Comic Books

BATWOMAN #1

At last! Batwoman’s new series begins, from the multiple award-winning creative team of J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman!

In “Hydrology,” part 1 of 5, Batwoman faces deadly new challenges in her war against Gotham City’s underworld – and new trials in her life as Kate Kane.

Who or what is stealing children from the barrio, and for what vile purpose? Will Kate train her cousin, Bette Kane (a.k.a. Flamebird), as her new sidekick? How will she handle unsettling revelations about her father, Colonel Jacob Kane? And why is a certain government agency suddenly taking an interest in her?

Written by J.H. WILLIAMS III and W. HADEN BLACKMAN
Art and cover by J.H. WILLIAMS III

Price: $2.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 33.6%
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Avg Rating: 4.4
 
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Comments

  1. Gosh, I’ve been waiting for this for a LONG LONG TIME!

  2. Before we knew about this DC52, this has always been the book that I have so anxiously waited to see back on the shelf. This sort of feels like an event in itself. The saying: “Can’t wait!” doesn’t even cut it.

  3. My number one with a bullet anticipated comic ever. Seriously. I’ve never felt so teased than with JH Williams on Batwoman. I’ve read the ‘Tec issues, and the zero issues over and over. Sometimes I just look at the art. Cannot wait.

  4. I’m lacking beauty in my life. This week, Mr Williams III shall solve that. He could draw a shopping list and make it stunning.

  5. This is one of my “shot in the dark” pulls for the reboot. Don’t know anything about it, but the cover alone had me intrigued to pick it up and see if hooks me.

  6. Haven’t read the Batwoman Elegy storyline (shame I know… I’ll remedy to that in due time) but I picked up #0 and enjoyed it a lot. Can’t wait for this series to finally debut!

  7. I really liked Elegy and that’s why I’m picking this book up. Haven’t read the #0 issue. Is it worth it to still pick this up somewhere?

    • I loved the #0 issue … But this book won’t be parceling the penciling duties the way that book did (Williams took the Batwoman panels and Reeder drew the Kate Kane panels). I don’t know how much of the Elegy story Williams had anything to do with outside of the artwork, but I’ve been looking forward to this for at least a year. My guess is I’m on board for at least the first year, since I don’t think Amy Reeder’s work is expected to show up until the second story arc.

  8. Freakin’ cannot wait. Most anticipated book of the year! DCnU what?

  9. I’m pretty sure I got the Detective run simply to look at these pages. The story was great, but JH Williams III is amazing. Really enjoyed the #0 issue too I cannot wait for this!

  10. What JHW3 does is elevate the art form. The 0 issue was beautiful, but I am quite excited to see how it all gets pulled together into a story. If he fails, it will still be jaw droppingly gorgeous. If he succeeds it could be sublime. You can either win or win big. I hardly care whether there is a bat or other DC characters involved at all.

  11. Looking forward to this.

  12. I wonder when the actual work was done on this issue. Looking at the timeline of when this continuation was first announced, this issue could’ve been completed as early as summer 2010. JH hasn’t had any consistent monthly work since early 2010.

  13. I have never bought a book just because of the art.

    The tipping point came when I saw the one page teaser and the description of the first arc as a horror story.

    I’m buying this.

  14. Oh isn’t she a darlin’ I have been waiting SOOOO long for Batwoman to come my way

  15. trade-waiting this one. Williams art looks so nice, I love having it in trade-form.

  16. If JHW3 can bring the writing even half as good as his art, this book is going to be great.

  17. To say that I am looking forward to this one would be a severe understatement.

  18. I haven’t craved a book as much as I’ve craved this one since the huge disappointment that was “Spider-Woman” by Bendis and Maleev. At least I know I’ll love the art, I hope the story is at least half as good.

  19. Really hoping my LCS puts a copy of this behind for me. I did ask him to but its not on my usual Pull List. Hope I don’t regret not guaranteeing a copy of this one.

    • Just buy a digital copy if they are out of stock. I’ve been buying all my issues digital and with the money I saved in gas I’m able to pick up 3 extra comics a month. It’s wonderful

  20. My prediction…”Top Book of the Week”!

  21. Will this title come out on time from now on and maybe no delays?? I also enjoyed the #0 issue and was hoping for more and then…PLOP….
    Very excite as well and if this is the most anticipated then it should have several more reviews and be sold out and have more reprints then the debut of JLA. LOL

    Just sayin’,

    K

  22. Man, I know I’m in the minority here… but I just have no enthusiasm for this. I mean, JHW3 is awesome, no doubt, but Rucka was really the soul of that Elegy arc, in my humble. He made Kate Kane into a fascinating and layered character in her own right, with the subtlety and depth that is the earmark of his work, and without him I feel like I’m just gonna be disappointed.

