Batwoman #8

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 8
Date: June 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Penciller: Amy Reeder
Inker: Rob Hunter
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Amy Reeder
Editor: Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, Mike Marts

This is the last of an eight-issue run of New 52 Batwoman that I bought back in 2012. My reviews for the issues leading up to this one are here: Issue #1, Issue #2, Issue #3, Issue #4, Issue #5, Issue #6, Issue #7.

Based on how #7 ended, my expectation was that this would be the finish to the arc, but instead, it ended up adding another layer of complication.

Batwoman has to fight through Falchion's minions, including a more-mutated-than-usual Killer Kroc.

And again, much of the issue jumps around in time. We get to see Batwoman dealing with Maggie Sawyer on a professional, rather than personal basis. Not surprisingly, love between a cop and a vigilante and be a bit star-crossed.

This felt like it should have ended here, but it was still all pretty good, and the gaps in the overall plot continue to get filled in bit by bit. This issue was also a bit more gory than the series has generally been.

I'm curious to see how this wraps up. I may have to go searching to find #9 at some point.

Rating: 6/10

Batwoman #6

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 6
Date: April 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Penciller: Amy Reeder
Inker: Rob Hunter, Richard Friend
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Amy Reeder
Editor: Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, Mike Marts

I'm reading the early issues of this series in pretty random order (my reviews: Issue #1, Issue #2, Issue #3, Issue #4, Issue #5, Issue #7), and the fact that the story is loaded with time-jumps is not helping matters.

This issue brings us the origin of Gotham's Weeping Woman, a few bits of interlude including a nice scene with Kate and Maggie and their relationship, and a couple of fight scenes.

The art really stands out here. This has been my favorite Batwoman issue in terms of art. The use of splash pages and the flow of the action scenes is great, and the artwork on the quieter moments is pretty effective as well.

There is some nice character development, even if the overall progress of the plot is somewhat choppy.

Rating: 8/10

Batwoman #7

A cover variant that I got in 2012 when I was reading a bunch of DC's New 52 titles. It ended up in the random stack of unread comics after I hit New-52-burnout a few months in.

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 7
Date: May 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Penciller: Amy Reeder
Inker: Rob Hunter
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Amy Reeder
Editor: Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, Mike Marts

The last issue in this run that I read was #3 (reviewed here), which had Batwoman going up against the urban legend figure known as the Weeping Woman.

Now, the Weeping Woman has been revealed to be part of something larger, a criminal gang with supernatural abilities and connections led by a man named Falchion. The opening scene sets up their confrontation, but this issue is almost entirely flashbacks. There is enough here to piece together the basic scenario but it's got probably a few more parts in motion than it really needs to have.

I did like the modern urban fantasy vibe that smoothly meshes high tech cop drama with supernatural magic, and it sets up what looks to be an epic showdown that will hopefully be worth the convoluted path getting there. I do have issue #8, so I should get to find out soon.

Rating: 6/10

Batwoman #4

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 4
Date: February 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Artist: J. H. Williams III
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, Mike Marts

Well, they went the predictable route with Flamebird, and they did it even sooner than I expected. That being said, the art and layouts of the (brutal) scene were good enough for me to mostly forgive the plot direction.

And the plot got more interesting once it got past the opening scene. The confrontation between Kate Kane and Cameron Chase is coming fast, and Batwoman is too distracted with other issues to see it coming.

Agent Chase has some particularly villainous moments in this issue, which follow from the opening scene and give the story some direction as they build up the tension.

Rating: 7/10

Batwoman #3

Back to the New 52. Closing in on the last of the #3's!

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 3
Date: January 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Artist: J. H. Williams III
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, Mike Marts

Batwoman takes on the Weeping Woman in the Weeping Woman's own element. As one might imagine, that doesn't go well. To make matters worse, when Batwoman does manage to avoid drowning, she walks right into the hands of Cameron Chase and a team of feds. Oh, and she has to ditch her planned date with Maggie Sawyer.

