Batwoman Annual #1 – Review

By: Marc Andreyko (story), Trevor McCarthy & Moritat (art), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: Behind every good Batman is a Batwoman—ready to take him down.

The Review: Considering how sudden and dismissively J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman were shooed off this title last October, the least DC could do was offer a resolution to their long-invested storyline, which was also cut off when Williams-Blackman left. DC did one thing right in committing this annual to that task, but their inability to bring back Williams-Blackman for this special occasion almost guaranteed the annual’s failure.

Without Williams-Blackman, Andreyko basically has to guess how his predecessors would’ve ended their own story and execute it as best he can. Andreyko’s very capable of course, but this is asking too much of any writer, especially when Williams-Blackman had set up conflicts that require a careful, delicate touch to untangle. There’s simply no way Andreyko could’ve divined Williams-Blackman’s intentions to wrap up their plotlines as planned. Even so, that’s no excuse for him to throw sense and integrity out the window just to get the job done.

Lobo, Fear, and the God of Death: Marguerite Bennett on Comics and Writing

Marguerite Bennett is a relatively new name to the comics world, but in the few months that she’s been gracing the covers – and more – of your comic books, she’s accomplished a great deal. She’s written Batman, recreated Lobo, and even filled in on Batgirl for Gail Simone!

A recent graduate of Sarah Lawrence College’s graduate program, Bennett has proven to be a talented and distinguished voice within DC’s stable and has been rising like a rocket. Her fascinating entry into the world of comics and her even more fascinating talent for character work and psychological horror immediately made her a creator to pay attention to in my book and she’s been kind enough to speak with us.

WCBR: You’ve been a professional comic writer for a little while now. What’s your favorite part of the job?

Marguerite Bennett: Oh, gosh—I love all of it, from reading up on characters I love, to pacing the house in a bathrobe and eating Cheetos while I brainstorm, to getting dressed up to head up to the DC Headquarters to see my editors and bosses, to sitting on the kitchen floor with my best friends at 2 in the morning while I bounce ideas off of them, bless them. I even love pitching, though you’re trying to reduce your brilliant scheme to three paragraphs, and I love publication day, though you live in constant fear of Twitter, and I even love the gray days when the words come with a struggle, because you’re still living the life you’d dreamed of. I’m never not grateful for the blessings that brought me to this career.

In the end, though, I would have to say that my favorite part of the job is the conventions. The enthusiasm there is so infectious, to be swept up in the crowd of fans and cosplayers and creators, people of all ages and backgrounds united by a mutual love of the stories we all share. Writing is what I have always wanted to do, but no one can say it isn’t a lonely profession, and at the conventions, there’s such an air of freaky holiday—it validates and compensates the hundreds of hours of solitude. I often wind up at a friend’s booth, gossiping and giggling with fans, gushing over whatever story it is I’m toying with at the moment, acting out certain scenes with scowls and laughter and sweeping gestures, and telling truly terrible superhero jokes (“What do you call a superhero without powers? Batman.”) The conventions remind me of just how joyful the industry can be, how much can be accomplished by a shared love instead of a shared anger.

Is it weird being on the other side of the creator/fan relationship?

It’s exceptionally peculiar. I’ve grown up reading books by people I now sit at table with, and a great deal of self-restraint is required not to blush madly when anyone makes eye contact with me. I’m still navigating how to behave like a elegant professional when I’d really much prefer to stare at my shoes and mumble to them how much their work has meant to me.

To their credit, I can’t tell you how kind and welcoming so many of the creators have been. Mark Buckingham and Jim Zub minded me even before I’d been published, and my Team of Older Brothers™ (among them, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Kyle Higgins, Sean E. Williams, Sean Murphy, and Tom Taylor) largely keeps me out of trouble. Keith Giffen sat me down in his own booth at Baltimore Comic Con after the (absurdly named) Lobogate and advised me, and I’ll be damned if he isn’t the warmest and most generous ornery bastard I’ve had the pleasure to meet. Shelly Bond and Kelly Sue DeConnick have been so unnecessarily kind, to my immense gratitude, and Greg Capullo sings the best karaoke death metal version of “Hotel California” you’ve ever heard.

Comic writers are a rather varied bunch. J.M. DeMatteis talks frequently about how his characters tell him what to write, Stan Lee preferred the ‘Marvel Method’. I’ve even heard Dan Slott admit that he tests some of the voices in his scripts. What’s your writing process like?

