Red Alice

After over three years in publication, Batwoman’s ongoing series comes to an end. There is to be an annual set to release at the start of April, but #40 marks the end of Batwoman’s monthly instalments. To tell the truth, it’s quite miraculous that a title coming from the big two headlining a gay female lead has lasted this long. Then again chances are association to a certain more famous superhero helped keep this book stay afloat, sorry but it tends to be true. One of the greatest problems Batwoman has faced is the numerous controversies surrounding her book. There was the infamous marriage cancellation which caused the creative team of J. H. Williams III and Haden Blackman to walk out, prompting the series to be handed over to Marc Andrekyo. While Andrekyo has done what best he can to fix the damages, he wound up creating controversy by having Kate Kane appear to be raped by a vampire. This latest arc has attempted to fix that debacle and tries its hardest to end the book on a positive note.

So, Batwoman makes its way onto its cancelation. It’s quite the tragedy as the current arc is actually far more compelling and novel than the series has been in a long time. Of course that’s not going to stop this issue from being another of the book’s many controversies. What has already drawn the malice of the book’s struggling fandom is the return and redemption of Red Alice, Kate Kane’s psychopathic twin sister. Alice is one of Batwoman’s oldest foes, dating all the way back to her first solo outing in Batwoman: Elegy. She’s a major component of Kate’s mythos and Andrekyo’s decision to turn her into a hero is seen as a betrayal.

Batwoman #38 Written by Marc Andreyko Art by Juan Jose Ryp Published by DC Comics Batwoman marches on towards its rather unfortunate cancelation. In doing so, Marc Andreyko has been presenting one of the most refreshing Kate Kane stories to date: a bizarre yet entertaining team up with heroes, anti-heroes, and villains across both Gotham’s …

While Batwoman has had an awkward run thanks mostly to interference by DC editorial and the infamous marriage fiasco, Marc Andreyko seems to be rounding out the end of this sadly mistreated title with grace. Finally unshackled from the tone of Williams III and Blackman’s run, the currently story line of Batwoman teaming up with various heroes, antiheroes, and villains from across the DCU’s mystical and criminal undergrounds is starting out strong.

Last month, Batwoman saw Kate Kane working alongside the likes of Red Alice, Clayface, Ragman, and Etrigan the Demon in space while fighting the forces of Hell and Morgan le Fey. It served as a proper introduction to Batwoman’s new occult themed team: the Unknowns. Now the series jumps back to explain the hows and whys of last issue. This month manages to perfectly balance both the oncoming mystical madness and the fallout from the last year or so of story lines.

Batwoman #35 Written by Marc Andreyko Art by Georges Jeanty Published by DC Comics Since its first issue back at the start of the New 52, Batwoman has been a problematic series. What has served as a fatal flaw of the book is how it tries to be a follow up to Greg Rucka’s excellent …