Artist J. H. Williams III continues to excel in design, with some of the most interesting panel layouts in mainstream comics. There is always something going on in the art in this title, and the dialogue is excellent as well. A confrontation between Kate Kane's father and Cameron Chase was excellent (in spite of misusing the term "enlisted"; maybe we could get a military-jargon-checker?).

The only real weak spot in this is the relationship between Batwoman and Flamebird, which seems forced (and forced in a not-boding-well direction for Flamebird). Other than that, this was solid. Good advancement of multiple plots, good dialogue, and a a really nice tender romantic scene with Kate and Maggie ("If you're going through hell, keep going."; nice!).

Rating: 7.5/10

Batwoman #2

Just two more #2s after this one.

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Artist: J. H. Williams III
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Janelle Asselin, Katie Kubert, Mike Marts

Opening scene has Batwoman and Flamebird brawling with some generic thugs, complete with little overlaid x-ray panels showing the bones breaking. Odd effect, particularly when juxtaposed against the conversation that the heroines are having while they casually beat up the bad guys. This is the kind of thing that works once in a while, but could get annoying (and fight scenes with too much talking in them are always at a certain level of annoying to begin with).

Fortunately, it gets better. I'm really digging the complex intrigue that's going on between federal agent Cameron Chase, Gotham detective Maggie Sawyer, and Kate Kane/Batwoman. Kate and Maggie's first date is a great scene loaded with sharp dialogue and a ton of underlying tension.

There are several other plot elements that get advanced, including the supernatural water-spirit that has been taking revenge for a drowning and a brewing metahuman gang war in Gotham.

The Batman makes a guest appearance (and gets surprisingly meta when he observes that "Murdered sidekicks tend to come back from the dead. As supervillains."; seriously, that's a direct quote!).

The art and layout style shifts with the scene. Some of the gimmicks (like the x-ray bit in the opening scene) are, well, gimmicky, but I liked the bat signal as frame for the Batman's scene and the use of two-page spreads in the CSI of the gang fight aftermath.

The ending was surprisingly sudden. Nothing wrong with it; I guess I'm just so used to splash page endings in the New 52 that I was left expecting one.

The overall quality and complexity of this book are so far more than making up for the few little things that don't quite work.

Rating: 7/10

Batwoman #1

Getting down to the last of my #1's. I think I only have two more (I only bought the titles I was interested in, not the entire 52).

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Artist: J. H. Williams III
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Janelle Asselin, Mike Marts

With so many of the DC relaunch books doing introductory issues that served only to establish the bare bones of the rebooted character with barely any advancement of plot (Supergirl, Suicide Squad, and Justice League were particularly blatant examples of this), it was refreshing to find a "New 52" debut issue that was absolutely loaded with plots and subplots.

DC had a hit on its hands with Batwoman as done by this creative team and they wisely decided not to fix what wasn't broke (why couldn't they have followed that line of thinking with Harley Quinn's costume? Or with Amanda Waller in general?). So this book dives right into the action with much of the supporting cast from the previous version of the book, along with some new additions.

The villain in this issue is also pretty interesting, a malevolent spirit associated with drownings who targets children. It'll be interesting to see Batwoman taking on a supernatural foe, and I could see that being pushed as a theme in this title among the Bat-books.

Also on the supernatural child-abduction is Gotham detective Maggie Sawyer. You might remember her heading up the Special Crimes Unit in Metropolis in a long run of Superman books. She's quickly established as a new potential love interest for Kate Kane in a scene that also establishes Renee Montoya as presumed dead (Yeah, right.). This was actually a really well-played scene with good dialogue and use of artwork. Definitely my favorite moment in the book.

On top of all that, there is a subplot involving Mr. Bones (From Infinity Inc. Remember him?) and the Department of Extranormal Operations, interactions with Kate Kane's father and with the Batman, and Kate training her niece (formerly Firebird) as her new sidekick.

Basically, there was a lot going on here and it all looked great, and it was mostly pretty intriguing. Unlike a lot of the new DC titles, this book didn't try to hold the reader's hand. It just jumped right in and got things moving.

Rating: 8/10