Batwoman #13 Review and *SPOILERS*

Letting Go of the Lost Year

Written By: Marguerite Bennett
Art By: Fernando Blanco, John Rauch
Letters By: Deron Bennett
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 21, 2018

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I’m honestly coming into this issue on a high. I actually enjoyed the previous issue. It suffered from most of the problems that have been plaguing this series since it began but it was a nice conclusion to the flashbacks we’ve been getting about the Lost Year. However, now we are back in the present and Kate must face off against her former lover Safiyah. Will it raise the overall quality of this book or will we get more of the same? I know what my money is on BUT let’s not judge the book until we’ve finished the issue. Let’s jump right in and see what it has in store for us.

Our issue begins with a call from Kate Kane to the Sanatorium that Beth is being held in. Kate tells them that she has to take Beth out but they inform her that she’s gone on a camping trip outside of the Sanatorium and won’t be back until the next day. Kate obviously knows that this is a lie and calls the woman out on it before the call ends. She then gets in contact with Julia who seems to be on her way to meet up with Kate in Brussels. Kate is going after Safiyah but she still harbors doubts that Safiyah is the one behind all of this. Julia calls her out on it stating that she only wants Safiyah to be innocent. However, this is not the case. Kate goes into her old Brussels home which has become abandoned for the past 15 years. During this time Kate reveals that she actually does hope that Safiyah is the one behind because it would help her absolve herself of all her sins. However, something tells her that it isn’t true.

After quite a bit of introspection, Kate comes to the final room and sees a heat signature coming from inside, she bust down the door to find Safiyah. The two begin to fight as Kate demands to know where her sister is but Safiyah insists that she has no idea. Kate throws accusations at her and Safiyah responds telling her that she had nothing to do with the attack on Coryana and that she only saved Fatima for her own reasons. The fight ends with Kate holding Safiyah out a window, stopping her fall. She pulls Safiyah back in. Kate believes her. Safiyah reveals that someone has been setting Kate up. Kate was given a mission to draw her away from Gotham and leave it undefended. She asks Kate who could hate them both so much? Who could be the leader of the Many Arms of Death? Kate realizes something before we cut away.

We catch up with Knife as she eats a fruit in her room. She is traveling in a plane of some kind and she is summoned by the twins who run the Kali Corporation. The twins demand to know what Knife has rerouted the ship and that she would not have approved of Knife treating them the way that she has. This leads Knife to snap as she attacks the brother and sister. She shows the brother a city outside the window but we are unable to tell which city it is. Then, just as Knife is about to slit the throat of the male twin, she is told to stop by a voice off panel. Long time fans should have immediately recognized the letter styling and the textbox. Knife walks up to the control room of the plane and it is revealed that Beth has once again become Alice and she is the one behind everything. They ride in their plane as they come across Gotham. This is where the issue leaves us.

So… there are things that I liked about this issue and there were things I didn’t like. Let’s start with the good things. The art is particularly nice with one exception (unless Safiyah suddenly has a lazy eye). I also rather enjoyed the inner dialogue that Kate had as she was entering her childhood home. The rest of the book seems kinda meh to me. This story has not been the best and now it is clear that they were just yanking out chain with the whole Safiyah thing, but I digress. The problem with this was that as soon as it was revealed that Safiyah wasn’t the one behind everything, it became very obvious who was. At least to me it was. Let’s go down the usual suspects. It can’t be Knife cause that would be the lamest twist ever and it can’t be Jacob Kane because he runs the Colony to combat the Many Arms of Death. Sure, there are plenty of minor characters or cults that could be brought in but the obvious answer is Beth. Beth is Alice again and is on the warpath. Once again, I didn’t hate this issue but it wasn’t as enjoyable as the previous issue.

Bits and Pieces

This issue of Batwoman is elevated by some great art and inner dialogue. The rest of the issue is just kind of bland. The twist is pretty predicable once you’re halfway through the issue and a lot of the issue feels like it dragged us along on a ride that no one wanted. However, I can say that this issue is at least competent when it comes to storytelling which is something I couldn’t say about most of the issues in this series.

6.0/10