I suppose the process varies with the character, though establishing personality always comes first. I have to get into the headspace of the character first and foremost, and often wander around my house or neighborhood, trying to say words as they would say them, touch things as they would touch them. I try to fix my body language and posture to their own, and introduce the facts of their life one by one into my mind, noting the impact that each one has, how it enriches or damages my counterfeit perspective. I try to abide fully in their character, before I scramble back to my laptop with what I’ve spied.

From there, I consider what might be the worst thing that can happen to me-as-the-character, as they presently stand. For Batman, it was a foe that could strike him where he’s raw and vulnerable, forcing him to experience guilt, forcing him to rely on another for rescue. For Lobo, fueled only by vengeance, it was the end of his quest in sight, the sudden chasm and loss of identity awaiting once his white whale is slain. For Barbara Gordon, it was the specter of failure for her family, city, and allies in a moment of crisis. From there, I imagine what it would cost to grapple and struggle and rise above this awful thing, and plan out three crucial elements—the moment of spectacle, the moment of cruelty, and the moment of emotional climax.

I ask that all my art be three things—beautiful, brutal, and creative. I’m not sure if that answers your question properly, but I hope it might shed at least a little light.

Batwoman #25 – Review

By: Marc Andreyko (story), Trevor McCarthy, Andrea Mutti, Pat Olliffe, Jim Fern (art), Jay Leisten & Tom Nguyen (inks), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: Forget the wrath of Mother Nature; there are common criminals to worry about!

The Review: DC’s handling of this title has been so erratic that I didn’t even know that #24 was J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman’s final one until I saw the credits on this issue.  I could have sworn they had at least another issue before departing, but I guess DC was eager to tie Batwoman into all the Zero Year craziness, and Williams-Blackman didn’t feel like being good sports about a crossover given the circumstances of why they left in the first place.

That’s all to say that Andreyko couldn’t have started his run on this series under worse circumstances.  Not only is he coming in while tensions over his predecessors’ departure are still simmering, he has to simultaneously deal with the inconclusive arc left in their wake as well as a tie-in to another storyline altogether.  In this situation, Andreyko is kind of like the hapless stepparent who joins a family that just went through a hideous divorce, leaving the household in debt and forcing them to move.  Unhappiness is nearly guaranteed.

Batwoman #24 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy (art), Sandu Florea & Derek Fridolfs (finishes), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: If you’re gonna go after Batman, you might as well make it worth his time.

The Review: I’m afraid we can’t get down to business until we discuss to some extent the circumstances leading to Williams-Blackman’s impending departure.  After sorting through all the various accounts of what happened, the whole controversy boils down to this: frustrated by regular, oft-times sudden editorial interference and a mandate that Kate Kane cannot marry, Williams-Blackman chose not to continue a story that was increasingly no longer their own.

Since I don’t know the specifics behind the other editorial mandates reported of, I won’t comment on those.  At any rate, editor-creator tensions are old hat for mainstream comics, and by and large, it’s often impossible to tell exactly when and how they affect any given series.  Only on these rare occasions when a writer airs his grievances publicly do we get real evidence of how an intended storyline gets thrown off course or stonewalled by a decree from above.

Batwoman #23 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy (Trevor McCarthy), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: Apparently, to Batwoman, love is night sweats and terrifying fever dreams.

The Review: There are a lot of contradictions wrapped up in the Bat-family, but the one that perhaps fascinates me the most is despite their airs of being the most straight-to-the-ass-kicking vigilantes in the DCU, they’re also the ones with the biggest dramatic streaks.  The fact they responded to tragedy by dressing up like bats should tip you off already, but you might still be surprised how often you see them acting like the master thespian.

Even Kate, with all her military upbringing and top-class training, is susceptible to a bit of melodrama on the right occasion—and it has to be the right one, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to take her seriously at all.  Demonstrating her commitment to Maggie by injecting herself with Fear Toxin has got to count.  It’s a big, soap opera moment, with Maggie helplessly stretching out a hand, protesting, “Kate!  No!” while her lover swoons, muttering in martyred fashion, “Now I’ll know what you went through, Mags…”  But hey—comics!

Batwoman #22 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy (art), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: Batwoman and Co. do some major cramming for the big Batman test.

