DCU Book Club-Girl Power! Week 55: BATWOMAN (2017-) #1-4

1.) I may have read them in another life…

2.) Kind of a tie between the Warlords banding together and the the quiet moment of “I am Elder” “I am younger”

3.)The bat-suit can do a DNA scan

4.) Julia may work with the Batman, but she’s not his foot soldier/slave

4.)

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Hi @MisfitH!
Yeah, the DNA scan was pretty cool. I loved the motorcycle and the red bat-screen (attached).

I love your answer for #4.

Thanks for joining in!

@JLWWSM
Okay, I gotta agree-- the bat-screen struck me as way cool

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  1. Yes, first time reading the 2017 run. Read 52 and also Elegy.
  2. When she is talking to the twins and also the moment knife said no one would show up and then boom the crew was standing right there. I wish I could say I liked more, but like @BatWatch I felt like this story was a little meh. I have read far stronger stories with the character. This didn’t feel as well composed as anything else I have read for the character and at times had me questioning my respect for Kate as a character.
  3. The “bat computer” that Julia Pennyworth shows was probably my favorite. Also liked her poking Kate a bit about current tech.
  4. I think she simply wasn’t ready to initiate plan B and would if she had to go that route. I think she was having the exchange and then Kate came back successful so Julia put the kibosh on it. I think she would easily go that route though if needed, since she is still a Pennyworth.

This felt like it took a lot of the elements of Batwoman that make her unique from Batman and said they don’t matter. Instead lets tell a story that doesn’t fit the character completely. I would continue with the series though based on what @JLWWSM states is the continuing revelations regarding her past all the way to 18. It sounds like she processes it all for awhile. I do hope it gets better honestly, but this just didn’t do it for me as a reader.

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@PrincessAmethyst I agree. The Elegy is a stronger, more compelling story. The twins were creepy to me, I cringed every time I saw them.

Thanks for joining and sharing your thoughts with us!

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:mega: For anyone who has never read Batwoman and is interested in the character: read the Elegy! It is 10 issues and explores her background and the characters in her life.

You can find it here. https://www.dcuniverse.com/collections/story-batwoman-elegy

Eulegy. I read/reread those issues of Detective Comics a couple weeks ago. It’s a very dense read-- sometimes the events of 52 and other stories are referenced but explained. But, by the time you get to the last issue, and you’re told “To Be Continued” in a Batwoman book that will come eventually-- you’re like, NO! Keep Kate’s story going!

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Her series was delayed for about a year too, so that was quite a wait for those that wanted to see her next adventure.

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I read the first four issues of that series, too. And now I can read up thru issue 11 in the trade I just got. Obviously, we beat the holy heck out of the Titan character.

Honestly, I think the Many Arms of Death is meant as a kind of Batwoman primer-- a simpler adventure in 4 issues that keeps the flavor of the original Batwoman runs while mixing them liberally with some of the tone of Detective Rebirth. Grab those new readers, and those "Tec and Rebirth readers. As such, I think it pulls you in well enough, and entertains well enough.

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  1. This was the first time reading this series. I started Batwoman Elegy but need to start reading that series over again due to life getting in the way.

  2. The stand out moment for me was either the introduction of the twins or the end of the first four books when it looks like Safiyah is the head of The Many Arms of Death.

  3. My favorite Bat-tech was the Bat computer because it looked so different from anything we have seen up to that point. I also enjoyed seeing the Bat cycle drive up to her on it own.

  4. I think Julia decided not to send her reply because she isn’t ready to initiate plan B and because she wants to see if Kate is really in the hear and now or if she is still stuck in the past.

This was an interesting story of her past. I want to see if she can stop the twins and to see if I was right about Safiyah. I hope to catch the series premiere of Batwoman this coming Sunday and hope I will enjoy that as well.

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Hi @Lecouch84!
Self-driving Bat cycle for the win! I like your take on Julia considering where Kate is (in her present or stuck in her past).

Safiyah is an intriguing character to me. She keeps order between Warlords - which means she’s pretty tough - but to me she comes across as a having a peace-loving personality. Safiyah is explored a lot more toward the end of this series.

I’m super intrigued to see how Kate is adapted for her show. Thanks so much for joining in this week and sharing your thoughts on the book!

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“Is this your first time reading Batwoman (2017-)?”

Yes it was, and overall I really enjoyed it – to be quite honest, I think this is second only to Rucka as the best Batwoman title I’ve read, right after Marc Andreyko’s decent go at it and J.H. Williams’ gorgeous art hiding his utterly abysmal writing.

“What was the stand out moment in the story to you?”

I think it was the reveal of her past as being the sort of concubine to this charismatic high-seas criminal kingpin. I think it was @BatWatch who didn’t understand why Kate fell for her, I would say it was a mix of being utterly rudderless and lost…and, well, if Bruce is anything to go by, falling for criminal women is embedded into the Wayne DNA. :joy:

“What was your favorite Bat-tech or Bat-vehicle in the story?”

I think I would go with the drones that she jumped towards and they converted into some sort of winged jet-pack. Very Iron Man like, I’m sure it makes Bruce envious just thinking about it.

“At the end of issue 4, why do you think Julia chose not to send her final reply to Batman?”

