Batwoman #40 Review

Written by: Marc Andreyko
Art by: Georges Jeanty
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 18, 2015

Almost Over

I have been a supporter of Marc Andreyko's run on Batwoman and I will continue to be.  Sure, Kate Kane's story may have changed since he took over, but isn't that what a writer is supposed to do...make the story his own?  If he followed the former creative team with a connect-the-dots story, I don't think anyone would have been pleased, especially Andreyko himself.  So, it's with a sad heart that I review the penultimate issue of his run even though we all know that it's headed to the best place ever...Space!  Was it any good?  Let's find out...

This book has recently gone through an overhaul turning it from a personal, street level story into a bash, slam, pow superhero team up.  The team may be called the "Unknowns", but with the likes of Clayface and Etrigan on board, they had me pretty excited.  This arc has been all about the team coming together so it felt odd that this issue takes a bit of a detour.  A detour to set a few things right.

This issue may have opened with the Unknowns searching for Morgan le Fay and le Fay finding a place to set up shop (the Moon!), but it's all about Kate and Natalia.  I'll admit that I was never a fan of Nocturna, but maybe that made her a better villain.  I have hated her since she first set foot in Kate's life and my hate grew and grew with each issue.  Did she turn Kate into a vampire?  Did she love Kate?  Did she rape her?  That last one bothered me the most and I'm shocked it didn't cause more of a stir than it did.  Have no fear, though, because none of it was real.  Was it a dream?  Nope, it was all a matter of hypnotism.  In fact, Nocturna had just convinced Kate that she had killed Alexandra Witherspoon for her.  Thankfully, Alice showed up and showed Kate the light. Showed her the light and showed the GCPD a full confession straight from Natalia's mouth captured by a cellphone.

The book eventually gets back to the main narrative...barley.  Morgan heads for the Moon, Kate and Alice have some Sister-Sister time and the book ends with the Unknowns in front of a Wayne Tech Space Shuttle. What an odd issue.

I'll say it again, what an odd issue.  I guess Marc Andreyko wanted to put a band-aid on the whole Nocturna/Kate situation and while I think hypnosis was a cop out, I'm not too upset because I hated almost everything it fixed.  Now that everything is a little bit better, it's off to Space!  I can't wait for the Batwoman Annual to see how it ends.

I have enjoyed Georges Jeanty's art, but it was a bit off this issue.  It was mainly how Kate looked throughout, but especially by the end.  It's not just how she looked, but how her look changed.  I didn't like it.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue felt more like Marc Andreyko correcting the sins of his past than moving this final story forward.  Morgan le Fay and awesome space battles are put on hold while Kate and Alice learn the truth about Nocturna and deal with it.  Sure, it had to be done, but it felt out of place here.  I'm still looking forward to a fun finale in the upcoming Batwoman Annual, but I wanted some more fun in this issue.

5.0/10