The Review: Batwoman is not the first person to attempt the takedown of Batman, but she is the first hero to do so.  This means a very different kind of approach to the task than that you typically get from his villains.  Their plans are usually born out of years of direct experience with the Bat, meticulously plotted and conspired, with the intent to kill.  Batwoman has the uglier task of taking in Batman alive without ever having fought him face-to-face.

With that in mind, if she’s actually going through with this, then she and her team will require a lot of prep-time to defeat the absolute master of it.  No better way to start than by cornering his enemies first, which is a challenge in itself—or, at least, it should be.  Honestly, you expect far more resistance from Bane than what you see here, even if he’s cut off from Venom on an island and facing two well-equipped* opponents.  But given how much ground Williams-Blackman have to cover in this issue, maybe they can’t afford as much of a Bane-fest as they’d like.

Batwoman #21 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Francesco Francavilla (art)

The Story: What does a Croc need to do to get some respect in this city?

The Review: Williams-Blackman gave us a pretty great send-off last month, what with Batwoman and Co. deciding the time had come to bring in the goddam Batman themselves and getting us pumped for a big, juicy Bat-fight.  Then, all of a sudden, Williams-Blackman decide to throw this “Interlude” at us instead, one featuring Killer Croc of all characters.  Given the fact that he has nothing to do with the arc at hand, this is a bizarre, untimely sort of choice.

Setting aside how this makes almost no sense, the issue itself does succeed in getting you invested in the heart, mind, and soul of Waylon Jones.  I have a distaste for the brawler-type criminals in comics.  They always seem to carry their muscle-headed approach to fighting over to their lives as well, and come across as rather moronic for it.  But Croc declares early on, “I know I ain’t smart, but I ain’t stupid, neither,” and spends the rest of the issue proving it.

Batwoman #20 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy (art), Sandu Florea (inks), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: If you start thinking you can take the Batman alone, you need an intervention.

The Review: My favorite thing about this title is its willingness to allow all its characters to have a voice in the story, to make decisions and have a life that isn’t dictated by Batwoman’s actions.  That’s not to say the series doesn’t take on an additional burden with that.  The more rounded and independent characters you have, the more attention and development they demand.  By taking on a life of their own, they can shift the story in ways the writer didn’t intend.

While Williams-Blackman obviously have an interest in explaining how the D.E.O. came by Batwoman’s sister in the first place, I’m not sure that merited a six-page long, somewhat rambling narrative from Chase.  It really opens up more mysteries than it closes, as we don’t know how the Religion of Crime got their hands on Beth or even how she was revived.  Bones admits that where the sarcophagus in which she was found is concerned, “Hell, we still can’t figure out if it’s magic, or alien tech, or something else entirely.”

Batwoman #19 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy (art), Walden Wong (inks), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: Chase and Kate demonstrate that every sisterhood is its own beast.

The Review: Where Batwoman really separates itself from the competition is how much effort has been put into developing the supporting cast as fully-rounded characters, with lives and problems outside of whatever Kate’s got herself up to at the moment.  At this point, you feel like you know Maggie Sawyer, Jacob Kane, Cameron Chase, and Bette Kane as intimately as you know Kate herself, which is a rare and special kind of achievement for a superhero series.

How often do you get a series where a supporting character is so compelling she can have her own series.  At one point, Chase had just that, and here, Blackman-Williams demonstrate why.  Her vendetta against “the capes and masks” is clearly a manifestation of witnessing her father die from his wannabe superhero aspirations.  There’s a genuine pathos to Chase’s bitterness that makes this otherwise ludicrous set of circumstances feel real.  In some ways, her perspective of the whole costumed capers thing (“cosplay”) is very convincing; in some ways, you can easily be swayed into viewing her as a hero in her own right.

Batwoman #18 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy (art), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: Batman and Batwoman squabble over who gets to take what for their trophy case.

The Review: All in all, the Medusa storyline took three arcs and eighteen months to get from start to finish.  That’s a long time for any superhero title these days to spend on a single antagonist.  While Williams-Blackman did break up the action with quite a few smaller plot threads within the overarching story (e.g. Bette’s fall and recovery, Maggie and Kate’s relationship, etc.), this doesn’t change the fact that they put our heroine into a fictional rut.

