Another disappointing issue of Batwoman continues its chilling descent into the end of the book’s run. With Maggie now pulling Nocturna into an investigation, Red Alice braves the wrath of her sister to play the hero field with Batwoman.
So much is wrong with this issue I don’t even know where to start. Marc Andreyko has produced his usual issue of inconsistencies, starting a whole new investigation by Maggie into Nocturna’s family in the middle of an ending series. There is also no need for the Morgan le Fay story or the Unknowns. It’s just made a mess of the series and is incredibly boring to boot. These characters have nothing connecting them to Batwoman or her own internal story. The constant bashing of Kate and Maggie’s relationship is being forced in our faces each week and it’s not only distressing to read but it feels like a slap in the face of every fan out there. I don’t know why Andreyko couldn’t let this sleeping dog lie and just finish the story on a plausible note.
George Jeanty does his best with the story as he does draw the woman beautifully. I do think his work on Red Alice is stunning and is the only saving grace to the issue. I can at least say that he puts the respect and attention into the characters despite the grinding of the issue’s story line on readers’ eyes.
Positives
Red Alice, Red Alice and again Red Alice. Her verbal ass-kicking of Nocturna was the best part of this issue. Finally a character with the balls to stand up to that psychotic woman and put her under the watchful eyes of the only slightly less insane family member Kate has.
Negatives
And here we go again. The long string of bad writing continues in the issue as we have now got Maggie involved in a new investigation knowing full well we have one issue left of this story. And why has no one questioned the fact that Nocturna is still an escaped inmate from Arkham? How does everyone know she’s Nocturna? It’s confusing as hell to have so many story loopholes that make absolutely no sense. And this is the tip of the iceberg. Batwoman who once was a strong fighting woman is now a worrying shell not worthy enough to don the uniform. The once proud warrior spends most of her time cowering and relying on her “vampire” voice to shut everyone up. It feels like the Kate that was once displayed on our pages has long since disappeared and now we have an impostor that stands in her stead.
Verdict
Batwoman now runs toward the inevitable end of Kate Kane as the last issue looms over this story. It’s hard to tell if this nightmare will end as it has been going or if maybe killing Kate off was the only option left. If you are a true Batwoman fan the end is near and it’s not a positive one.
Rating
