Another Month, Another Amazing Issue
Batwoman's new arc has hit a great stride and this issue ratchets up the tension and quality. The writing team's dynamic here has great direction coming from different angles demonstrated in this most recent comic. This current formula of involving the family and keeping the reader guessing on everyone's motivations and what could happen next is a winner.
The writers let us see the tension and anger of some main players from at least four different angles. Kate herself, of course, still is angry at her father, doesn't trust her cousin, is wracked with guilt but keeps her fiancé at arms length and wants to try to settle the tangled vines of her current situation by herself. On top of that, she desperately wants to get her sister Beth back, out of the hands of the DEO. But she is thrust into the bosom of her family, a place where she finds conflict and does her best to stir it up.
Her family, all of them this time, including Maggie, Colonel Kane, Catherine and Bette, all want to work with her to help retrieve Beth, each a little bit for their own reasons. Colonel Kane wants his daughters back, Beth in body and Kate in his family embrace, Catherine is terrified the stubborn Kane obsession with serving and valor will get them killed if they don't work together, Bette wants to be a superhero and wants Kate to do the right thing for her family and generally stop being a jerk, and Maggie, while she loves Kate desperately, needs Kate to get out of her lone gun mentality and complete lack of trust of others so they can have a successful marriage.
As if that is not enough, there is the haunted Cameron Chase, working for the DEO to lash out at her father and his getting himself killed and, while a tough as nails operative, she is haunted by the mounting casualties of their operations. Of course, when you work for a vicious, cold blooded boss like Bones, who may be Kate's half brother, there is no where to find peace. And the only thing we get from Bones is that he wants to create his a deadly havoc only he understands.
The writing team expertly stirs up this devil's brew while not forgetting to leave tantalizing hints about what may come. In this instance, it seems Bones may be trying to get Kate killed. The writing has improved light years over the run. The beginning was basically rehash of the remarkable Elegy and lost momentum with the missing kids story hanging around like rotting food. However, once Wonder Woman joined the effort, we saw the writers get their groove. I was worried that once Diane left it may go back to the previous tone, but it is actually getting even better. This book should be read and reread for the amazing character interaction and story. Go back and read the previous issues if you haven't. This is one strong book.
