Bat Country
Written By: Marguerite Bennett
Art By: Fernando Blanco, John Rauch
Letters By: Deron Bennett
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 16, 2018
Art By: Fernando Blanco, John Rauch
Letters By: Deron Bennett
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 16, 2018
*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
Well… it’s official. Batwoman will be coming to an end in August. I can’t really say I’m surprised. A majority of this book has been one of the worst stories that DC has put out during the Rebirth era. That said, I’m sad to see it go. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of this book but Batwoman has been one of my favorite characters for a long time and I think she deserves a book at DC. It too late to wish for a new creative team to revamp the book but maybe a couple years from now… Anyway, back to where we were last time. Batwoman is facing off with her sister and the book has been actually kind of good. Nothing spectacular but I’ve been enjoying it. I’m hoping that this book continues on this path and gets better to the point where fans will say that they loved the ending to a horrible story. That said, let’s jump right in and see where the latest issue of Batwoman takes us.
Our issue begins with Beth who seems to be having some flashes of her past as questions about who, what, where, and why she is flashing past her. We then take a moment to look at what appears to be a medieval storybook version of Beth’s past. We see her mother die and Beth being kidnapped and eventually saved by Kate only to be once again taken away by Knife and revered as Alice. Meanwhile, Kate is attempting to break into Beth’s ship in order to reach her. However, despite all of her work, she doesn’t get anywhere. This is when Beth begins her monologue about the plague that she has unleashed upon Gotham. She claims that there is nothing Kate can do because she can’t fight a disease with her fists. Kate realizes that in order to save her sister she must save Gotham first.
Kate calls up Julia who is currently piloting her airship. Julia attempts to tell Kate something but Kate interrupts her and reveals that there is a way to save Gotham. Scarecrow created this plague but he made a fail-safe in case the Many Arms of Death attempted to use it on him. Kate has that information now. In addition, Kate is immune to the disease thanks to Scarecrow and her tissue samples will help Julia stop the plague. Julia begins working on the cure as Batwoman leaps into action. Kate begins to have flashbacks at this moment as well. During this time, Kate realizes how she can stop the bats carrying the plague.
Kate jumps into her own jet and begins to emit an ultrasonic frequency that mimic’s the sounds of bats. She is able to lure all of the bats from Gotham and have them chase after her. While Julia gets down to the science of making a cure, Kate leads the bats from Gotham to the harbor where Julia has left the other airship that they have. Kate leads the bats to it and crashes through the opening in the airship and trapping the bats inside. After she has cleared it, Kate sets off an explosion to destroy all of the bats as well as the airship. Back with Beth, she seems to have come back to her senses and walks outside of her ship. This is when we find out what Julia was trying to tell Kate before. She felt she had no choice and called in Batman himself. Thus ends the issue.
There’s quite a bit to unpack here. First off, let's address the art in this book because I honestly cannot say if I love it or hate it. There are several panels that I found myself in awe of and then there was an equal number of panels that I thought looked lazy or done as an afterthought. Honestly, the book looks like it has been made by two different artists. Now for the story. This story manages to take the momentum from the previous issues and follow up with a whole lot of nothing. Well… not nothing exactly but almost nothing. We get a lot of flashbacks to things that we’ve already seen. I think I’ve read Kate and Beth’s backstory like 12 times over the course of this book and that’s too damn many. The rest of the book was a bunch of medical jargon mixed with monologuing and self-motivating speeches.
All of this was just a really long way of saying that Kate got in a jet, sent out a signal, and led all the bats out of Gotham. I understand that this was a huge issue that Kate was facing and they had to find a way to stop the plague from spreading but there are a lot of scenes of people sitting in jets and talking on the phone. In addition, it all ends with a farewell to an airship that Kate remembers fondly. Unfortunately, none of the audience remembers it fondly because I think there’s been like two issues where it is mentioned. Also, Julia switches airships in the middle of the book which had me scratching my head for a moment as I tried to understand how she got from one airship to the next because for a second I thought Kate was about to lead a pack of plague bats to Julia’s front door. However, not all the momentum in this book was destroyed as we ended with Batman showing up to confront Beth and Kate is not going to be happy about that. It leaves me excited to see what happens next. However, the rest of this book was a snoozefest.
