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.
It’s like 90s TV star Blossom is cosplaying as Batwoman and we’re looking at her through a peephole. Batwoman and the boat don’t seem to obey the same perspective and it doesn’t look right at all.
Other low points include some confusion when the one week ago section references something that happened in the 6 nights ago passage…not sure how that worked out…maybe I read it wrong. And then, my favorite (or absolute least favorite depending on how you look at it) is where a six-eyed stegosaurus version of Killer Croc calls Batwoman “BATBITCH”…it’s bad writing to me and it’s not what I want in a comic be it a Bat-title or otherwise. This is the same week that Image Comics’ “Saga” came out and this is what DC is bringing to the table?
It’s disorganized, many of the side stories you jump to feel unrelated, and there just doesn’t seem to be a point. Even if you’re a big fan of Batwoman, I would suggest waiting for the trade. Maybe then this will all make sense and not be such a chore to read.
SCORE: 2/10
