Batwoman: Elegy

When DC first announced they were bringing back Batwoman, I was skeptical that it wasn't a publicity stunt to resurrect an old character with a new spin (she's a lesbian now, guys!) to grab headlines. I'm pleased to report I was totally wrong.

Usually when I review DC's Batman compilations, I feel the need to break them down issue-by-issue to acknowledge the fact that there are bad issues and good issues. Elegy works really well as a cohesive whole - I couldn't tell you what my least favorite issue was, as I'm not sure where one begins and another ends.

JH Williams III is as amazing as he as ever been. Look at the hidden words in Kate's memories when she's been poisoned! Check out how the panel borders and layouts change when Kate stops show more being Kate and starts being Batwoman! The fight-sequence-in-one-page when Kate jumps onto the plane! Hell, even just Kate dancing with Maggie Sawyer (DC: you need some more new lesbian characters) is wonderfully done. I could go on and on. There's a reason they're putting him together with Gaiman for another run at The Sandman.

The plot is really great - the twist is one that you don't see coming, but looking back, you can see where Rucka planted the clues. The origin story issues are just absolutely phenomenal -- as Rachel Maddow points out in her introduction to the collection, the sequence where Kate comes out to her father is absolutely heartbreaking. Rucka just delivers on Kate as a character every step of the way here, and does a great job of giving her her own "Yes, father" moment when she manages to save herself from a mugger before Batman even shows up.

I'm baffled why DC doesn't take more steps to integrate Kate into the larger Bat-family. She's a helluva character, and this is a helluva book. (Plus, I'd get a charge out of the moment when Bruce and her show up to some charity ball in the same tux.) show less

This is the first Batwoman story I've ever read and with one minor quibble I was very, very impressed. With one exception I LOVED the art, that one exception is the extreme whiteness of her skin and the extreme red of her mouth. It was constantly distracting and for me detracts from the overall look of the character. I liked how the art styles were different between the past and present story lines though I definitely preferred the art in the present story, it has a very lush and Art Nouveau look to it that I felt worked especially well with the Alice character.
I found the story and mystery very compelling and I definitely want to read more to find out what happens next. This is an excellent book to introduce someone to the Batwoman show more character. show less

The New 52 brought me to DC Comics in a way that I'd never been involved before. I didn't think that would be the case. I knew these classic characters in ways that the casual reader likely doesn't, because I grew up with comic books. That said, I grew up with the Marvel universe on my shelf much more than the DC Universe, but still...I was suspect. Until I read a handful of the inaugural issues, after which I was hooked. As you might suspect, the Batman titles have held special interest for me, likely because I had been a Batgirl reader prior to the New 52's launch.

Batwoman, however, is the character of which I knew the least. While friends have spoken very highly of what DC is doing with the character, I found myself turning to wikis show more to read about her origin, because I knew very little about Katie Kane or how she fits into the Batman mythology.

As it turns out, she operates parallell to Batman's mythology more than she operates within it, but, in any case, I wanted to be introduced to this character, and, "Elegy" being a highly acclaimed story arc, seemed a good place to start. This graphic novel collects all of the issues within the story arc, which takes place before the New 52 re-boot.

Here we find Batwoman facing off against a new villain called Alice, who dresses as one of Carroll's characters and quotes lines from the book while proving herself quite adept in the realm of criminal insanity. She is targeting Batwoman, and Katie does not know why. Katie proactively begins hunting down Alice, against her father's advice. Her father points out that this is more about revenge, while Katie insists that this is about survival. The reader is drawn on a rollercoaster of a storyline as we watch Katie waver back and forth between the two.

Batwoman is a very different character for the Batman mythology. She has a military background, and has received much notice as being one of DC's few gay characters. After being dishonorably discharged from military service for her sexuality, she is in search of a new way to "serve." She is inspired when she fights off a mugger, easily defeating the attacker just as Batman shows up. She watches the Dark Knight vanish into Gotham's dark skyline, and realizes that this is how she will serve the public around her. Using her wealthy father's resources and her background along with new training, she dons a costume as Batwoman. Her adventures bring her into occasional contact with Batman, although she is not really part of his "family," at least not at this point.

Batwoman's origin is woven into this story through flashbacks, as it brings to light who Alice is and why she is targeting Batwoman (I'll say no more in the interest of spoilers). The story weaves in a good dose of the supernatural, which fits well with Gotham's eerie past. As with any self-contained collection of stories from a larger serial, there is some backstory of which the reader may not be aware, but I was able to deduce at least the generalities of this quickly. So, someone who does not read comics regularly would not be lost here.

