I was reading an interview earlier this week on Newsarama where W. Haden Blackman shared the writing team’s mantra for this title: “there is no status quo with this book.” Fair enough. Kate Kane is still a new enough character that they can invent new roles for her as they go, testing different things without stepping on decades of characterization. If their goal is dynamism and change for Batwoman, adding Amy Reeder to the team is a great start — as this issue amply proves.

Whereas J.H. Williams III’s art in the last arc stopped you in your tracks, making you examine moments in time in microscopic detail and in a nonlinear way, Reeder’s art MOVES. There are a few Williams-esque touches, like the loopy round panels in the double-page title spread or the use of square boxes to highlight bullets deflecting off Batwoman’s costume, but for the most part, it’s entirely her own style and approach to storytelling. This story gets in a lot of detail and moves through it quickly and gracefully. There’s more plot in this issue than in any individual issue of the last arc, helping us to dive right into this new status quo Blackman and Williams have created for Batwoman as an agent of the DEO. Maybe that status quo won’t last very long, but for now it’s worth continuing with.