A Step in the Right Direction
As a big fan of Batwoman under Williams' and Blackman's pen, I was very reluctant to read this issue. I am not at all happy about the scandal surrounding this issue; nor am I happy that we will not be seeing a conclusion to Williams' and Blackman's arc anytime soon. Nevertheless, I am happy to say that I saw a lot of potential in Andreyko's writing for this series.
The Good -
Andreyko really nails the characters' voices very well. He proves that he has a handle on characters like Kate, Maggie, and Jacob. And even characters who only appeared briefly (Bette and Bruce) were handled nicely.
There were a few brief-but-touching moments throughout the issue. And it was nice seeing some of Kate's exploits prior to leaving West Point.
The Bad -
The art is very inconsistent. A lot of the time, it is beautiful. But other times, it's very shaky.
The story itself doesn't really bring anything new to the table. It was a good read but it didn't feel like much that we haven't seen before.
The conversation between Kate and Bruce creates all kinds of continuity issues.
All in all, I can forgive most of what I didn't like about this issue, given the short amount of time Andreyko and others involved must have had to work on it.
Batwoman is a character who I love very much. And judging solely by this issue, I think I will come to enjoy Andreyko's run. But I still hold some reserve. This is probably worth buying if you're a Batwoman fan or if you're curious about the character (though I'd recommend picking up Batwoman: Elegy if you fall in the latter category).
