Where do I begin? Well I wouldn’t do it in space as this week Batwoman has randomly been turned upside down. Now in space with her new team of Unknowns, Batwoman is fighting Morgan Le Fay without explanation or reason other than to stop her from causing chaos.
Not only was I confused and stunned at the issue but I just don’t know how this is really in the “Bat” style anymore. Now the leader of a rag tag team called the Unknowns, Batwoman is floating in space, that’s right, space. Totally the Gotham jurisdiction this character comes from. I realize that most of my questions will be answered in the next issue but it was a weak start a new story arc and a poor introduction to the new characters that Batwoman is now working with. They seem to dull down her story as the comic has lost all its edge for just being about the heroine anymore. It wasn’t clever, it wasn’t witty and it lacked the mystery that Batwoman once held around her.
Something is just missing each and every time I pick up this series but I am loving the new artwork from George Jeanty and Guy Major. It’s hard to grasp something and make it your own and though it lacks that 3D look, I like that Batwoman has been returned to her bright reds and her Sister Alice has an amazing look to her character as well. I’m a fan of the cyber punk and it suits her as that darker side of the team. Though it great to see some old faces, I still think that Batwoman should remain her own story and not just the substance that the rest of the team seem to gravitate around. I thought with the introduction of Alice we would see something really cool, sister helping sister but this was not the start to the next arc I was hoping for.
Positives
The artwork is one of the few positives to this issue. With the new arc starting up, new artists George Jeanty has done a pretty good task of taking his own spin on the characters. I do love Alice who we saw arrive in Futures End and I’m very curious to see how her attitude towards her sister and this new team will advance.
Negatives
Now this issue I could have seen as a Futures End, it would have at least made more sense. With no plot to follow and a twist from the stable Gotham environment, nothing about this issue really had any significance to me. Last we saw of Batwoman she was being bitten by Nocturna. Her character has really dropped the ball on the mysterious, cheeky woman she once was and is now just a broody, uneven character with a few random one liners. Once again, the rag tag team that she is in charge of took more of the spotlight to the issue and I feel that the story is not really about Kate anymore. This should have been a side series that she moved into not the focal point. Also the outfit has changed once again, going from the complex Batsuit to now just black outlines, it seems like Batwoman has lost a lot of the intricacy and detail she had. I’m not sure what is happening to her story and I’m hoping that more is revealed later to stop confusing readers otherwise Futures End is the real end of Batwoman.
Verdict
Another confusing issue for this week’s Batwoman only provokes readers to continuing scratching their heads. As the new team tries to find its feet, we are now hopefully going to get the fill that will explain everything that has happened to the heroine.
Rating
