Greg Rucka introduced Salvatore Asaro to readers in “Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood” miniseries. Sal wasn’t a major player in the story, only appearing in a dozen or so pages, told as flashbacks. He would be the Huntress’ first teacher. While he’s been relatively out of the picture, he’d shape Helena into the woman and crime-fighter she would later become.

Not only did ”Cry for Blood” read like a love letter from its author to its protagonist, it produced one of most endearing and moving relationships in comicsville, in as few pages as posssible. Now that took skill! Their relationship, surprisingly, no other writer followed up before Ivory Madison came along with “Huntress Year One”.

Ivory Madison, did change some key elements to the Huntress mythos that existed in “Cry For Blood”. It’s up to readers to determine for themselves if they were necessary changes, if they added a level of depthness.  However, she did maintained Sal’s vital role in Helena’s upbring; going further than anyone has to expound on their special bond. For that I’m grateful. It was one of the reading gems in Huntress Year One.

Sal helped empower Helena. He instilled confidence and awarness. She was strong where she was once weak. She would devote her life to avenging her families death. Blood Cries For Blood and The Huntress would spill it.

Helena is let into Sal’s secret world for the first time.

Helena felt like a caged bird and Sal knew exactly how to free her.

No matter how safe Helena was in Sicily, the nightmares continued.

I love how adoringly Helena is watching Sal. So cute. She also got her first glimpse of the man responsible for killing her family. She would later have her revenge.

There was an instant bond between Helena and Sal.

Sal picks Helena up from the Panessa’s, her mother’s family. She’d leave Gotham City, and for the next twleve plus years a farm in Sicily would be be her stomping grounds.

Batman gets credited for inspiring most, if not all, mask and cape wearing vigilantes who pop up in Gotham with illusions of ridden the city of crime and injustice. Righting wrongs, and protecting and serving. I don’t have a problem with it. He has been a great source of influence. Not to mention he’s taking the time to teach many of them.

I don’t believe it’s entirely fair to give him as much credit as we do where the Huntress is concerned. Maybe I’m a little bitter because he hasn’t been as nice to her as he has to others or shown her understanding when he should have, when she needed it most. A wrong I hope he rights when he returns from…well you have to be reading.

Most of us know Huntress tragic childhood. Her father, Capo of Gotham, mother, and brother were murdered. She mistakenly left alive. Other family members from Metropolis, New York, to Boston, also murdered. She was the last surviving Bertinelli, the living princess of a mafia dynasty. For own her protection, at age eight, she was sent to live with her mother’s brother’s family in Sicily; a family of assassins.

Despite the impenetrable safety that was Sicily, Helena’s life was consumed with fear and nightmares. By her own admission, from the first day she stepped on the Asaro farm, it was her cousin, Salvatore Asaro, who would step in and assume the role of big brother. He’d be her comforter, her protector, her confidant, and most important, he’d show Helena how to over come her fear. He would teach her that “blood cries for blood”.

To me, Sal Asaro has been the most important and influential man in Helena’s life. They have a special bond. She’s fiercely, though not blindly, loyal to him. It’s unconditional. She’s aware of his sins. He’s a monster. He’s a villain in someone’s story. But to her, he’ll always be her HERO.