    Couple that with the deluge of books this week? Well, the trade will always be there if it’s awesome.

  23. Gosh, the run in Detective Comics was very good but REALLY OVERRATED. I’m sure this run will be fine but I prefer Barbara Gordon to Kate Kane. My money is on the fantastic Gail Simone an what she has in store for us.

  24. can’twaitcan’twaitcan’twaitcan’twaitcan’twaitcan’twait

  25. Loved the Detective run and adored Chase back in the day. As this appears to be a sequel of sorts to both… Thumbs ready to point up!

    I really want to see JHW3’s take on Director Bones…

  26. Since its safe to assume that the mysterious woman will also appear in Batwoman.. I wonder how JH Williams will integrate her?

  27. The Batwoman Elegy arch was the strongest run in Detective since I don’t know when. They teased us with #0 shut us out. Now we know why. This is going to be the book of the relaunch.

  28. Really looking forward to this tomorrow. Yay!

  29. I actually enjoyed the story in this issue, even though I have no background knowledge on Batwoman…I’m definately intrigued to find out more about her. As a bonus, my Fav Supe Batman shows up at the end and has me even MORE interested in picking up #2. My only complaint is that I’m not a fan of the art style where 200 things are happening on a page and there’s no clear delineation of what to read first…but that’s just me. (Yeah, I know…left to right, top to bottom…but still confuses me!)

    • I have no previous knowledge of the character either so I thought this would be a great place to jump on. But I wish I enjoyed the issue as much as you. I thought that the writing suffered because there was so much backstory stuffed on every page. And, although I love the art style, I had the same problem you did with the layouts.

    • I have no background knowledge of the character either, but I absolutely adored this issue. I didn’t feel overwhelmed with backstory that I needed to know. I felt everything was pretty clear, and I knew as much as I needed to move the story forward. Usually, I’m not a fan of super-busy artwork and crazy layouts either, but not once was I confused about the flow of each page. That must take a fair bit of skill to get that balance. Only downside was that it didn’t read well on the iPad with all the two page spreads. But that just means I’ll be picking up the trades. 🙂

      Man, the art is GORGEOUS! I was worried that the writing wouldn’t be as good in comparison, but it was just as fantastic; Kate Kane comes across as very human, strengths and weaknesses both. You get a strong sense of her personality through the well-written dialogue. I really can’t fault this book. Loved it.

    • I read this on the iPad too. Maybe that was why I was having trouble with the layouts. I’ll have to give it another go in trades.

    • I agree with lullercoaster that there’s too much backstory crammed into some of the pages like the last two page spread. Batwoman has a twin sister just like Catwoman? She drowned but really didn’t and became a supervillain? Who’s the orange haired dude with Bette at the top of the page, and the hostage with the bullet wound, and the werewolf and the humanoid sea creature? Yea, I haven’t read anything other than issue 0 but a new reader of Batwoman such as I shouldn’t have so many questions. The art is great but these two page spreads are just too dense and a little confusing… Kate Kane is kind of a jerk, so I’m not liking her character very much… This story needs to be simpler and Batwoman needs to kick a little more butt. That’s my final word.

  30. I feel dirty. Let me explain.

    It seems that my LCS where I have my subs is bound to sell out of one DC #1 book that I really want. Last week, it was Batwing. This week, to my horror, it was Batwoman. I got there one hour and 15 minutes after the store opened, and the last copy of Batwoman #1 was being picked off the shelf by another patron (proving the old adage, “The early nerd gets the worm”). The store checked back stock but didn’t have anymore. Given the news that all the #1’s sold out through Diamond, I figured my chances of getting this any time soon were nil.

    So I hatched a scheme. I called another comic store in the area. They had Batwoman #1 in stock. They had Batwing #1 as well. In fact, they would even hold copies for me until I got there. I felt a rush of excitement as I turned my car in that direction and sped to my goal.