The art is a very different style than I'm used to reading in comics, at times striking with Batwoman's imposing figure and red and black costume, at times cartoonish in background panels and it's portrayal of Alice. Our heroine is consistently daunting yet disturbing in appearance, her skin a bit too white, her smile threatening. This is critical in understanding the character, however, and developing the character is perhaps what the writers do best here. I felt that I knew Katie Kane as well as I know most other characters in the Batman mythology when I turned the final page.

That said, the character isn't one of my favorites. While an interesting and dynamic addition to Batman's world, this is a peripheral individual, operating in Batman's likeness but not with his style, and often not with his blessing. She serves the people of Gotham as a hero would, yet her sense of duty seems misplaced at times. Her actions are motivated by anger more than justice, and I concluded at the end of the book that she was, in fact, quite motivated by revenge. Her closing words to an underground coven of lucanthropic criminals is to leave her family alone, or "I will kill every last one of you." These are violent sentiments of which no other hero in the Batman "family" that I can identify would ever espouse. This is part of what sets Batwoman apart, however, and, as we see her walk away from her father in the final panels of the story, she does so different from Katie Kane. Any version of Batman's mantel comes with a price, and Batwoman's dedication to protecting those around her has caused her to be drawn into a darker version of herself as the story concludes.

Overall, it is this radical departure from Batman's heroism that causes me to rate this book with only three stars. That said, the writing is excellent, the story exciting if predictable, and the art refreshingly different. If you're interested in the Batman titles and, like me, have no idea where Batwoman fits in, this is a good read. I'm glad that I got to know this character. I'm just disappointed with her based on what I know. show less

Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III’s Batwoman: Elegy collects Detective Comics nos. 854-860. The story takes place after the events of 52 and Final Crisis, with Batwoman, real name Kate Kane, working to keep Gotham safe following Bruce Wayne’s apparent death and Dick Grayson’s donning the mantle of the Bat. During 52, Batwoman fought Intergang and narrowly escaped their attempts to sacrifice her as part of their religion of crime. Now, she learns that they have a new leader arriving who believes herself to be Alice Liddell, who was acquainted with Lewis Carroll and may have partly inspired the main character in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

“Elegy” forms about 2/3 of this book, with the remaining 1/3 offering a fuller show more origin for Kate Kane, including her dismissal from the military due to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Rucka draws upon the experiences of Dan Choi, who challenged the policy and was instrumental in getting it repealed, in issue no. 859, with Rucka and Williams including Choi in a brief cameo. From there, Kate Kane became a vigilante until her father discovered her doing it. Coming from a family committed to honor and service, he supported her, but insisted she get the necessary training to stay safe, even helping her put together her first Batwoman costume.

The combination of J.H. Williams III’s art and Dave Stewart’s colors create one of the most visually-dynamic stories in comics. Williams uses the layout of the panels to tell a dynamic story matching Rucka’s text, often creating triptychs and diptychs evocative of religious iconography while Stewart adds color that gives each page its own character. Stewart draws upon the red, white, and black color palette of Batwoman’s costume to imbue scenes with a neo-noir aesthetic that visually distinguishes Batwoman’s scenes from the messy, dreamlike colors of Alice’s world or the realistic colors for scenes of Kate Kane’s civilian life.

This volume concludes with a cover gallery and script pages from Rucka and Williams, showing how Rucka described scenes for Williams to execute with his art. Elements of this story were adapted for the first season of the CW’s Batwoman series. show less

Kate Kane, daughter of an army colonel and ex-military herself (after being kicked out of West Point for violating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell), re-invents herself as the Batwoman. She’s been involved in a fierce battle with a religious cult and now stares down their newest leader, a Lewis Carroll-quoting woman known only as Alice. But all is not what it seems on the surface….

Roughly half of the book is set in the present as Batwoman faces off Alice, while the second half of the book mostly deals with Kate Kane’s background and how she became the Batwoman. (One of my favorite quotes in the book: “The bat they shine in the sky…Civilians think it’s a call for help. The bad guys think it’s a warning…But it’s more than that, show more it’s something higher. It’s a call to arms… …I’ve found my way to serve.”) I love reading the back stories of characters, so I really enjoyed the second part, although the action-packed beginning was a great pull into the story. I was also impressed by how well the Lewis Carroll quotes could fit into the story and realized someone must have done some serious research to manage that feat! There were so many great little details, like cameos of Batman and the real-life Lt. Dan Choi. I loved the relationship between Kate Kane and her father, and how he is her “Alfred,” if you would pardon the comparison. In addition, I was happy that Kate was realistically characterized (especially considering that she is a lesbian character – I was glad to see she wasn’t one big stereotype from start to finish) and is presented as a person with both strong points and flaws.

