Batwoman #3
Publisher: DC Comics
Writers: J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman
Artist: J.H. Williams III
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Todd Klein
Asst. Editor: Katie Kubert
Assoc. Editor: Janelle Asselin
Editor: Michael Marts
I know we’ve all been holding our breath since issue two, but never fear, number three picks up right where we last saw Ms. Kane: in dire straights of the aquatic sort. Everyone’s favorite superheroine in red and black is literally in over her head and just itching to fall prey to the supernatural matronly menace she’s been hunting. There has been just enough build up without dragging out the inevitable too much, and the artwork does a great job of making the reader feel as confused as Kate; trapped under the waves, haunted by visions of her late sister. As previously mentioned, it’s always delightful to see the spooky side of Gotham that isn’t necessarily just a figment of some maniac’s imagination. Make sure to put this issue on the bottom of your pile of comics. Save the best for last….
The artwork in each chapter of “Hydrology” seems to get better and better with each issue. The first few pages, where Kate is struggling to overcome the Weeping Woman and not drown, are a great example of how far comics have come since the early twentieth century. The bar was set extremely low even just ten or fifteen years ago for how stories were told through the medium of comic books. It’s awesome to see artists and writers like J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman continue to push comics to their true potential as a symbiotic relationship between literature and fine art. In plain terminology: The bubbles in the water are used as panels! Brilliant! Yes, this kind of thing was already done in Elegy, but the constant barrage of new and creative ways in which it’s done has more than kept it from running its course.
Expect to see the usual, good interaction between characters and the often misguided police of Gotham City that seem to plague the wrongly accused Bat-Family. So far the relationship between Kate and her cousin Bette has been a little one sided, so it was nice to see her hold her ground and decide that she’s finally going to show Kate that she deserves to be Batwoman’s sidekick. Kate’s emotional side is also beginning to bleed through, and I found myself really trying to figure her out during her drastically different reactions toward Bette and Detective Sawyer. Maybe this villain is affecting her more than she thinks? Only time will tell.
If you haven’t been reading Batwoman, you need to go home and rethink your life. Except for another of the voyeuristic changing moments that plagued the otherwise perfect issue, it was superb. It always feels like three dollars well spent when the creators are really pushing themselves to bring something fresh and original to the wallet-draining-Wednesdays of comic fans.
Alexander Lorenzen
alex@comicattack.net
@A_Lorenzen
