Mar
16
2017
0

Batwoman #1 Review

Written by: James Tynion IV, Marguirette Bennett

Art by: Steve Epting, Jeremy Cox

Publisher: DC Comics

Does anyone want to know what a lesbian James Bond set in the Batman universe would look like? Look no further!

This book is unique in so many ways. It has intrigue, multiple locales, interesting characters, and possibly the beginning of a new chapter in the Batman saga. Tynion and Bennett here write an interesting story for this character. There was a reason Kate’s other adventures have had such a pronounced cult following. She is a different type of Bat character, someone that defies the whole concept of Batman but is equally awesome.

The first issue deals with Batwoman traveling to different ends of the globe with her girlfriend, who serves as a moral compass. She is also Kate’s Q type character, her Oracle so to speak, directing her to where she needs to go to complete missions and such.

The book does have a quite a bit of exposition, so if one is not prepared for that, they might be in for a surprise. The book does have something I am not a huge fan of, and that is a voice over. It has endless voice overs that try to explain what is going on, and it does bog down the book a bit. Where the book does shine though is how Kate is fighting, taking no prisoners, and her relationship with her girlfriend.

Steve Epting joins the team of writers here and his clean lines and graceful art really do this book justice. Be it the action scenes or the intimate scenes between Kate and Julia. Steve Epting’s skills are welcome on this book.

Without spoiling too much, this book does have a flashback sequence in it, and Epting’s use of shadows and hues, together with Jeremy Cox’s colors, are excellent. The whole flashback is done in black and white with red hue, and it works out great to bring out the contrast with the rest of the book.

Overall, this book is a great introduction to the character for the new readers. It also keeps a lot of elements of the character from previous runs. This was one of the books that did not need to be reinvented really, as the character worked well before. What the book needed though, was focus, like many other New 52 titles, and even though it gets too wordy at times, I believe this was a very good introduction to the new adventures of Kathy Kane!