For that reason, this issue is our first chance to see Batwoman take on a new mission, giving us a sense of the kind of challenges that sets her apart from the rest of the Bat-family.  Unfortunately, she’s not exactly operating according to her own agenda now, is she?  With the D.E.O. calling the shots, Batwoman winds up tackling opponents usually under her counterpart’s domain.  By doing so, she is no longer her own woman; she becomes the redundant, derivative hero we all dread—and she knows it, too.  Thus Colonel Kane observes as she threatens Mr. Freeze, “Look at her posture…  She’s posing, play-acting.”

Batwoman #17 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III (story & art), W. Haden Blackman (story), Dave Stewart (colors)

The Story: What’s a mother to do when her daughter’s got a heart of stone?

The Review: I don’t often respond directly to the opinions of my fellow comic book reviewers, but I have to protest the comments of Aaron Duran in his assessment of this month’s Batwoman.  Maybe it’s the truncated nature of Newsarama’s Best Shots Rapid Reviews, but I just didn’t feel his gripes with the issue justified giving it a 5 (out of 10) rating.  While he had some valid criticisms, they overlooked a lot of the issue’s key strengths.

It’s true that the defeat of Medusa comes across a little anti-climactic, given how much time has been spent building her up as a villain, only for her to be brought down by a trick out of Greek Hero 101.  Seriously, if a reflection is all it takes to vanquish her, then wouldn’t she have perished by accident a while ago?  But while this particular resolution is a little lame, the rest of the arc wraps up in an appropriate, satisfying fashion.

Batwoman #16 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III (story & art), W. Haden Blackman (story), Dave Stewart (colors)

The Story: Even monsters love their mommies.

The Review: Although I readily agree that as a half-visual medium, comics shouldn’t really need too much text to move itself along, I don’t actually think a heavy script is a flaw unless it doesn’t serve a purpose to the story.  It’s one thing when a writer injects a whole lot of fluff for no other reason than simply to enjoy the sound of his own voice, but if all that text actually tells you something that the art itself doesn’t, then that’s a good reason to have it in there, right?

In this case, if you didn’t have all that character narration in each scene, much of the issue’s subtleties and development would be lost.  Dialogue and art can only convey so much; neither can really let you delve into a character’s mind or reveal the fantastic details that make a living, breathing story.  Williams can deliver nearly any imagery possible, but even he can’t convey smell through visuals.  Do you realize how rarely comic book writers pay attention to these kinds of things?  As Batwoman fights her way across Medusa’s army, she notices,

Batwoman #15 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III (story & art), W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy (art), Dave Stewart & Guy Major (colors)

The Story: It’s rough to be a mortal cop in the midst of a mythic crisis.

The Review: If there’s one area where superhero comics as a genre still lags, it’s in the treatment of supporting characters.  Any prose writer worth his salt knows that when these characters get motivations and plotlines all their own, they make the world of a story even richer.  After all, everyone in the real world is the hero of their own story; fiction should at least try to reflect that, even if happens to feature one star.

And sure, I get why most writers might shy away from that kind of work.  If you have a series titled Superman, readers pick up an issue expecting to see the Man of Steel.  But that to me seems a simple failure of making Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Cat, and the rest of the gang interesting characters in their own right.  Give the support cast half the respect you give your star, and the possibilities for compelling stories suddenly multiply exponentially.

Batwoman #14 – Review

By: W. Haden Blackman (story), J.H. Williams III (story & art), Dave Stewart (colors)

The Story: Suddenly, the rampage of a sadistic clown seems the least of Gotham’s problems.

The Review: If Brian Azzarello has given us the prototype for what Wonder Woman’s core character should be for the current generation (and it really should be, given how strong and nuanced it is), then it’s up to all other writers to follow his lead and portray her as closely to that core as possible.  I’ve already made it clear that Geoff Johns hasn’t done so hot in that respect, but Blackman-Williams have done a model job in being faithful and creative at the same time.

In a lot of ways, their Wonder Woman falls into the same kind of self-doubt that Johns’ does.  Here, she doesn’t know if she’s done the right thing.  You can say her grim choice of action toward Pegasus is rational, even justified (“It will take eons for my wounds to heal,” he pleads, “Every day will be anguish…”), but is it the right thing to do?  She doesn’t go so far as to say that, but she can confidently say that she did it out of “mercy.”

Batwoman #13 – Review

By: W. Haden Blackman (story), J.H. Williams III (story & art), Dave Stewart (colors)

The Story: Old-school monsters versus new-school warriors—guess who wins.