All of this was just a really long way of saying that Kate got in a jet, sent out a signal, and led all the bats out of Gotham. I understand that this was a huge issue that Kate was facing and they had to find a way to stop the plague from spreading but there are a lot of scenes of people sitting in jets and talking on the phone. In addition, it all ends with a farewell to an airship that Kate remembers fondly. Unfortunately, none of the audience remembers it fondly because I think there’s been like two issues where it is mentioned. Also, Julia switches airships in the middle of the book which had me scratching my head for a moment as I tried to understand how she got from one airship to the next because for a second I thought Kate was about to lead a pack of plague bats to Julia’s front door. However, not all the momentum in this book was destroyed as we ended with Batman showing up to confront Beth and Kate is not going to be happy about that. It leaves me excited to see what happens next. However, the rest of this book was a snoozefest.
Bits and Pieces"
I'm right there with you as a Batwoman fan who really WANTED to like this series, but Rebirth has not been kind to one of the better characters in the Bat-Family (to tell the honest truth, Rebirth hasn't been kind to ANY of the Bat-Family) Hopefully DC will reboot Batwoman sooner rather than later and put a bit more effort into it.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. I'm a huge Batwoman fan, and this series has been great.
Deletei find this whole story one of the most boring stories in all of Rebirth. The lost year went on for way to long and did nothing for the character, the inclusion of Julia Pennyworth was a complete waste and besides the art, I can't think of anything to recommend. I would take any of the New 52 over this. The sales just keep going down and rightly so.
DeleteDid nothing for the character? This series has been all about pushing Kate to the brink, both mentally and physically, and that's reflected in the story. That's why it had to take so long, because she's been deliberately strung along by the villains, to wear her down.
DeleteThat's nice and all, but what changes or developments from this series will change anything the next writer of the next batwoman series will continue with?
DeleteDoesn't that same question apply to any character and any run, though? Is Tom King using the Court of Owls, for example?
DeleteThe answer here, I think, would be the increased tempering of Kate's mind above all else. She's never been pushed to this sort of limit before.
and the court of owls has been used in Nightwing and Green Arrow in Rebirth. I don't see it...it all feels like surface level stuff and this isn't even her most important book in Rebirth!
DeleteI know you are a fan, but I need something better than this as a fan. This is one of the worst paced books in Rebirth and I think one of the biggest problems of Rebirth is overall pacing. I talk to a ton of people every day about every single book and you are the only one who ever has anything to say about this book. It's like it doesn't even exist. I have liked bits of the series more than Dan, but I know he is a huge fan of Kate and is really frustrated with this book.
DeleteI just don't know what you want from it. It's not what *I* initially thought it would be, but I rolled with it, and found a pretty deep character piece on Kate, one that's accomplished by putting her through the grinder.
DeleteI'm honestly not surprised it seems like it doesn't exist, since DC doesn't promote it really at all. I sure don't mind doing their job for them wherever I can, cause this series is worth it.
you know what...you are 100% right!!! They really haven't done anything at all to promote it. I am changing my tune because you are willing to put it out there for a book you love. I may not be enjoying it as much as you, but I respect that. I will try to go back and read it all at once...maybe reading it for the podcast with a bunch of other books messes up the flow as well.
DeleteThanks, Jim. I do think it reads a lot better in trade, as they say. It definitely helps all the foreshadowing and stuff become much more apparent.
DeleteI respect your opinion too, Isaac. . .and I was SUPER excited for a new Batwoman title, especially with Epting on art. Batwoman is a PERFECT match for his gritty, realistic art. Unfortunately, with her being such a big part of Detective, Batwoman's own title suffered because they just couldn't do much with the character. It's sort of like how Marvel's main Star Wars title suffers because the creative team has their hands tied by the character's actions in the movies and such, so they can't do too much that really matters.
DeleteThat said, you're absolutely on the money about DC not promoting Batwoman. Hopefully they will do a better job of it in the future and not let a great character fall to the wayside.
Don't think this is just about Batwoman, either. In my humble opinion, DC has dropped the ball on EVERY character in the Bat-Family since Rebirth began. From Batman all the way down to Anarky. Top to bottom, no exceptions.
And once again, I strongly disagree and remain confused as to what you've wanted from this series.
ReplyDeleteThis was great. We got to find out more about Beth's journey to becoming Alice, and saw Kate start to shed the slump she's been in. And the plan she had for drawing the bats away was clever, making use of various established pieces of the puzzle.
Better hurry up...rumor is it's over in 3 more issues
DeleteEmphasis on "rumor". :)
DeleteNobody is buying it! It's selling equal to birds of prey which was cancelled and now third lowest regular book of the whole line!
DeleteI know, but nothing official has been said by DC yet, nor any of the creative team.
DeleteThey won't until solicits...books announced as cancelled immediately lose a ton of sales. If it's true, it won't be solicited for August when they drop next week.
DeleteSorry...#18 would be final issue then in august.
Delete