Batwoman as a series hasn’t been doing well for a good little while now. What was once the standout title in the New 52 universe, Batwoman has quickly eroded into a mess that seems almost unsalvageable. But hey, at least this story arcs covers have been spectacular, too bad the content can’t match it.
“The mystery of Red Alice! Is Batwoman’s sister truly reformed?”
Batwoman #39 picks up with the revelation that Kate’s sister, Red Alice is back in the picture. Most newcomers won’t have any idea as to her background, but series fans will know that Kate and Alice haven’t really ever been on the same page, or same side of the law for that matter. But don’t fear kind readers as the full page spread that greats us lets it be know that Red Alice isn’t here to kill Batwoman and answering the only question the above blub from DC asks readers.
Once again the artwork is a far cry from what this book used to be. Everything gives you the feeling that this is done by the hand of an amateur, one better suited to a lighter toned book. While this might just be my personal taste bleeding through (it’s my review so what a shock) the characters just don’t look right. Facial structures are slightly off as well and the features themselves looking stretched to non-human proportions.
Our story plays a little catchup as we need to now fit Red Alice into this team of near Justice League member proportions for some reason, but before we can get into the action, our hero must deal with her girlfriend and sister as they spat it out over nothing important to the damn story. At least Kate is fine with everyone knowing she’s Batwoman as she doesn’t seem to be keeping it a secret, but then again I’ve been away from the series for a bit.
Intermixed with the festivities the plot jumps bacnk and forth to Ragman and Clayface as the two come to terms with Clayface having some sort of amnesia and now becoming a good guy. This of course could all be a ruse, but the book lets us know it’s real because Ragman transforms into his hero persona just for the hell of it. It’s… Well, it’s weirdly abrupt is all.
Nearly fifteen pages in we finally get to see Morgaine Le Fey come into the picture having already captured and subdued Etrigan, another member of team Batwoman. Yada, yada, yada, the team all appear together on a rooftop and rescue Etrigan and our book ends with Le Fey summoning her army. What should have been a cool scene of Etrigan and Le Fey fighting it out is reduced to a throwaway plot point.
So in a book with a team of five heroes, our villain escapes unchallenged and team Batwoman manages to do absolutely nothing aside from talking about their lives. This book doesn’t move the plot forward in any meaningful way and isn’t worth the cover price. This may be nothing more than a filler issue, but it sure doesn’t do a lot of filling.
Batwoman #39 feels like the third movie in any superhero film franchise. Let’s throw in as many characters as we can, for no other reason than we can and that will automatically make it cool. That premise is not cool and this book isn’t cool. Let’s hope that it takes a cue from superhero movies and just reboots everything. I can’t recommend this book to anyone, and the only thing keeping it from getting a single star is fantastic cover art.
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