Talk about starting a new arc with a bang! The newest Batwoman story sees her back in Gotham and fighting none other than Mr. Freeze. How did Freeze get out of Arkham? It’s not addressed, nor is it ever brought up in today’s Birds of Prey where Victor is also wreaking havoc. As for which of these two Mr. Freeze comics you should read first… it’s really up to you. I don’t think that there was any communication between the two creative teams and Mr. Freeze’s dual appearances today were mere coincidence. I will say that this comic is good and Birds of Prey #18 is bad though, at least in my opinion.

The only real problem with Batwoman #18 is that it isn’t as great of a jumping-on point for new fans as I had hoped. There are quite a few new things going on and while it was easy for a such as myself to follow, I have read the first two volumes of Batwoman! Anyone who hasn’t seen at least volume 1 of this series is going to be left out in the cold. It’s odd really… I don’t know how Batwoman can get away without numerous editors notes or painful lines of exposition riddled dialogue while something like Nightwing is constantly plagued by “*Dick Grayson used to be Robin. Check every ****ing Batman comic ever –Editor” or “Sonia, it’s great to see you even though your father was Tony Zucco, the man who killed my parents. How are things at the bank? Still helping me finance the new Amusement Mile I hope!”

Seriously, Batwoman fans must be thrilled. While it’s not very accessible to new readers it seems far more determined to please the fans who have stuck around since day one and that must make for a pretty rewarding read. In fact, this is the first issue of Batwoman in a very long time to acknowledge the rest of the Bat-family and the typical goings-on of Gotham. Not only will you see her confront Mr. Freeze in a spectacular fight scene, but you’ll see Batman as well. I was also oddly pleased to hear Batwoman mock Mr. Freeze as being one-note. He truly is. He’s from the same class of villain as Mad Hatter and Man-Bat when it comes to repetitive plots.

The fun Gotham stuff doesn’t last for long, however. We quickly get back into Kate Kane’s personal life and the DEO stuff, a secret organization that Batwoman has been working for since the first volume of the New 52 series. There’s no real explanation for who everyone is so I can imagine that will lead to some confusion and honestly I kind of wish I had waited for the trade. Having only read up to volume 2, I’m afraid I’ve had some pretty major developments spoiled for me here particularly between Kate and her girlfriend Maggie.

You’ve likely heard of Batwoman mainly because of the artwork by J.H. Williams III, but this issue is actually done by Trevor McCarthy who I felt did a tremendous job. He did great work capturing the look and feel of J.H. Williams’ original design back when he first came aboard the series in Volume 2 and it seems to me that he’s only gotten better. The colors of this comic are equally magnificent. The only complaint I had was with Mr. Freeze’s look but that’s not the fault of this creative team, that’s just how Mr. Freeze looks in the New 52. The sleeveless suit and puff-ball haircut just looks awful to me.

Issue #18 kicks off an interesting new arc for the Batwoman series but it’s not likely to gain any new followers unless those folks are dedicated enough to go back and read the first 3 volumes. Seeing how Batwoman and her partner operate against a foe like Mr. Freeze in the book’s opening pages was very thrilling and it’s great to see that the personal relationships of these characters are still getting plenty of focus as well. The artwork is gorgeous and features some really stylish page layouts that are a pleasure to look at too. Other than the poor accessibility of this first chapter my only complaints would be that the ending was rather abrupt and its cliffhanger confusing. The comic places so much emphasis on the artwork that sometimes very little happens on a page and with so many characters the tale didn’t quite gain enough traction following the opening fight.

SCORE: 8/10

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To Drown the World tried to go for the non-linear narrative but failed. It was really disorganized and with the month-long gab between each issue I simply couldn’t keep track of what was going on in the story. And since Batwoman is basically a bat-title in name only I decided to “trade-wait” this title. So here we are! Now that issues #6-11 of this arc are collected in a lovely hardback it should be a much easier story to follow and a more enjoyable read.

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This isn’t just the best Zero issue I’ve read so far. This is the finest issue of any bat-comic that I’ve read all year.

SCORE: 10/10

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“Batwoman” is easily the most beautiful book in DC’s entire lineup. If you love comics more for the art than for the story then you would be a fool to not buy “Batwoman Vol. 1: Hydrology”, it’s as simple as that. J.H. Williams and Dave Stewart take special care to make every panel a memorable work of art that any fan would love to have blown up and framed on their wall. There are so many different styles used here, the panel layouts are highly stylized in wonderfully creative ways, and for an added touch all of the women of this book are illustrated and colored differently to reflect their personality and role in the story. However, as lovely as this book SHOULD look, a complaint I’ve had about all of the hardback New 52 graphic novels rises yet again: tight binding. Much of the impact of a two-page spread is lost into the spine and there are far too many occasions in which speech bubbles or thought boxes are pulled into the spine as well. It’s a shame to see so many gorgeous pages presented in such a frustrating way.

