Same Bat(woman) Time, Same Bat(woman) Place!

I bought comics today, for the first time in at least two years. Day of release, single issue comics, not trades or graphic novels, which I do still buy occasionally, and DC title no less. I stopped reading comics, not because I stopped liking them, but because I find some of the industry stuff annoying. I really don't want to have to buy twelve titles each week just to understand what's going on in the one or two titles I actually want to read, because it get prohibitively expensive, and I hate having to read titles I don't actually like for the sake of some universe spanning cross-over event. Regardless of all of this, I have been missing my superheroes, and I've been looking for a good time to get back into comics for a while now. This is where the DC reboot comes in, because it is the perfect jumping on point for someone like me, a former reader who just lost track of the continuity and didn't want to have to work to catch up.

Also, Batwoman. Batwoman #1 is the real reason I have established a pull list at a store close to campus. I've been waiting for Kate Kane's Batwoman to have her own title since they introduced the character in 2006's 52, and today, I finally got to read Batwoman #1. This book combines all things I love in comics, short of the X-Men: Gotham City, hot redheads, and lesbians, so many lesbians.

Who doesn't love this?

The truth is that mainstream comics (Marvel and DC) really aren't that diverse. Each team usually has a token black guy, at least 1 woman, and maybe a gay guy, with overlap being pretty slim, and lesbians in comics are nearly nonexistant, so having a book with a lesbian lead, and one, possibly two lesbians in the supporting cast is really exceptional and exciting. The thing about representation is that, I don't just want to see characters like me in fiction in general, I want to see them in stuff that I enjoy and am going to read/watch anyways. Having gay women on a German soap opera is all well and good, but I don't really care, because I don't watch German soaps. What matters to me is when lesbian characters show up in something that I am already watching/reading, because then it means something to me.

The issue was good, if short. Exclusively reading trades made me forget how unsatisfying a 22 page comic can be. It was a little sparse on story, except for showing that it was going to pick up where her feature in Detective Comics ended, which, hopefully will be expanded upon. J.H. Williams III's art is really what drove the issue. I don't like how he draws faces, but he sure knows how to lay out a page, and how to tell a story visually.

Most elements of her continuity were essentially the same, and she wasn't really all that affected by the sort of reboot of the universe, except for a few minor points. Maggie Sawyer is back to being a detective in the GCPD, whereas she was previously the captain of the Major Crimes Unit and before that, a detective in Metropolis. This, I felt, was a little weird, but whatever. It looks like Maggie is going to be a love interest for Kate, and I am completely fine with that. Also, Renee Montoya is back in the GCPD is some capacity. I want Renee to still be the Question, but at least her history with Kate is still intact. I really like Renee, and I hope that she actually plays a part in the book eventually. Honestly, if I could be any comic book character, I would be Renee Montoya, because then I would get to be kick ass and also sleep with Kate Kane. It really doesn't get better than that.

Renee Montoya as the Question: My comic book alter-ego.

I also picked up Batgirl #1 this week, which was decent. I like having Barbara Gordon back as Batgirl, even though I really liked her as Oracle, and I've enjoyed everything I've read by Gail Simone, despite the fact that I don't think her writing is particularly deep, but I don't read comics for depth. I'll probably stick with Batgirl for a while, at least through this arc, and I have Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman coming out next week.

So far, reading comics again has been a win, for no other reason that I get to read about Kate Kane as Batwoman every month. I really hope that the book is popular enough to make it through the first round of cuts to DC's line-up, but I think it probably will be, because who doesn't love a hot lesbian protagonist? I mean, really?