Review: BATWOMAN #1

Hosted by our good friend Sean Gerber at his amazing new superhero news site, Modern Myth Media!

Please click the link or the cover to read the review. I’m so glad this character’s back!

3 comments

  1. Alexander Stevenson says:

    I sure am glad I paid attention to your BW reviews, John.
    I read Elegy and Cutter and #0 frantically yesterday morning to get caught up in time for #1, and boy have I been missing out on some fantastic stories.  I’m ecstatic to be along for the ride now, Kate’s easily the best new character in years.

    What other books are you picking up from the relaunch?

  2. John Bierly says:

    Hi, Alexander! So glad you liked BATWOMAN. I was furious when they originally announced she was taking over DETECTIVE … until I read the first issue and totally fell in love with the character. I agree with you 100% — she’s the best new character in years, and possibly my favorite character in comics at the moment. 

    As for the other relaunch books, here’s what I’ve read so far:

    BATWOMAN #1: A+

    ACTION COMICS #1: A
    I’m a little nervous about Morrison’s direction, but it was fun and awesome and charming. So much fun.

    SWAMP THING #1: A
    Never cared about Swamp thing before. Never read a single Swamp Thing comic. But I love Scott Snyder’s writing, and I like the science and horror aspects of this. Really cool.

    JUSTICE LEAGUE #1: C-
    Didn’t care for all the childish bickering between Batman and Green Lantern, who seemed so immature to me. The Cyborg section killed the momentum and felt like one of those old chewing gum ads in the form of a comic stapled into the middle of an issue. Thought Superman came off as too “hip and edgy” on that last page. I think it’s possible to streamline a universe without dumbing it down, and this felt kind of like a dumbing down to me.

    DETECTIVE COMICS #1: C-
    Don’t mind the story, but the writing just isn’t on the level, and Daniel’s art suffers when he’s pulling writing duty, too. I won’t keep buying this.

    BATMAN & ROBIN #1: B
    I liked the Bruce stuff, but I’ll never like Damian as a character. I probably won’t keep up with this one.

    GREEN LANTERN #1: B+
    Pretty good, but I feel like Hal was taken down about one too many pegs for my liking. Still enjoyed it.

    JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL: B
    This was fun. Not great, not even a lot going on, but fun. Fans of Booster Gold and Guy Gardner will enjoy their interactions, and Batman played a cool role in it.

    In the coming weeks I’ll grab WONDER WOMAN, BATMAN (obviously), maybe NIGHTWING, SUPERMAN, and BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT (which I’m rooting for to get better).

    What are you picking up? And thank as always for the comment!

  3. Alexander Stevenson says:

    Cool.  I’m picking up way more titles than I expected actually.  I checked out all the descriptions on the DC site and a lot of stuff seemed worth at least checking out.
    So far I’ve picked up:

    ACTION COMICS:  A+
    Lots of fun like you said and I’m so glad Superman is back to his Golden Age roots.  That’s always something I’ve wanted to see.

    STORMWATCH:  A-
    I just picked it up because of Martian Manhunter (I’ve never read The Authority), but I was pretty impressed.  It’s filling my need for crazy, fantastical, “the Earth is in danger!” science fiction at the moment.

    SWAMP THING:  A
    I was hesitant to pick it up because I haven’t read *all* of Alan Moore’s run from back in the day yet and I don’t like Swamp Thing *that* much, but I went with it and it was quite good.  The new Superman outfit though looks even worse than I expected.  If Yanick Paquette can’t make it look good then I dunno who can.

    BATWOMAN:  A+
    Great, obviously.  I was a little worried about whether or not Williams III would be able to write, but I’ve been impressed so far.  I guess his work with some of the best writers in the biz rubbed off.

    MR. TERRIFIC:  C+
    I love the concept but I don’t think the writer is competent enough to tackle the issues they’re trying to tackle.  I’m going to be generous though and give it a few more issues to impress me.

    DEATHSTROKE:  A-
    It’s loads of fun and violent without being over-the-top.  The story is perfectly executed for a first issue; The story works as a self-contained mini-adventure while setting up an ongoing plot.  There’s just enough back-story to introduce you to the character and we see enough of him in action to get a sense of who he is. 

    Of the still upcoming books I’m going to check out:

    BATMAN
    I’m incredibly hesitant about Capullo’s art; It’s just not my taste (way too ’90s), and the story Snyder has said he’s going to tell sounds a bit too occult for my tastes in Batman.  I’m going to give it a shot though.

    BIRDS OF PREY
    I find it bizarre Oracle and Huntress aren’t part of the team, but the description of them as a superhero strikeforce was too good not to check out.

    CAPTAIN ATOM
    I’m a huge fan of the character and the description really impressed me.

    WONDER WOMAN
    Brian Azzarello on WW was something I thought I would never see.  I’m really excited for this one.

    AQUAMAN
    Maybe just for the first arc because those evil fish-men look scary and fun.

    BLACKHAWKS
    Looks up my alley.

    THE FLASH
    Never read a Flash comic before and I want to start.

    VOODOO
    Never read any Wildstorm, the description was super-vague but I want to see what it’s like.

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