Batwoman v3: World's Finest TPB

I’m going to give you the short version. TLDR.

I’m being silly. I actually did read this trade, and there is some good stuff in here. But oh my gosh, there are SO MANY WORDS ON THE PAGES. Reading this book became work. I simply couldn’t read the overlapping internal monologues of Batwoman, Wonder Woman, Firehawk, Abbott, Medusa, Agent Chase, Director Bones… and my god, the list goes on and on. Seriously, do we really need deep motivations and thoughts from all these people? I couldn’t take it. By about two thirds of the way through I had to start skimming the caption boxes. I’m not sure if J.H. Williams or W. Haden Blackman is responsible for all this introspective prose, but somebody wants to write a book! The caption boxes often tell a different story than the art!

And I get it. J.H. Williams is an artistic genius. But sometimes his odd panel layouts don’t help. With no panel descriptions and double splash pages filled with different colored caption boxes, I had no idea what to read next. I think I’m a pretty experienced comic reader, yet I found myself totally lost more than once.

The core concept is a strong one. A mythological baddie has kidnapped children, so Batwoman seeks out Wonder Woman for some help. Since the villain fits into her wheelhouse, Diana agrees to lend a hand. Great idea. And the parts of the story with Batwoman trying to fit into Wondy’s world are really exciting. (Especially the tremendous sequence in the Amazonian prison.) In fact, the prison sequence is Williams’ best use of layouts and artistic design in the entire book. It is a fantastic scene.

But man, this story is surprisingly complicated. This is a book definitely written for the hardcore fans of Batwoman. I think I’ve read all her trades so far, but they haven’t made such an impression that I can remember all the details of what’s happening in this comic. Recurring villains don’t have quite the impact they should. Werewolves switching sides and becoming noble don’t have the drama that they should. Simply because I can’t remember who all these people are and what they did in comics that I read three years ago.

Because it is required, I’ll poke some holes in the new 52 timeline. Wasn’t AcroBat inspired by Batman? How can that be when he has an adult daughter but Batman has only been active 5 years? Who are Director Bones’ parents? I assume he was never on Infinity Inc., right? Somehow 52 still counted for this title? But not for other titles in the new 52? Blargh.

I guess I can give this an AVERAGE, but man, it almost falls off the cliff. There are too many neat ideas and wonderful scenes to hate this comic, but I can promise I’ll never read it again. 

Batwoman: Hydrology HC

So it looks like Batwoman is another of the lucky characters that gets to ignore the reboot, right? She still had her relationship with Renee Montoya, I assume Montoya was never the Question, though, right? Did Question exist in the new 52? These are the pointless questions that keep me from buying the new 52 titles. This is another pick-up from my local library. (So far, they are pretty light on the new 52 trades!)

I can recognize the inherent skill in JH Williams’ work. It’s absolutely beautiful. The pages where BW’s cape forms the panels, the weird way he makes the water warp the page layout; it’s just gorgeous stuff. Now, is the action and storytelling always clear? Not always, but that’s a price I’m willing to pay for art this challenging and impressive. Amy Reeder’s panels aren’t as revolutionary, she seems to get all the “real life” stuff, but her art is clear and the emotions come through strongly. The art in this package is fantastic.

The story? Well, it’s slow, and violent. Those are probably the best two words to describe it. The hook-handed guy who seems to be the main bad guy only makes one (albeit vicious) appearance and I don’t understand how he ties into the greater plot. Judging by the costumes, the Medusa group is at war with those silly animal men from previous Batwoman stories, but how Mr. Hook fits in I’m unclear on. The weeping woman is a great visual, but I’m pretty confused on how she fits in too.

I am happy to see Director Bones show up with Cameron Chase again. So did Bones serve as part of Infinity Inc? Did Chase meet Booster Gold and Firehawk in her own series? Why do I keep asking these questions with no answers?

This is another example of the new 52’s age leveling too. There’s a fairly intense scene that alternates between a hookup and an evisceration, so yeah, won’t be showing my daughters this one!

Maybe I should just turn off my brain and enjoy the art for book?

Fair

Batwoman #1

This relaunch is weirding me out. I find myself enjoying the random pickups almost more than the books I'd planned on purchasing. The varying quality of these first issues is going to play havoc with my sublist.

As I said in my original review, I really like the Batwoman/Kathy Kane character, but I found her early adventures to be a bad fit. I hadn't planned on grabbing this issue, but my affection for the character led me to grab this issue anyway. At the very least I knew it would be beautiful!

And it is. J.H. Williams III's artwork is stunning. At times, the sheer inventiveness of the panels might make the storytelling a tad unclear, but it is worth it for the wonderful scenes. Everything looks gorgeous, from the battle with the new villain to flashbacks to training sequences. It's all just gorgeous.

I like the inclusion of Bette Kane/Flamebird as a new partner for Batwoman. Clearly, Kathy doesn't like working alone, and with the current difficulties with her father, she's taken Bette under her wing, giving herself a partner where Kathy can have the mentor role. I'm glad her father isn't out of the picture, though, I thought their relationship is one of the best parts about the character.

The new villain is suitably creepy (or it might be villains?) and I'm quite pleased to see Maggie Sawyer show up. I'm not sure I see why this needed the reboot, though. There are quite a few callbacks to older stories, so it seems Batwoman's history hasn't changed much at all.

