.  Maybe most of the time Batgirl’s running around Gotham, the bad guys are too busy frantically running and getting jaws broken to sexualize Batgirl.  But c’mon, she’s been around Tim Drake (Robin) for a few years now, and that kid’s a total perv.

As you can imagine, trouble brews.

Maybe it’s the adrenaline.  Maybe it’s the raging hormones.  But when two budding superheroes team-up, sparks fly:

Okay, real quick.  Yes, there’s not much basis for this passionate kiss, but I have theories.  Most likely scenario stems from Oracle begging Batgirl to let loose, have some fun, and enjoy something besides crushing the ribs of henchmen.  While the two don’t have much in common, Cassandra can do much worse than Superboy’s lighthearted charisma and boyish good-looks to break in that whole romance thing.

By the way, Superboy’s secret identity?  He doesn’t wear a mask, doesn’t wear glasses, and his civilian clothes have the Superman logo plastered all over them.  Batgirl may be a talented detective, but this isn’t exactly a Sherlock Holmes-type mystery.  With Cassandra taking Connor up on his visitation offer, time for him to sweep his date off her feet.

You just saw the last romantic page in this issue.  What follows are ten pages of lovely attempts gone horribly distracted.  Here’s a few highlights:

Punching giant space slugs can ruin an evening.  As hard as Superboy tries, the superhero curse of inevitable interrupting trouble takes down any chance of sweet moments.  It’s like Aladdin and Jasmine during A Whole New World if the two had to stop the song every thirty seconds to sword fight monsters or douse flying carpet fires.

And the relationship ends after one issue.  Soon after this, Superboy starts dating Wonder Girl, who’s also named Cassandra.  Can’t beat a good thing, I guess.