Batwoman, Volume 1: Hydrology

This comic really didn't work for me. I mean, I was a little unsure to start with, because I've never been a Batman fan, but I figured I could give a gay Batwoman a chance. (Depending on the version, I do sometimes like Batgirl, anyway.) This is more a detective/mystery than I was expecting - and those are wildly hit or miss (usually miss) for me. I didn't care for so much page time being devoted to unmaking Batwoman because I've never liked that aspect of superheroes. There's several ‘recap' type things in here, too. In fact, it starts off with one and that did little more than drag me out of the story. Finally, and if this makes me shallow, so be it, the art style is one that I find unpleasent. Really, mostly Kane/Batwoman herself.

(Besides that, I've kind of gotten spoiled with the comics that, each ‘omnibus' anyway, tells a complete story. This one doesn't.)

I really want to like Batwoman and I plan on continuing this series, at least as they come out in trade paperback. And it is an interesting character with lots of issues and great attributes. Maybe it's because I didn't have much knowledge of Batwoman before the New 52, or rather, no desire to know about her until now, but I felt like I was coming into a story that had already begun without me.

Hydrology collects issues #0-5 and we start out with mention of Kate's twin sister and who she became and even the back cover mentions her father was her partner in crime fighting. But nowhere in the book is that really made clear. There's no backstory and you're just meant to follow along as if everything makes sense.

Now, I don't know if other series in the New 52 are like this. To be honest they probably are, I just never noticed because I already know the backstories for the series I collect and read. The other thing that bugs me is that this is only the first 6 issues (counting #0) so the story arc isn't nearly complete. If the arc crossed over multiple characters I could see having more than 1 book for the arc, but this is soley Batwoman's story!

Basically, my complaints are with the set up and the lack of issues in this TP, not with the story itself. I actually was familiar with La Llorna thanks to TV's Grimm so I felt rather proud of myself. :)

So I'm on the fence. I've got volumes 2 and 3 on hold at the library. I'll read through those and decide then if I want to continue with Batwoman!

I guess my main issue with this is the cliffhanger it ends on! Couldn't they have waited and collected a few more comics for this volume? GUYS COME ON. This is why I don't read comics by the individual issue in the first place!! (throws table)


ps the art was pretty