DC Pride Book Club | Nº13 | Batwoman: Elegy | Jun. 3-16

DC Pride Book Club’s 13th Installment :rainbow:

Batwoman: Elegy

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DC Pride’s 1 Year Anniversary kicks off with Batwoman: Elegy!

Join DC Pride in reading Kate Kane’s iconic story and one of DC’s best ever.

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SPOILER DISCUSSION: 2020-06-03T07:00:00Z2020-06-16T07:00:00Z

What: Batwoman: Elegy - Detective Comics (1937-) #854-863

batwoman rrDiscussion Questions

  1. Is this your first time reading Batwoman: Elegy?

  2. What were your favorite aspects of this story?

  3. Did you have a favorite panel, action scene, or moment in general?

  4. How do you feel about the villain?

:nerd_face: Share your thoughts on the reading overall as you read along and let’s discuss

Questions or concerns? Reach out @Nu52 :inbox_tray:

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  • Yes, this was my first time reading it.
  • Hmm, Kate Kane? :grinning: There are a few things I enjoy. I love seeing her base and how it got started. The flashbacks are gold, especially the scene in the military academy where she’s told she can either deny the charges/apologies for her lapse in judgement or be discharged and she basically reminds him that she has been taught to live by a code that doesn’t include lying. While my own personal life is different, I very much admire her stand, not just for who she is but what she believes in - the code she’s trying to live.
  • There were a couple panels…
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    The art for the whole series was great, but I especially loved these moments.
    Oddly enough my absolute favorite moment wasn’t actually part of the main story, but in the end pages with the Question. When Helena brings Renee with her to speak to Barbara and Renee just can’t get over the fact that her contact is “Commissioner Gordan’s daughter.”
  • It depends on which villain. For instance, Alice was interesting, but every time I saw her I kept thinking about Queen Elizabeth I of England… which was very distracting :smile:
    For the last three issues, Cutter and the other dude were actually great. They actually instill fear. I’d be more likely to die at their hands then Alice. I’m not really impressed with Alice as a villain (at least at this point). Obviously, she has to be one nasty individual to gain the title High Priestess of the Crime Religion, but most of her nastiness seemed to leak out onto her followers.
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Overall it was a very enjoyable read. It reminded me that i need to get on the ball in my Batwoman reading and stop slacking!

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Yes the only other batwoman stories I’ve read are rebirth and the ones from march DC-pride reading.

Have a few issues left but what I’ve read so far is not bad. She has such a tragic backstory. Favorite aspects are the interaction between Maggie Sawyer and renee montoya. She was so brutal and unfair speaking to Montoya that way.

There were a few so far that stuck out to me. Any scene showing bwoman’s teeth in a smile, I mean it’s very joker-esque and I would be terrified to cross her path. Her father felt like Alfred to me, this panel especially showing he does not agree with her choice. The suit scene just because she looks amazing and the step mother is a difficult person for lack of better word. And then the rescue scene speaks for itself look at those eyes. Taking and remembering every detail in the room. Another great use is of her cape and the bat signal incorporated into the panels.

So far only Alice and besides being a bloody murderer who has a similar stick to the hatter I’m not really sure I appreciate thecharacter. Not sure I’m buying the twin thing


This panel is beautiful and I’m not sure if they choose to color her hair and signal rainbow because shes been poisoned or because shes a queer character. Either way it’s a lovely panel.

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I love a good backstory and I agree with you about the flashbacks. What she did was brave.

That is such a good way of putting it! I do too.

That’s a good point!

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Yeah, true. I just love that we have these three iconic lesbian characters in comics all in the same book. It’s epic.

Her smile has always been jarring to me. Maybe because I’m just not used to seeing Bats other than Babs smiling. The closeups are really what get me.

What a gorgeous panel, for sure! I love that the bat symbol is rainbow as well. It’s probably a case of a bit of column A and a bit of column B.

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What’s funny about her approach with criminals in this run is how oddly siren-like she is, at least in the first issue.

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That was an interesting bit to me because I haven’t seen her approach be like that before reading this. I haven’t read a whole bunch, but that was new to me!

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Agreed it seemed out of character for her until she tried to dangle Alice off the roof. I feel that’s more her style similar to bmans.

Ya might be right not too many of the bat fam are smiley. I know damian hardly ever does and bman it’s rare.

The art is beautiful with the fading in and out for memories, not so jarring which helps the story telling.

