Review: Batwoman #1

Written by JH Williams III and Haden Blackman
Illustrated by JH Williams III
At last! Batwoman’s new series begins, from the multiple award-winning creative team of J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman!

In “Hydrology,” part 1 of 5, Batwoman faces deadly new challenges in her war against Gotham City’s underworld — and new trials in her life as Kate Kane.

Who or what is stealing children from the barrio, and for what vile purpose? Will Kate train her cousin, Bette Kane (a.k.a. Flamebird), as her new sidekick? How will she handle unsettling revelations about her father, Colonel Jacob Kane? And why is a certain government agency suddenly taking an interest in her?

This comic was first solicited in November of 2010, so to say we’ve been waiting a long time for it is a bit of an understatement. But the greatness of JH Williams III is one of the few things in comics that is truly worth waiting for (although it, with the DCnU relaunch, was clearly not his fault).

So was the greatness of J3 worth more to me as a reader than the frustration of waiting ten months for this book?

Find out after the jump.

At Multiversity Comics, we have a ten point scale of reviewing. In my mind, when I get into the review I try to think of what I would give the book in terms of writing and art and then I segment the two into their own five point scales. So theoretically, a comic should only be able to earn five points for art if it has truly stupendous art.

However, JH Williams III breaks my scale.

To me, with many apologies to people like R.M. Guera (Scalped), Chris Samnee (Captain America & Bucky), Olivier Coipel (The Mighty Thor), Stuart Immonen (Fear Itself) and any number of other very talented artists (not included: the currently not working Frank Quitely and John Cassaday), J3 is the absolute apex in comic art right now.

In this issue alone, Williams gives us an individual and unique style for each story segment of the book. You have the action sequences with their dynamic and energetic layouts with a luminescent, post-reality sheen to it; the more standard in design but heavier in lines, inking and coloring for standard life segments; a third for the section with Chase and the DEO, with an even darker and more heavily inked look. Williams can find an appropriate technique for any story type, and his chameleonic design choices make this book an absolute feast for the eyes.

Then, when you aren’t even thinking of his changing art style, he smacks you across the head with things like the completely whited out (besides one section) panel of Kate Kane reflecting on her past with Renee Montoya or the crime scene page told in a spiral and all designed around a crying skeleton of a lost child. These pages are not exactly obvious directions to take a page, but they are completely engaging and beyond enjoyable to drink in as a reader and fan of this visual medium.

However, the best section, and perhaps the perfect section to indicate that this book is going to kill with Williams as both the writer and the artist, goes to the two page splash that features boxes going diagonally from top left to bottom right with Kate and her father arguing in them, all the while depicting Kate’s entire history that Williams and previous Kate Kane writer Greg Rucka laid out for us around those boxes. For those DCnU writers and artists looking to quickly and efficiently walk their readers through the history of their character, Williams and his co-writer Haden Blackman put on a clinic with that page.

The story itself is a strong one, and it continues the relationship between Kate and the supernatural (headed by an intensely spooky villain) as well as developing her supporting cast with her cousin and sidekick Bette (aka the artist previously known as Flamebird) and a potential love interest in Detective Sawyer. This issue does a brilliant job of establishing who Kate Kane is for new readers without bogging down long-time readers with repeated exposition, while also setting up the storyline going forward with a case that fits perfectly to Kate’s MO.

But when you get down to it, the thing that makes this book so great is that Williams does not miss a step at all without his one time partner-in-crime Rucka. This book doesn’t miss a beat, and for those who loved the Kate Kane work they did together, Batwoman is a dream come true. It’s well written, engaging, great for new readers and old, and just a great comic.

Plus, the ending with Batman? Perfect.

All in all, this is the best looking book so far of the DCnU. It’s remarkable to look at, with Williams’ innovating and dazzling with the greatest of ease (brought to life with the typical lush colors from Dave Stewart).

I’m enthusiastic about the potential of this book, and as a big fan of the leading lady and the creator who just can’t get away from her, I see greatness both here and in the future for the best redheaded female Bat character.

Yeah. I went there.

Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy