Batwoman #3 Review and *SPOILERS*

Business as Usual

Written By: Marguerite Bennett, James Tynion IV
Art By: Steve Epting, Jeromy Cox
Letters By: Deron Bennett
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 17, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

It’s no secret that I’ve been displeased with the return of the Batwoman comic so far. Perhaps my expectations were too high at the beginning of the book but I’m begging for this book to change things up even a little bit to make it better. Instead, we’ve gotten boring storytelling, forgettable characters, and only semi-enjoyable art. I wasn’t a huge fan of Marc Andreyko’s run with the character but it was a hell of a lot more fun than this comic has been so far. I need something to keep me going because at this point, it’s a chore to deal with this book. However, things could always turn around. At least, I certainly hope so. Let’s just jump right into the latest issue and just hope for the best.

We open the issue with someone cutting open a fruit and in the dialogue we get a scene of a man harassing a child. Things take a turn though when the child ends up killing him. We finally cut away to see the small child eating the fruit next to the dead body of an older man. She is then interrupted by Safiyah who thanks her for killing the man for her. Since she took care of a problem for her, Safiyah offers the child a place at her home and some food. She accepts, revealing that she is Tahani, the future assassin known as Knife (still a terrible name btw). We cut to Kate in the present who has taken a meeting at the Kali Corporation in order to figure out the goal of this company. She has a meeting with the two leaders of the corporation but Julia Pennyworth is hacking into the company in the meantime.

Kate meets with the siblings and places a bug in the room. During the meeting we finally get a sense of who these two leaders are. They still do the creepy twin act but it turns out that they only share a father. Kate asks them about buying the Desert Rose. She assumes that they property went to the Kali Corporation after Safiyah disappeared as there was no heir. This is when Julia cracks the security system and finds out that the Kali Corporation is planning on leveling the entire island with several bombs wiping everything out. Similarly, it is revealed to Kate that Safiyah not only took the title of Mrs. but also had an heir that sold the bar to the Kali Corporation. This is when the meeting is interrupted by Knife.

A fight once again begins and the twin flee the scene, aided by Knife. Kate dawns the costume of Batwoman and goes after them eventually. However, by the time she catches up, the twins have already escaped and after a few blows with Knife, Kate leaves the fight to plan her own attack. After catching up with Julia and tending to her wounds, Kate decides to go after the Kali Corporation’s secret holdings. It would seem her knowledge of the island leads her to the right place as she finds rockets, C4 and plenty other types of explosives. During her investigation, Kate is once again confronted by Knife and then two trade blows. However, this time, Kate isn’t alone as she has brought the gang leaders of the island as her backup and they surround the two. Just before the issue ends, Kate reveals that she was one of the people who helped make Knife who she is today.

This issue is a tad better than the previous one buy not by a big margin. Honestly, it doesn’t take much to keep track of different aspects in a story but this book continues to just make questionable choices. For instance, despite being in the middle of a chase, where the enemy knows who she is, Kate takes the time to change into her Batwoman costume. It was just a head scratching moment. Overall, this story just feels so overwhelmingly repetitive. I think Batwoman and Knife have fought each other in short fights like 6 different times in these first three issues. Each time usually ends with one taking a couple blows and then fleeing to fight another time. I want to love this series so much! I am desperate to give this book a great score but I honestly just can’t do it.

Bits and Pieces

More of the same from this issue of Batwoman. We are learning about this situation at a snail’s pace and I still can’t bring myself to care at all. We get a couple more fights that are indistinguishable from the others so far in the series and the art is at least pretty good this issue. However, overall the book is still a bore and nothing really seems to be changing and I couldn’t care less.

5.8/10