Pow! Bam! Crack! After many months of delay, issue number one of Batwoman hit the stands this week as part of DC Comics’ massive comics reboot. In this first issue, writer and artist J.H. Williams III and writer W. Haden Blackman introduce a bizarre new villain to Gotham City, and Batwoman a.k.a Kate Kane must face many personal and professional challenges if she is to solve the case.
In one Gotham City neighborhood, six kids have drowned and another thirteen have gone missing. The culprit is a woman out of legend, La Llorona, the Weeping Woman. As Batwoman and Detective Maggie Sawyer race against time to find La Llorona, Batwoman must also contend with the Department of Extranormal Operations, which has launched an investigation into her identity. Meanwhile, Batwoman must also cope with the events of Batwoman: Elegy, specifically her rage at her father for hiding the fact that the sister she believed to be dead was still alive and masquerading as the villain Alice.
The storyline I am most interested in seeing play out, though, is the budding romance between Kate Kane and Detective Maggie Sawyer. In a sense, both women are on the rebound; Kate still has feelings for her ex-lover, Detective Renee Montoya, while Maggie Sawyer has recently ended a longtime relationship. I want to see this romance turn out well; however, I will always consider Renee Montoya as Batwoman’s one true love, and I hope that we have not seen the last of her.
Batwoman is also one of the most visually dynamic comics on the shelves. The panel layouts are inspired, and Todd Klein’s lettering work makes La Llorona seem as if she is actually speaking underwater. J.H. Williams’s art style calls back to his work on Batwoman: Elegy, enhancing the sense of continuity between that story and the current series. Williams shares illustration duties with the artist Amy Reeder, so fans wishing to get a taste of Reeder’s art style should check out her blog before her art appears in Batwoman in February.
Overall, Batwoman #1 introduces enough story threads to keep readers engaged for a very long time. I hope the Batwoman series succeeds because I love the story and am attached to the characters. I love having a high-profile lesbian superhero that I can root for and emulate. I love supporting a comic that features brilliant women characters and includes a woman on the creative team. Most of all, though, I love being whisked away to the dark underbelly of Gotham City and experiencing the vicarious thrill of fighting evil.
Sources:
Amy Reeder, “Teen Titans #100 and the Covers,” The Reeder Ship.