    By the time I got in the parking lot, I began to feel… anxious. Oh, I was excited to get them, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was doing something wrong. Not unlike a cheating husband going behind his wife’s back, here I was, sneaking off to get what I couldn’t get in my current relationship. How seedy! Would I get the ever-possible “You know, we offer a pull service if you want to start a folder” question? That’s the comic-store equivalent of “Here’s my number, you’re gonna call me, right?” after a one-night stand.

    Luckily, the question was never asked. The employees were really nice and not pushy. I picked up the comics they were holding for me (in a plain brown bag, no less), chatted nervously with the clerk, and exited the store quickly. I would guess it was slightly less uncomfortable than what some must experience when visiting an “adult bookstore” – not that I’d know anything about THAT.

    So, Batwoman, I hope you are worth it. I feel like I need to take a shower.

    • Well, I think I can live with the guilt of sneaking around. I loved it. The art is beautiful, and the story doesn’t miss a beat. It looks like Williams will be picking up the unresolved threads from the ‘Tec run, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with it.

    • Hehe…I know the “dirty” feeling all too well. I felt bad the first few times I had to go outside my LCS Guy. HOWEVER, he will not hold just one issue for you. You can add something to your pull list, but he won’t let you say “Hey, I just want these number 1 issues”. He’s kinda a comic nazi that way. Anyway, I found a shop that WILL in fact do that, and even gave me a 10% discount even though I’m not a subscriber there.

      So, come on Comic Nazi’s of the World…you need to step up your game!

    • This was SO WORTH CHEATING! LOL

      I will add that I am glad I got it in print rather than in digital because of the two-page spreads. That just does not translate well on my laptop/iPad. If I had a 24″ 16×9 monitor, it would rock, but a 12″ laptop screen ain’t gonna cut it.

    • At least one of the local shops in the Denver area has been perpetually sold out of the DC 52 because another recently announced it is closing. The shop closing apparently hasn’t been ordering for obvious reasons so its customers are flooding the other shop. The only thing a comic store owner loathes more than too many books left on the shelf is NO books left on the shelf at 11 am. Fortunately, I had set up a pull list with them.

      I’ve bought a few of the new 52, but can’t say any of them are memorable. Batman and Robin was only mildly interesting. Action Comic and Detective Comics were complete yawners.

      Batwoman I’ve been looking forward to for what feels like a couple years now–and it didn’t disappoint.

  31. I think J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman didn’t miss a beat with the story. Felt like a direct continuation of Elegy.

    And the art, man… THE ART. Definitely my POTW.

  32. Too too too many double spreads for my taste, but the story seemed interesting, so I am going to try the next and make my final choice then.

  33. The art was fantastic. The writing was kinda bad. But man, the art is worth the price of admission alone.

  34. While I was waiting for Batowman’s return, I’ve been reading Promethea for the first time and there are a lot of parallels between the layouts in that series, particularly after the firat arc, and in Batwoman.

  35. I remember seeing the preview for this series ages ago. I was only interested in it because of the use of “la Llorona”. I loved seeing the monster from my childhood on a comics page and it felt true to the stories. Everything else was a bit confusing but then again I don’t know much about the character outside of 52. Still a very good issue!

  36. Well, I wasn’t disappointed. What a great strong start, and talk about GORGEOUS art. Holy crap.

  37. I think that Batwoman is a great character, who has not always gotten the strong stories that she deserves. This issue, though, I thought was all around great. I can see how some readers might have found it exposition heavy, but, I thought that they found a good balance between too much/too little information. As I haven’t read Elegy since it first came out, I didn’t mind a couple refresher points myself. Also, nice to see that Reene Montoya made it into the new 52, even if we still don’t know if she’s The Question or not (or do we?).

    As always, Williams’ art was first rate. The only question is which panel will make the weekly round up? Personally, I like Batwoman’s “That was creepy” — can we vote on an understatement of the week?

    I have not read Batman and Robin yet, but, all in all, I can see why Conor called this title the best of the first half of Batbooks . . .

  38. Hmm… Well, the art is lovely, but the writing feels miles away from Rucka’s run. Not regretting the purchase (it’s too beautiful for that), but I will not be sticking with it.

  39. Just picked this up today, good obook and was well worth the wait. I have seen the #0 sitting on the shelf at the local comic shop for a while now and never picked it up. I guess I’ll have to go back then and get it. On another note, I was pretty surprised at how DC has stepped their game on their female superheriones. I was pleased with this book as well as Batgirl. I think that this will definately be a monthly read for me!