The Review: This has been a pretty grand week for Wonder Woman.  Not only did her critically acclaimed ongoing series release a new issue, but she got her a personal arc in Justice League and a sizable guest role here.  This gives us the rare opportunity to examine her character from three different angles at once.  Brian Azzarello’s Diana is compassionate, classy, wise.  Geoff John’s Diana vacillates between blithe naivety and hardened conviction.

Blackman-Williams offer a Diana who winds up coming across as the most human of all of them.  If she appears at first blush as somewhat remote, it has everything to do with Batwoman’s anxiety at merely being in her presence.  While Kate makes a valiant attempt to keep it cool, her nerves manifest in little ways (the plane she pilots shudders every time Wonder Woman speaks).  Well aware of her comrade’s tension, Diana keeps quiet, wisely or not, and seems distant for it.

Batwoman #0 – Review

By: W. Haden Blackman (story), J.H. Williams III (story & art), Dave Stewart (colors)

The Story: Who wouldn’t give up a life of luxurious playing for French torture chamber?

The Review: Of all characters, Batwoman probably needed an origin story least.  After all, she appeared on the scene all of six years ago and has enjoyed quite a bit of publicity since.  When she took over the lead in Detective Comics in 2009, we learned the major points of her life: getting kidnapped by terrorists, losing her mother and sister, the dismissal from West Point, etc.  She actually has the distinction of having a prior #0 issue just last year.

And yet Blackman-Williams still manage to produce an enlightening, engrossing story delving into Kate Kane’s pre-Batwoman days, while steering clear of already covered terrain.  Instead, they have the luxury of filling in the gaps between the aforementioned big events of Kate’s background.  Plenty of creators had this same opportunity, only to offer just one discrete moment in their characters’ lives.  Blackman-Williams lay out a whole slew of formative experiences for Kate, giving her one of the most developed histories of all characters in the current DCU.

Batwoman #12 – Review

By: W. Haden Blackman (story), J.H. Williams III (story & art), Dave Stewart (colors)

The Story: Amazon meets Marine.  It may be a match made in heaven.

The Review: I’ve spoken quite a many times on the enigmatic persona of Wonder Woman, how remote and difficult to pin down she is, but now lately, I wonder if that’s as negative a quality as I’ve made it out to be.  In a way, she can’t avoid being removed from us because of her unique nature.  As a mixture of goddess and mortal, as a member of a mythic race, as someone who prescribes to a lifestyle and ideology all her own, maybe she has no choice but to stand alone.

That may explain why, after all these years, Wonder Woman still has no one you can consider her definitive partner.  I don’t count her Trinity status, which often just feels like her getting shoehorned between the World’s Finest.  Nor do I view her relationships with Donna Troy (if indeed the character still exists in the new DCU) or Cassie Sandsmark as true partnerships; she’s more of an occasional mentor, happy to meet up every now and then to dole out a new Amazon warrior trick, but uninterested in any long-term collaboration.  And we’ve definitely never seen her get intimate with any of her peers in the superheroine community.

Batgirl #12 – Review

By: Gail Simone (story), Ardian Syaf (pencils), Vicente Cifuentes (inks), Ulises Arreola (colors)

The Story: Nothing more awkward than two women showing up with the same outfit, right?

The Review: If nothing else, the increasing number of spin-off titles from the Big Two prove that yes, indeed, there can be too much of a good thing.  That seems particularly the case with derivative characters, especially when you have two red-headed women swinging about town in skintight black outfits with bat insignias on their chests.  Call it redundancy or lack of originality, but you can see the inherent problems with this situation right away.

Even though Barbara Gordon as Batgirl predates Kate Kane as Batwoman by decades, it’s been a long time since Babs actually had a night on the town in the outfit, while Kate’s had something of a meteoric rise in the last couple years.  That all has everything to do with the creative forces behind the characters.  Greg Rucka, J.H. Williams III, and W. Haden Blackman have, through powerful writing and art, raised Kate’s profile well within the atmosphere of DC’s A-listers.  In contrast, Simone has struggled to find a voice for Babs, established as she is, and Syaf’s merely decent artwork gives Batgirl a distinctly B-list look.

Batwoman #11 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy & Pere Perez (art), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: From woman to man to dog—the devolution of Maro.

The Review: At one point in this issue, Maggie remarks, with total affection, “Oh, Kate…you never do anything half-assed, do you?”  And while this is trademark Bat-family behavior, for Kate this seems especially true.  She has a persistence that slides well into stubbornness.  She may be resistant to change, but once she decides to, she doesn’t transition into it like most of us; she goes for it heart, mind, body, and soul.

