Batwoman #14 Review and *SPOILERS*

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Written By: Marguerite Bennett

Art By: Fernando Blanco, John Rauch
Letters By: Deron Bennett
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 18, 2018

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Batwoman has shown a lot of promise recently. After being tortured for months with this storyline, we are finally nearing the end and it’s actually gotten fairly entertaining. Granted, the book is still riddled with issues but the currently horizon seems slightly brighter than it was before. In the previous issue, we realized who the one behind everything truly was and (surprise!) it was Kate’s own sister who has retaken her role as Alice. This wasn’t a completely surprising twist but it was one that I actually liked. This immediately introduces a villain that is immediately more intriguing than any other that has been introduced in this arc so far. However, last time we ended with Alice about to launch her attack on Gotham. What will happen? Let’s just jump in and find out.

We open the issue with the twins of the Many Arms of Death. The brother is currently bleeding out on the floor with his sister taking care of him. Alice then forces the two to drink from a cup that she has filled with green liquid. The sister pleads with her but Alice threatens the brother more if she does not have them both drink from the cup. We see that the two begin to bleed from their eyes and mouths before there is some sort of off-panel explosion that shoots blood everywhere. At this time Alice starts to fade back into Beth and she doesn’t remember where she is or how she got there. Knife quickly injects Beth with some sort of concoction and this caused Beth to fade and allows Alice to retake control.

We cut to the ground level of Gotham where Kate has just arrived. She updates Julia about the situation and how Safiyah is currently in a holding room on her jet. She needs to be taken care of but Kate has other things to take care of right now. Kate then dawns a bat-jetpack and shoots up to the top of the building where Knife and Alice’s ship has settled. A giant hologram of Alice is projected from the ship and she starts monologuing as Knife exits with two swords to fight Kate. The fight begins and Kate seems outmatched at first but is able to suddenly grab the upper hand when Knife’s guard drops. Kate is able to break the sword that Knife is using and uses it to defeat her and tie her up as she decides to go on to save her sister.

However, this is when Alice reveals her plan. This is where Scarecrow had been needed. She had him use his talents to infect several animals and make them carriers to several diseases. Kate had thought she had caught them all but one slipped through the cracks and Beth had it now. It was a bat infected with dozens of diseases and she was going to release it and all of it dozens of brothers and sisters onto Gotham below. She releases them into Gotham and Kate springs into action to fight her sister. This is where the issue ends.

So… this issue falls more into the category of the latest issues. It’s not that bad. A lot of the problems that have existed in this book continue but for the most part we are finally getting entertaining content. That said, there is a big issue that I do have with this issue and that is with Alice. They brought Alice back and made her the mastermind behind the Many Arms of Death but in this issue they kind of roll that back. Sure Alice is the one in charge but the one that is making her be Alice is Knife. Sure, Alice is making the decisions but ultimately it feels like Knife is the one behind everything. Kate has beaten Knife constantly through this entire arc. Knife consistently loses to Kate and now she’s supposed to be the big villain? I’m not buying it but that’s really the only big issue I had with this issue. The rest was actually fairly well done.

Bits and Pieces

While the reveal in this issue may be lackluster at best, Batwoman continues with it’s currently uptrend. It’s still not a great book but it’s at least a book that has become engaging with the audience. Maybe once we finally get out of this story arc which has lasted over a year we will get some great content but as for the current state of this book, I still don’t feel comfortable recommending it. While the book may be better now, we had to wade through a ton of crap to get here.

6.0/10