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Non linear stories can be amazing if they are handled properly but that’s not the case here. I think that this story could have worked and it could have even worked in a non-linear way, but Williams and Blackman failed at telling it in an effective way. You can’t devote only 1-2 pages of story in a different place and time with different characters and expect people to keep up and care about what is happening especially when we have a month in between printings to forget what happened in the previous chapter. As I’ve said countless times in my previous reviews, this will likely turn out well when it’s collected as a trade paperback, but as a monthly title it isn’t worth my money right now. I’ve never really enjoyed the Batwoman story. It’s not my thing! Much like how I never got into Doctor Who or Star Trek, I can’t get into Batwoman for the life of me! Who am I to judge something that I’ve never really found myself capable of enjoying as much as its truest fans?

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I found the best thing about this issue to be the cover. It’s a damn fine cover but everything that follows is terribly clumsy and almost unreadable. If you’ve seen my reviews for issues 6 & 7 then you know how I feel about the sloppy structure of this arc and it’s just as bad here.Williams and Blackman are trying to tell a non-linear tale, but in my opinion they are failing. It may work out well in trade paperback form when the whole 6 issue arc is finally collected, but I cannot remember what is happening in this book from month to month and it feels like I’m throwing money out the window. The story takes place in the present for 2-5 pages, then 2 pages 6 nights ago, a single page that’s 2 weeks ago, another couple of pages that take place 1 week ago… it’s a mess. So little time is spent in each segment that I just can’t and don’t care about what is happening. And Amy Reeder, who is leaving after this issue doesn’t seem to give this issue her all, which is understandable since she apparently had a terrible experience working on this book. This shot in particular looked off.

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If you weren’t sold on Amy Reeder’s art in the last issue, you will be here. The story on the other hand is not so hot.

My advice for readers of “Batwoman” right now would be to skip the monthly floppies and wait for a TPB. The non-linear storytelling here is atrocious in my opinion. It was so convoluted and jumpy in issue #6 last month that none of it was memorable and I found myself flipping through it again as a refresher before diving into what’s happening here. Sadly, that still didn’t help and I found myself not only confused by what was happening but, far worse, not caring. Being confused by a narrative can be a good thing if the content is there. If the events of a story are interesting enough I’ll go along with every jump, twist, and turn and piece together each narrative thread like the complex puzzle the author intended it to be, but this is  6 stories that are taking place at 6 different points in time squeezed into a mere 20 pages. Every vignette is far too short lived and the end it’s a pretty unsatisfying read for $3 bucks. Due to this erratic narrative, of all six plot lines, not a single one has hooked me or stayed in memory after setting the book aside. If it was a TPB, however, that could be an entirely different story.

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Amy Reeder, who had just taken over for J.H. Williams III on penciling duties for “Batwoman” last month will be leaving the title after issue #8. She’ll be replaced by Trevor McCarthy, who you may remember as the fill-in artist for Nightwing #4.

DC Comics announced this last Thursday on their official blog The Source but it wasn’t until today that Reeder came out on her own blog to both thank fans and further explain her struggles with “Batwoman”:

I’m sure there’s a lot of curiosity about what exactly happened, which is understandable.  But I can’t get too far into it–in addition to trying to be a professional and not burn bridges, it’s complicated enough that I find it difficult (and frustrating) to explain even to friends.

The jist of it, though, was that it was a bad situation, and kept getting worse and more intense until it became impossible.  I am a long-term project kinda girl and I was so excited about being on Batwoman…I didn’t want to let go of it and fought until it was over.

It was bad enough that now I’d rather just be happy and move forward: I’m honestly very excited by the possibilities.  All this has strengthened my resolve to do my own thing again–write, draw, color, letter.  My work is, by nature, better as a full experience, and the process makes me so incredibly happy that I can’t stop drawing.  Which also means more comics for you.  Anyway, not saying it’s my guaranteed next step, but if there is a way for me to do that and pay the bills, I will.

Obviously she can’t name names and give us all the juicy details we would like to hear about the drama that can go on among a book’s creative team, but there you have it. Personally, I thought that she was doing a great job so far on “Batwoman” and I think I’ll miss her. Were you enjoying Reeder’s art? How do you feel about McCarthy taking over? Got any gossipy theories about what exactly happened to push Reeder to leave? Discuss it all in the comments below.

SOURCE: DC Comics

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No Bat-title has been praised more for its art than Batwoman, but today’s issue is different. Batwoman #6 marks the beginning of Amy Reeder’s run as penciler and everyone is wondering if she can fill the shoes of J.H. Williams.

Well, in my opinion she has. Did she surpass Williams or equal his quality of art? Nah. Until she starts layering several different artistic styles on one page like Williams was capable of that’s just not gonna happen. But she delivered plenty. It’s a fine looking book, but I think she’s trying too hard to emulate Williams’ layouts when she should be doing something all her own. Oh well, the point is that Amy Reader maintained the book’s artistic quality and nobody is going to pick this issue up and call it ugly. Instead, they’ll likely call it “short” or “boring”, but not “ugly”.

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