Batwoman #10

Batwoman’s storyline is still moving in baby-steps. I was okay with moving through between flashbacks and the current time but I think enough is enough. While the story remains interesting, by the end of the comic, you’re still pretty much where you started, with just a wee bit more of backstory.

There isn’t a whole lot of battling scene but there’s murder, blood drinking,and melting faces to make up for it. What really intrigues me is how Williams creates parallels between legends/myths with actual people from Gotham City. All they need is a bit of tweaking. Time is taken to spotlight more of how Croc became mutanted-err-more mutanted than he was by Medusa. Again, it’s through some supernatural ritual that requires the blood of virgins and then eating a bunch of women. Fun.

There’s also a heart-shattering scene at the bedside of Bette Kane as Kate’s father recalls memories of his two daughters. At first it seems he’s reflecting on his respect for Kate, a true solider as a child to an adult, facing tragedies with a straight face and marching on. Instead he reveals his favor was for Beth and her kindred spirit. He has equipped Kate with the tools necessary to be Batwoman , to become a solider fighting for Gotham City. Their relationships is anything but peachy-keen but Kate did try to follow in his footsteps. Perhaps the problem between Kate and her father is they are too much alike and Beth fulfilled both of them by being their opposite. Speaking of kids, there is also a conversation between Maggie Sawyer and Jim Gordon. She still wishes to pursue the case of the missing children, driven by her love for her own child. I wonder how Kate would react to having a step child.

Just like with the last issue, we end on a scene between Batwoman and Sune. Kate rejected Sune’s advances, which was followed with some really creepy remark by Sune. And then she kills Falchion while Batwoman tells her to stop repeatedly, just like any other good Bat would do. But he’s dead. Really dead. When you think a cat fight is about to bust out between the two, since Sune hasn’t been the good hostage-ally she was supposed to be. Well, actually, she’s not anything she was supposed to be.

Batwoman is still great. Covers, artwork, characters, element are all wonderful. I just wish they’d go back to a more traditional story flow. I feel as though if they reverted to this form, the story would progress more than just a few steps in the same room.  I really want to see more than I do each month.

7/10