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I think Rucka might have still been trying to figure her out. After all, this is the first story that portrays her as the goth punk girl we know and love. When she was first introduced in 52, she was more a traditional femme fatale for Renee’s beleaguered private eye.

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Ah ok I have not read any of the “older” stuff but I did go back and check out 52 # 11 and she definitely gives off the more femme fatale vibe.

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Don’t quote me on this, but I think they kind of poke fun of this later in the “Go”/origin part of the story. I’m pretty sure that in the story Jacob makes fun of her for going out in high heels and Kate justifies it saying it was the only one she could find in that color. :laughing:

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This story is so important to me. I don’t know if I can adequately and eloquently enough explain my feelings. I think it all starts with that startling cover art of Detective Comics #854. The colors of crimson and charcoal black that dominate it draw me in as if by magic, I can look at it for hours. So to me, one of the initial reactions to Batwoman and this story was always the look. I fell in love instantly. Batwoman’s suit must be my favorite costume in all of comic book history.

Inside, it’s not any less amazing. the story starts with more startling art and highly inventive paneling. I don’t know what the art-style would be called, I’m not that cool, (that blotchy painted look - but precise, not haphazard), but I absolutely love the feel and atmosphere created by the artwork, for example with that famous spread when Batman shows up on page 7 of the first issue. in fact, if I could, I’d frame most of the pages and panels from these issues and hang them on my walls. But I’d need, like, a lot of walls…

And speaking of art, the hallucination in the second issue is just so well done. There’s so much detail and you feel disoriented reading it.

More random thoughts: Kate and Maggie dancing (those stares!) is awesome and (they maybe won’t appreciate the word, but) cute. The yin-yang spread on page 13 of the fourth issue is just bananas. How? How does someone come up with something like this? Alice is an amazing character too, she also has an instantly iconic look to her that’s in such contrast to Batwoman’s. Yin and yang, again.

Overall, obviously, I love this story, and Batwoman in general. It’s that confusing feeling of wanting to be her and be with her. I hope everyone who’s read this for the first time reads more Batwoman that’s out there. Her first ongoing series that starts with the amazing Hydrology story is also a tremendous read!

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You are somewhat correct :smile: I just read those issues and the roles are actually reversed. Great exchange between the two!

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I absolutely agree. There are so many panels that are wall worthy. They are so eye catching and captivating it’s easy to get lost in the art alone, and it just serves to, as you put it, “draw you in” to the story and make you want to know more.

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I’ll take somewhat! I’m perfectly fine with somewhat. :smiley:

Finished reading the first four issues, the actual “Elegy” storyarc. It’s funny, with runs like this on the club I always think, “I’ve read this loads of times before, I can just skim through it, remind myself of some stuff, and be done with it,” and then I just end up reading it fully again anyway. :sweat_smile:

Anyway, an excellent first arc for her as a solo character. It immediately establishes who Kate is, what her situation is, what makes her unique, while still leaving some things to the imagination so that it keeps on the hook to find out more.

Some highlights:

  • J.H. Williams just does some stellar artwork, especially on the action and how he frames it. It’s beautiful, it’s artistic, but still readable and follows a certain sense of storytelling, which can be easily missed when you’re going for something like this.

  • Similarly, the scene with Kate and Maggie meeting for the first time and their double page spread dancing together is lovely. I’ll be a little heretical and say that I honestly didn’t like their relationship going forward – I thought it was badly written and extremely toxic – but this first meeting is, like @Mae said, very cute.

  • Finally, the Beth reveal. When Alice first showed up, I thought what Kate basically assumed: lame, third rate Mad Hatter rip-off. But not only is the fact something that takes her over, it’s how it’s revealed. I love the lettering choice to have her drop back to normal speech bubbles instead of the negative ones, showing her having a rare moment of lucidity and sanity gives the reveal and the possible death and extra kick in the gut.

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This is an excellent point. I loved it when I was reading, but totally forgot about it when I was posting on here :smile:

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It happens. :slight_smile: I know because I’m gonna post one!

Another detail I noticed that I forgot to mention was I loved how there was a lot of symmetry right from the start around Kate and Alice. Reading again, it kind of just smacks you in the face like “We’ve been telling you they’re twins with the art from the start!”

Also, I’m hoping no one is sleeping on the Question back-ups – I mean, “Second Features.” Really liking them – it has a more down-to-earth vibe, but still feels thematically similar with the two similar leads.

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Honestly, some of my favorite moments were in the Second Features. Renee is great and the “guest appearances” had me fangirling so badly.

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Not me!

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