And the art work in this book was just phenomenonal. There are so many great things about the art – from the panels that look like a bat cutting across the page, the vivid colors set against otherwise dark backgrounds, the cinematic angles, and the wonderful illustrations of Kate Kane, Batwoman, and Alice in particular. As others have mentioned, even if the story wasn’t any good, this book would be worth checking out for the artwork alone. show less

Batwoman: Elegy collects issues #854-860 of Detective Comics in a single-volume, glossy, hardbound edition. It’s quite a beautiful presentation, and I must admit I loved having the opportunity to consume the entire series in one sitting, as opposed to sampling it one monthly issue at a time.

As the story begins, Kate Kane – cast out of WestPoint in disgrace, but still every bit a soldier – finds herself confronted with a madwoman known as Alice, who speaks and acts as if she truly were in Wonderland. Alice has come to claim her place as head of the 13 covens of the Religion of Crime, but she’s also come to fulfill a prophecy of doom that has already haunted the Batwoman once before.

Since this is a graphic novel, I’d like to show more begin by commenting on the artwork. There are 3 distinct styles used within the saga, each deliberately tailored to an individual aspect of the story. A glossy, stylized, vibrantly coloured approach is used for the basic superhero storyline, and it suits the overall tone nicely. It isn’t until the other styles appear, however, that you begin to appreciate just how carefully crafted the approach is. When the story strays into the supernatural elements of werewolves and other monsters, the artwork becomes harsher and edgier – even the lettering becomes jagged and crisp. Later, when we slip into flashback mode and witness the events that led Kate to become the Batwoman, the style changes again, becoming plain, washed out, and a little more ‘classic’ or retro.

As for the storytelling, it’s told entirely through dialogue – there are no narrative asides, bridges, or commentary to ease the reader along. While that can bring a weaker comic to it’s knees, the dialogue here is very well written, easily conveying the depth and significance of each scene, even while sounding (so to speak) natural to the ears. Alice’s dialogue is a challenge, but entirely suited to her Wonderland psychosis, and is at-times lifted word-for-word from Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece. It helps that the artwork is so well done, clearly conveying the urgency of the storyline though an overlapping series of beautiful, often frantic, frames.

On the surface, this is a story about two women, each the opposite of the other – the Batwoman in black, and Alice in white. Both are damaged, and both are consumed by the single-minded pursuit of their goals, but where the Batwoman takes strength from her damaged past, Alice seems fractured because of it. There’s a connection between the two women that I won’t spoil here, but I will say it’s teased well enough and long enough that the final reveal is more of an ‘ah-hah!’ than a ‘huh?” moment.

Of course, it’s impossible to review the adventures of the Batwoman without commenting on what made her such a media sensation – her sexuality. Yes, it’s true, Kate Kane is an out-and-proud lesbian. What’s important, though, is that this isn’t some cheap publicity stunt, and it’s never played for the titillation factor. Kate’s sexuality is a defining element of her personality. Following her expulsion from WestPoint, there’s a single page, a sequence of 6 washed-out retro frames, which deal with her coming out to her father, and with the consequences of being publicly outed. It’s one of the best coming out scenes I’ve ever read/seen, and the side-by-side panels of Kate’s facial expression, followed by her father’s, tell more story in 4 words and 2 glances than should be possible.

Gay or straight, male of female, if you don’t come away from this story without respecting and admiring the Batwoman, then clearly you’re on the wrong side . . . and will likely be getting a blood-red boot to the chest in a future issue. show less

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that original Batwoman kind of maybe sucked a little bit. Not as strong as Batman mentally or physically and really only introduced as a love interest for Batman to dispel accusations of inappropriate relations between Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne. Eventually forced into retirement by Batman when Batman and Detective Comics sales flagged. Well this Kate Kane is kick completely kick butt. I love the toughness of her character and the art style in this book almost made me drool, even though sometimes I had trouble following the panels. The story had a great twist and I would love to see more from this Batwoman.