Take this case of Gotham’s disappearing children, which Batwoman has investigated since nearly a year ago.  With each arc, the opposition gets only more formidable and the stakes bigger, yet she’s clearly committed to seeing this mystery through to the very end—whenever that may be.  Just when you thought her underground confrontation with Maro and four supernatural minions would top everything off, you learn there’s a greater battle yet to come.

Batwoman #10 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy (art), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: Sometimes people are so close, it’s like they share one body.  Sometimes they actually do.

The Review: This fragmented approach to storytelling that Williams-Blackman have taken on has been an interesting experiment, and a pretty successful one.  Keeping six different plotlines running at the same time in each issue and somehow delivering a coherent, unified read is no easy feat, so in that respect alone, Williams-Blackman have been wildly effective.  But up until now, there didn’t seem to be any reason to write the arc this way except for sheer novelty.

Now, however, with each plotline running closer to each other in time, all coalescing into the “Now” of the present story, you can see how each informs and plays off the others.  Imagine one of those photo-mosaics, where you have scads and scads of little pictures, each with a distinctive subject of its own, yet all coming together to form a single, focal image.  We’ve been too close to the individual pictures, and only now do we step back and see what we’re really looking at.

Batwoman #9 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy (art), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: Kate Kane has it all—the good life, the love life, and definitely the night life.

The Review: I know I’m a bit late to the party in saying this, but I think it’s pretty amazing how naturally people have taken to this title as an ongoing series considering how its lead is an openly lesbian character living an openly lesbian life.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this makes Batwoman the first mainstream comic of its kind, and beyond even that remarkable achievement, it’s impressive how few people have given it a second thought.

And why should they?  Certainly Kate and her supporting cast do not.  Perhaps the complete lack of discrimination shown in Kate’s world thus far seems a tad idyllic—fictionally so—but it also emphasizes that Kate’s sexuality is irrelevant to the demands of her story, except insofar it determines where her relationships with certain characters will proceed.  In many ways, this situation represents the way things might be, or ought to be, in the future.

Batwoman #8 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (writers), Amy Reeder (penciller), Rob Hunter (inker), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Kate demonstrates she’s not exactly girlfriend material.

The Review: A black friend of mine once told me that to make it in this world, “you can’t work as hard as a white man; you have to work harder.”  A dim outlook, but one no less wise for it.  I think the same philosophy applies to women as well, perhaps even more so, and perhaps especially to women in the superhero business.  One of the long-running, subtle themes of this series is Batwoman’s struggle to craft a heroic identity beyond “the female Batman.”

The first step in that struggle involves her lack of resources.  Though independently wealthy, she doesn’t have the technological connections and inventiveness to be as well-equipped as the Dark Knight.  Working for the D.E.O. has clearly caught her up some.  Here, she gets to put her voice-controlled throwing dart (with the bit of alien A.I. inside) to use against Medusa’s monster minions.  As cool as the dart’s versatility is, it takes away from Batwoman’s abilities to a certain extent as it takes down all her enemies for her, all in a row.

Still, considering she’s outnumbered by supernatural foes, the extra help is warranted.  Besides, she proves her chops later in the issue (but earlier in the story) by singlehandedly executing a breakout at sea, clearing two boats full of GCPD cops, including her girlfriend, in the process.  The scene plays out yet another complication in Batwoman’s life: the overlap between her civilian identity and her night job.  Batman’s had a long time to separate his personas, but now that Kate’s dating Batwoman’s direct competition, such divisions don’t seem feasible now.

Batwoman #7 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (writers), Amy Reeder (penciller), Rob Hunter (inker), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Don’t be too hard on him, Kate—everyone needs a hook to get by in this world.

The Review: Last issue marked something of a turning point for this title.  The first story arc, appropriately enough, focused entirely on delivering a knockout tale that would get you to fall in love with its tone, its sophistication, and its star—check, check, and check.  Now that you’re hooked, it’s time to expand the scope of the series and get you to sympathize with its world and supporting cast.

With that in mind, Williams-Blackman’s “six story” format works very well, especially in this issue, now that most of the light setup is out of the way and they can really focus on knitting the various perspectives together.  It’s clear that a lot of thought went into deciding which scenes go where, as despite the lack of chronological order, you can still see the plot develop in a fairly clear fashion.