I think because, as a military woman herself and a semi-former spy, Julia Pennyworth understands that sometimes in order to meet the mission objective, you have to do some things or let some things go that others with a more rigid code wouldn’t. Julia is obviously on the side of good and is ultimately there to make sure Kate is keeping to the Bat code, but Kate hasn’t done anything here that would completely break that code…yet.

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I’m halfway through this club’s selection. I read the the optional Rebirth which i thought was a good primer for this run. I am still agonizing over reading Elegy, mostly because i don’t have a problem going into the show without having the basis of the show in mind. I am anticipating the CW-ing of the character, but I am okay with that since I like the CWverse shows. but i digress…

This is the first time i am reading Batwoman (2017). Or any Batwoman for that matter. More to come once i complete the reading. I do like the art. And the last few things i’ve read with Tynion IV has been good, so i might get hooked and continue the run.

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@Jay_Kay
“falling for criminal women is embedded into the Wayne DNA.” I almost choked on my drink when I read that :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:. The drones were cool. Great response to number 4, I hadn’t even considered that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!

@AntLeon The Elegy will likely give big spoilers for the show, as I’ve heard the show is pulling a lot from that specific comic. If you want to go into it without knowing much, I’d steer clear of the Elegy. It’s a great comic though.

I love the art too! I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts soon.

@JLWWSM I don’t mind the spoilers. I like to make the comparison between the original and the final “inspired by” product. Mostly to watch how things play out in the “inspired by”. I may still read it; i’m currently content to not have decided just yet.

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I’m gonna try and keep any open mind, but I get the feeling that the comic version is going to be loads better than what we’ll see in the show.

@Jay_Kay In general, I think books are better than shows / movies, but I love both!

Just finished reading the Rebirth issue and #1-4, and here are some thoughts. One, just as a personal note, but Batwoman is my favorite character, period. No one comes close. I don’t know why that is. Is it because she’s one of the most prominent queer women in DC? Maybe. I just feel a very deep connection to Kate, whenever I read a story with Batwoman, I experience all these feelings I don’t have for anyone else. It sounds corny, I know, but I love that she’s flawed and messy and rough and tough but can also be tender and feminine. Like in the last scene of #4 with Julia, after a tough battle with Tahani.

And the other part of it is simply visual. I think Batwoman has the best ever consume in comics. The charcoal black with crimson is such a beautiful combination that she always looks stunning and I often find myself just staring at her. My wish for the CW version is more crimson! I know Ruby’s Batwoman costume starts off as a pure Batman costume and then gets modified with the wig, but I hope (maybe by Season 2), we actually get her with crimson gloves and boots and belt, with crimson under the cape, too. Because it’s such a unique look.

I really enjoyed this story, and there were a few cool standout scenes, but I think one of my favorites was that last fight with Tehani inside the cove. The art was gorgeous and the dark and muted colors made you feel like you were there with them in those caves. I also should shout out the amazing writing by the ever awesome Marguerite Bennett. She gets Kate so much, I loved how she wrote her in Bombshells, again vulnerable but tough.

The best tech have to be the little drones, obviously! I hope the have them in the CW version! So cool, and other Arrowverse heroes don’t have drones, if I remember right. Something else to set Kate apart. Finally, I agree with Jay_Kay on Julia. She respects what Kate does, even if she doesn’t quite agree. Similar to the relationship between Oracle and Black Canary in those early Birds of Prey one-shots.

Can’t believe the Batwoman show is mere hours away!

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It is rare for the “inspired by” to be better than the source material. And now that i finished this club’s selected reading…

I didn’t make the connection between the Many Arms of Death and Kali Corp until i saw the giant hands art thing behind the twins.

I did like the bad guy bingo (or whatever it was called) that Julia was doing when Kate first meets the twins. Bonus points for the “Weird Incest Vibe” box. More points if that plays out down the road. I thought i got a sense that Julia and Kate might also be more intimate, but most of the dramatic kissing was between Kate and Safiyah.

Apparently, in the 80 years of Batman stories, if there is a Bat in the field, there is a Pennyworth as backup/Overwatch. And why is Kate drawn so pale? it works more when she is costume, of which i like the shape of her cowl. And I always thought Alfred was more or less a confirmed bachelor, not unlike Bruce (well until Catwoman finally put a ring on that). So, if Julia is his daughter, then Alfred got some action of his own, at least once; go Alfred! And the only connection between Bruce and Kate is the Bat sigil (for the show, she’s Bruce’s cousin, right?).

The biggest stand out moment for me was when the warlords showed up, partially because I believed Tahani the Knife (no relation to Mack) that they would not. Also, the implied Kali Corp is likely to be run by Safiyah. Whose heart must have been broke when Kate left Coryana, therefore destroy the island after slicing it up with various corporate industries. I presume between that and finding out it is Safiyah running Kali Corp will only crush Tahani the Knife all the more.

Bat tech: those drones.

Julia probably didn’t tell Batman because Kate was still effective in the field. I might have more insight if i knew what that Plan B was.

I did like that the backstory kept jumping around, which i think lent to the aimlessness. Some of it might have been in the optional Rebirth. For me, it was about watching blanks getting filled as i learned more about Kate. They did the same with Tahani but more linear.

FInally, as to “shape of her cowl”, you can take that as some sort of code, or the wrong way, as you like.

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