I swear, figuring out DC's new continuity is going to ruin me. How did Kathy's parts of 52 happen but not Booster Gold's? Ugh.

Good

Batman Incorporated #4

Another non-linear triumph from Grant Morrison. I have no idea the extent he re-wrote Kathy Kane, the original Batwoman, but she's awesome. A daredevil who sought out Batman, she's a tremendous character and one I would love to see more of. And Morrison's take on the early Batman & Robin relationship is simply awesome. I love seeing Robin jealous that Bats is spending his time with Batwoman, and Ace the Bathound is no consolation for the boy wonder.

For some reason, the original Batwoman has an imposter facing down the current Batwoman, and the fight is related to the current secret society plaguing the bat-family.

This would be an exercise in randomness, except that Morrison reveals that Kane had some interaction with El Gaucho, and Gaucho may have actually killed her. That brings the parallel stories crashing together as Bats and Gaucho face off for the amusement of Gaucho's rogues gallery. What seems like three random stories actually work together brilliantly.

I'm not too familiar with Chris Burnham's work, but he's got a style that's perfect for this book. It ALMOST looks like Frank Quitely's art, but it clearly isn't. So it's influenced by a regular Morrison partner but retains an original feel; this is a rare accomplishment in today's comics.

Excellent

Batwoman: Elegy HC

I'm not a huge fan of Greg Rucka's, although he certainly has written stuff I like. This series falls squarely in the middle, with some fantastic elements and some pieces that don't work so well.

First, the good stuff. Kate Kane is a fascinating new character. I love her supportive father and her fascinating relationship with him and her lost family members. Kate is a stand-up, noble character with great motivation; I think she's a wonderful addition to the DCU. I love Alice as her villain too. Villains with a personal touch always work best, and factor in that she's a perfect fit for Gotham, and Alice has star potential too.

The art is absolutely stunning. JH Williams experiments with pages in innovative ways every single issue. His ability to alter the tone of the artwork for different story elements makes the story work perfectly.

Now, the bad; I hate the other antagonists. The Book of Caine just doesn't work for Batwoman. It's too crazy. Sure, she can fight an evil cult, but there shouldn't be shape-shifting animal men in it! That's too wacky, even for Gotham. And maybe I missed some background, but I have no memory of those animal dudes. This picked up from 52, was there anything else? I know I skipped some Book of Caine comic during Final Crisis, was that connected? I just never got into the conflict with the cult, it seemed like it didn't belong.

Fair

Batman & Robin #8

It is amazing what Grant Morrison can accomplish with a great artist. After meeting up with Batwoman last issue, we get to see just how she was captured by some evil chimney sweeps and taken to be sacrificed. I love how Morrison writes about the Crime Bible. He's the best at making it seem like an evil religion, there's something about the crazy way he delivers back-story about it that just makes it seem so perfect for comics.

There are still some conflicts between the London crime factions, but the bulk of the issue has an insane, resurrected Batman taking on NightBats, Batwoman, Knight, and Squire. It is interesting that Morrison gave us the nugget that Darkseid wanted one of Simyan and Mokkari's clones from Final Crisis as a body double for the banished Bruce Wayne. That's kind of a huge bit of plot to pull from a year-old event comic. I'd think people who hadn't checked out Final Crisis might feel a tad cheated. I enjoyed the fight, especially how easily the insane Batman dealt with the heroic crew. Only NightBats held his own for any length of time, though the matching costumes made it difficult to tell who was who. Having Batwoman sustain such serious injuries is interesting too, I'm sure she's going to need to be resurrected in the Lazarus Pit. I don't think that will change her long term, although she may come back infected (right LOST fans?)

Cameron Stewart has a great mix of cartoon and Quitely in his pencils. The war of the Batmen looked fantastic and I liked the shadowed Darkseid silhouette too. I am starting to wonder if this would read better in trade though, this did go by awfully fast.

Good

Detective Comics #854

I'm getting a strong Starman vibe from this comic. Not only does Kathy Kane dress and sort of act like Jack Knight did at the start of his series, but the art is similar, and both characters seem to benefit from lots of Dad-time in their lives. Kathy having her Dad around and equipping her, as well as advising her, is actually one of my favorite parts of the book. It's a neat dynamic and I like the idea.

The actual plot involves the silly Crime Bible cult and their new leader who is moving to Gotham. I suppose this makes sense since BW was their target back in 52, but I would have been happy if I had never heard about the heart splitting again. That pushes it even for comics. That said, the new leader of the Crime Bible seems pretty spooky. I do like the way Batman popped his head in to give a warning. The way BW carried out her interogation of her perp in the beginning was weird too, she was definitely riling him up to get him to talk. I had planned on passing up this era of Detective, and stick to trades, but as a lover of Starman back in the day, there is a place for an outsider hero like this, so I may keep picking it up.

J.H. Williams has some absolutely beautiful panels, and the art is fantatsic overall. I did think Kathy Kane was a bit more glamorous than she seemed here. As I said above, I really got more of a goth-hipster vibe from her here. That's not a problem, just not something I was expecting.

Good

Question back-up
Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner deliver a fairly generic backup starring the Renee Montoya Question. There is a nice mix of character work and action though, so there is a lot to dig in this. I love the confidence Question carries around all the time, she believes she can handle any situation and is ready to kick butt. It's possible I'm coming around on replacing Vic Sage...

Good