Batwoman: Elegy

Damn, this is amazing. The art is superb, and so is the story; I was kind of afraid that the writers would make her to be a female version of Batman, but no; Kate Kane's definitely a character of her own, and the villain, Alice, is equally as intriguing. I do wish we'd seen more of Renee/the Question, but hey, can't please everybody! All in all, really well done.

4.5 stars. The additional .5 star is for the gorgeous artwork.

I wanted to like this a bit more than I did, but having the last part be mostly flashback kind of killed the momentum of the first half. I can see how that would work as a serial, but all in one gulp like I read, it didn't quite do it for me. Having said that, the layouts on some of these pages were absolutely stunning, and I do love Kate's backstory and that of her family. She's just not a character I've been able to find a way to connect with yet.

Gorgeous art and an awesome character backstory. The plot was mildly confusing since this was the first Batwoman story I've read, but that's what Wikipedia is for.

All Kate Kane ever desired was to serve her country with honour. And she was on her way to doing that, too - until she was asked, she told, and she became separated from the US Army. After that she became lost for awhile, until the Bat found her. The Bat gave her a chance to serve again, to don a uniform and fight evil.

This was a pretty enjoyable read. Kate's Batwoman is the antithesis of everything I ever disliked about Batman, and the JH Williams artwork is gobsmackingly beautiful. The only downside is the first arc is fairly dependent on reading what had come before (which I hadn't, so I had to visit wikipedia to figure out all the prophecy/”Religion of Crime” stuff).

Still, a good read if you're into crimefighting vigilantes.

Beautiful artwork, although it's presented in frames that are often distracting or difficult to follow. Everything I read about this reboot really emphasized Batwoman sexuality (she's a lesbian), but that aspect of the character seemed more tacked on than actually necessary. Naturally, I enjoyed the variety and quality of the Lewis Carroll references, although I wish the authors hadn't decided to so blatantly point out the connection. A villainess who calls herself Alice and makes references to things being curious or not being afraid of falling down the stairs should be obvious enough; if the Batwoman readers aren't savvy enough to make the connection, that's their problem, there's no need to insult the rest of us by pointing out the obvious.

Beautiful artwork, although it's presented in frames that are often distracting or difficult to follow. Everything I read about this reboot really emphasized Batwoman sexuality (she's a lesbian), but that aspect of the character seemed more tacked on than actually necessary. Naturally, I enjoyed the variety and quality of the Lewis Carroll references, although I wish the authors hadn't decided to so blatantly point out the connection. A villainess who calls herself Alice and makes references to things being curious or not being afraid of falling down the stairs should be obvious enough; if the Batwoman readers aren't savvy enough to make the connection, that's their problem, there's no need to insult the rest of us by pointing out the obvious.