Questions of Identity
Batwoman #2 is a great comic, but it's not great in a way that's particularly easy to communicate. It's not a spectacle, there are no huge reveals or shocking cliffhangers, and the art and writing are not really better from moment to moment than they were last month. What makes this book such a joy to read is how J.H. Williams and W. Haden Blackman are allowing the story they're telling to unfold naturally, in a way that doesn't lend itself to hyperbolic praise.
Particularly interesting so far is the way the creative team is allowing most of the action and violence to occur off-page, focusing instead on interpersonal relationships. D.E.O. agent Cameron Chase has arrived in Gotham to reveal Batwoman's identity, and Williams and Blackman deftly parallel that with other questions of personal identity for Kate Kane. Her personal relationships with her father, Flamebird/Plebe, Maggie Sawyer, and Batman all come with unique challenges that the creative team is clearly interested in exploring. This is the kind of subtle, rewarding writing that we don't get enough of in superhero comics.
Williams's art continues to be striking as he freely experiments with different styles throughout this issue. During the opening scene in which Batwoman and Plebe fight off a gang of small-time crooks, he uses a retro look with lots of bright pink, yellow and blue. The scenes of more normal character interaction (like Kate and Maggie's date) are given a more ornate, art deco treatment, and the brilliant sequence with Maggie and Cameron investigating a slaughter in an underground club has a suitably dark and serious tone. In most books, this art would be the high point. Here, it serves the writing so well that it's almost impossible to imagine the two being separated.
If there were any doubts about Batwoman being one of the standout titles in DC's new line-up, this issue should erase them. While the other exceptional titles from last month almost all stumbled with their second issues, Batwoman has only gotten better. If you aren't reading it, you should be.