The best example starts in Kate’s story, where she encounters Abbott (a werebeast from the Religion of Crime), who worries Medusa might “run us out of Gotham.”  We cut to Maro, and see Killer Croc complain that the occultist promised to make me big time…to give me the juice I need to eat Gotham alive.”  Both these scenes intersect in the following chapter from Maggie’s POV, where we see Croc, now buffed out and feral, tearing into various werebeasts.  A Medusa agent soon after states, “…the Gator’s gut is full of acolytes and Abbott has gone to ground,” proving Abbott’s concerns from earlier.  This is a situation where you can have your cake and eat it too; the story feels lively from the constant cuts, but you can follow along quite easily.

All this is the more plotty sort of stuff, but Williams-Blackman also take the opportunity to do some necessary character work.  So far, they haven’t quite managed to pin down Maggie nor Chase, both having assertive, wry voices which just happen to echo Batwoman’s herself.  It’s a case where we have three strong women, each with strikingly similar backgrounds, so it’ll take some doing to define Chase and Maggie’s personalities and make them more distinguishable.

Batwoman #6 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (writers), Amy Reeder (penciller), Rob Hunter & Richard Friend (inkers), Guy Major (colorist)

The Review: Talk up any comics enthusiast, and one of the first things out of their mouths will be something along the lines of how unique comic books are for storytelling.  You hear less about their painful limitations.  I don’t know about you, but the most frustrating restriction on comics, in my mind, is their painful shortness.  Many writers have made the most of the pages they get, but by and large, I find myself wishing there was a little more substance in my hands.

That was the prevailing feeling I got reading this issue.  You shouldn’t take that to mean Williams-Blackman skimped on the story in any way.  After all, it’s fairly ambitious of them to not only play around with a number of different character perspectives in the story, but also to set each vignette at a different time.  All told, you get six mini-tales, each standing on their own, and each with enough drama to support half an issue on its own.

This fragmented structure can easily get confusing, but Williams-Blackman do two things to keep things moving smoothly and clearly.  First, they bookend the issue with the central action, Batwoman facing down the kid-thieving Medusa, which lays down some context for each of the different stories we get here.  Second, while each scene has only faint connections to the others, they have enough common ground to deliver a unified story overall.  Think of it as a mosaic, each scene piecing together to form a bigger picture of where this series plans to go next.

Batwoman #5 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (writers), J.H. Williams III (artist), Dave Stewart (colorist)

The Story: Screw the Ghostbusters—Batwoman’s on the case!

The Review: Kate Kane as Batwoman faced a lot of scrutiny from the moment she came into existence, and although her sexual preferences were the most controversial, I think even if she’d been straight as an arrow, people would still look at her with a doubtful eye.  Anyone who takes on “Bat” in their name is bound to have tough comparisons made on them, and since she presumes to hold herself as the female equal to Batman, she has even more to live up to.

So it’s been a great pleasure to see her doing just that.  While her methods and attitude to the work have obvious differences, she’s shown just as much of a hyper-competence and willingness to do the most radical things to get the job done.  You may have been wondering how she planned to grapple with the Weeping Woman; ghosts aren’t exactly within the Bat-family’s usual line of work, after all, not even with the Dark Knight himself.  And it must be said, the spiritual tactic she uses to figure out what’s to be done, and her execution of it, is both surprising and brilliant, something Batman would do in his most esoteric, probably the best praise of all.

And like any great Bat-story, Batwoman’s confrontation with the Weeping Woman has just as much dramatic depth as it does action.  What really makes the scene sing is how it shows Kate as both human and superhuman at the same time.  If we can take the theory that every Batman rogue represents some different aspect of the hero’s character, and apply it to Batwoman, the Weeping Woman represents Kate’s grief and guilt over the loss of her sister.  While she will probably always think of Beth with regret, Kate makes it clear she will no longer feel guilt over what happened, as it was not her fault.  The Weeping Woman, however, can’t say the same.

I won’t spoil the sequence for you by describing the specifics, but I can say that in addition to showing Batwoman’s ability to be both unmoved and compassionate at the same time, we also get a name drop of her next mark, one the D.E.O. also want to take down.  While Chase and Bones describe Medusa as a “criminal cartel,” that begs the question: what the heck kind of criminal cartel can summon demons to possess stray spirits and compel them to kidnap kids?