Review by Paul Steven Brown

“Elegy - Part One: Agitato”

Writer: Greg Rucka

Artist: J.H. Williams III

Colorist: Dave Stewart

Letterer: Todd Klein

“Pipeline – Chapter One/Part One”

Writer: Greg Rucka

Artist: Cully Hamner

Colorist: Laura Martin

Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher

Assistant Editor: Harvey Richards

Editor: Michael Siglain

Published by DC Comics

Batwoman was one of the more interesting concepts birthed from DC Comic’s weekly series 52 a few years ago. Upon its conclusion fans were lead to believe that there would be an ongoing series starring the black and red vigilante penned by Greg Rucka. Despite that promise, Batwoman has only been able to make her presence felt in various mini-series such as Crime Bible: The Five Lessons of Blood and Final Crisis: Revelations, both written by Mr. Rucka.

At the same time we’ve been led to believe that the Question, as now portrayed by former Gotham police detective Renee Montoya, would be appearing in her own series. Similar to the new Batwoman, this Question made her debut in 52 and has appeared here and there, but mainly in those aforementioned mini-series written by Greg Rucka.

The wait is finally over and Greg Rucka fires back with a double punch of lesbian crime-fighting goodness. Batwoman is the main feature for Dectective Comics for the foreseeable future, while the Question will appear in eight-page back up serials. First, this is a great way to offer more bang for the $3.99 price tag. Second, given the history between the two stars of this book and their shared writer, it feels right to have their stories running side by side.

The one problem with the Batwoman story is that despite her short existence in the DC Universe, she has already established some history concerning the Crime Bible Cult. It is alluded to in this first chapter, but not in enough depth to really fill in a new reader. Hopefully, the subsequent issues will do a better job fleshing this aspect of the plot out. Where Rucka excels is in his character work. Kate has to balance her private life with that of a masked vigilante and we get to see the impact on her romantic life. Her home life fares better as she is ably assisted by a very close member of her family.

While the writing is solid and story has potential, the art is what makes this title a must to pick up. J.H. Williams III is phenomenal. When Kate is in her Batwoman gear the panels are a frenzy of bat-symbols and lightning bolts. When the civilian Kate is on the scene, Williams presents her existence in a more traditional, square-paneled layout. His work in both situations is excellent, but his Batwoman pages are simply stunning. Colorist Dave Stewart deserves some credit for these scenes, too. Stewart keeps the pallet muted enough that the red of Batwoman’s hair and costume pops off the pages.

The Question back up is off to a decent start. Rucka tries to pack enough into eight pages to get me interested. Though, I found the similarities to Batwoman’s home base assistance a bit odd. I enjoyed Cully Hammer’s art work on Blue Beetle and he’s just gotten better. While I think that Laura Martin is one of the industry’s leading colorist, I didn’t care for her added definition to the Question’s faceless mask. It seems to defeat the eeriness of its basic nature. Oh, and what’s up with the blond hair?

$3.99 on a monthly basis is a lot to ask of a reader, but I think the current set up in Detective Comics (and in Batman: Streets of Gotham) may be the closest I’ve seen to making it worth it. Visually, the book is amazing and stories are off to a decent start. Next to Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s Batman and Robin, this is the Bat-Book to get.

Batwoman - Rating: 9 out of 10 (Excellent!)

The Question - Rating: 7 out of 10 (Above Average)