  40. Second time I try this character. The artwork is phenomenal and I so want to get into this but I just can’t. Neither Rucka’s story nor this one are reeling me in. I just don’t connect.

  41. so good. I wonder when the rest of Batwoman’s run in Detective will be collected now.

  42. I enjoyed this but I definitely got the feeling the majority of this issue was written long before the idea of the New 52 had come to fruition. It doesn’t feel like we are starting over but picking up where we left off. The art was spectacular. I bought it digitally and thought the double page spreads really popped. This has probably been my favorite of what I have read so far.

  43. Art phenomenal as usual. I thought the story suffered a hair from trying to follow directly from the large amount of recap that was done to catch up readers. If I had been a new reader probably would have been just fine, but I’ve reread those ‘Tec books and the zero issue alot, earlier this week even, so I just wanted the next thing without retreading. That’s more on me. But I think that’s what keeps it from being my POW. Still very happy to see Batwoman back!

  44. Will never buy a book because of the art ever again. This was average writing with brilliant artwork. Did not care about the story after the first 4 pages or so. The last page was beautiful 2/5

  45. hmm I seemed to nod off there for a moment while tying up my comment.

    ” I thought the story suffered a hair from trying to follow directly from the large amount of recap that was done to catch up readers. ”

    Its like I had two thoughts at once hehe… I mostly just meant there was alot of recap of what came prior…

  46. I liked it, but felt like this series was too connected to the previous Detective run and trying to do too much recap….not really a fresh start. Loved the art, but i dunno…hope this doesn’t get complex and tied to continuity.

    I really like this Batwoman character, but kinda find Kate an annoying stereotype all the way down to her generic nautical star tattoos. Definitely torn on the characters. Maybe one more issue…we’ll see.

  47. The art was engaging and the story did more for me than… oh say “Yell and Sneer” (i.e., Hawk and Dove… sorry)… but I find the girlfriend aspect a little on the “hot straight chicks who might kiss” kind of thing… I mean, I don’t find tunes to be sexy and I feel it rather insults my intelligence as an committed sci-fi reader… Im looking for content and mind bending stories… Still, I dig the red costume…

  48. Something has been bugging me since reading this issue last night, so sorry if this is an idiotic question:

    The photo of Renee on the wall. Is this a memorial wall? A retired from duty wall? Or a currently employed here sort of thing wall? I have no idea really. Anyone?

    • I was wondering the same thing, but then I don’t know if Montoya was still alive previous to the relaunch.

      Great issue. I had intended to trade-wait for this book, but I need this artwork in my life monthly.

    • As far as I know, Montoya was still alive & active as The Question pre-relaunch. i assumed that the glassed-in photos were memorials; the tone of the conversation suggests that the two women are speaking of someone deceased. now, this could simply mean that to the eyes of the world Reene Montoya is “dead” while she lives on under the radar? still doesn’t answer the question of where she might be. after Ray Palmer popping up in Frankenstein this week, i’m beginning to suspect that familar characters might make a habit of appearing in unlikely spots in the new DCU . . .

  49. I love Williams’ layouts. But this was a pain to read on the ipad. kept having to zoom in and out to enjoy his artwork.

  50. Boring art, lame ass character, there is only room for one redhead in the bat family, and babs is back. PASS ON THIS!

  51. God, I missed this woman.

    Everyone’s a little queer. Why can’t she be a little straight?

    … and real.

    POTW

  52. This issue gets a three, just was not that impressed with the art and the story seems well kinda boring really. I do agree Babs is back lets keep it that way!! Not to mention we have like way to many Bat-books……………

    Just sayin’,

    K

  53. Not as strong a start as I would’ve hoped for, but definitely has great potential. Artwork was beyond wonderful (except for the one page after the NY Comic Con ad- what’s up with that?).

  54. I can feel a Babs vs. Kate shitstorm brewing. Hold on to your butts.

  55. Here is the status of Renee taken from dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com:

    JHW3 – “The photo of Renee is on a wall of officers of special commendation, relatively recent past and present. Renee is from the past, and the photo symbolizes Kate needing to leave the past behind to try and move forward in her life.”

    I would like to think that tells me that she is still alive.

  56. I liked the story and the pencils were great, but the color kills me every time I look at the book. Is Batwoman dead? She is literally so ashen faced in this book that a friend who flipped through the book thought she was some kind of female version of the Joker. Please just a hint of color because it distracted me so much.

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