j.h. williams & w. haden blackman
graphics/superheroes
dc comics
published 2011
They call her La Llorna. "The Weeping Woman." A spectral presence that drowns her own sorrow by destroying the lives of others, dragging innocent children to a watery grave....or to an even worse fate. The hero called Batwoman is no stranger to sorrow herself. Estranged from the father who was once her partner in crime fighting, she blames him for the death of her mad sister in Gotham Harbor - but she blames herself most of all.
Now she has a new partner, her cousin Flamebird. Together they're on the hunt for La Llorna, he children she's abducted, and the shadowy forces behind it all. But the hunters are hunted as well: Everyone from government agents to Gotham cops wants to clip Batwoman's wings.
A tide of danger is coming in to Gotham City. And it will be all Batwoman can do to keep her head above water.
I really want to like Batwoman and I plan on continuing this series, at least as they come out in trade paperback. And it is an interesting character with lots of issues and great attributes. Maybe it's because I didn't have much knowledge of Batwoman before the New 52, or rather, no desire to know about her until now, but I felt like I was coming into a story that had already begun without me.
Hydrology collects issues #0-5 and we start out with mention of Kate's twin sister and who she became and even the back cover mentions her father was her partner in crime fighting. But nowhere in the book is that really made clear. There's no backstory and you're just meant to follow along as if everything makes sense.
Now, I don't know if other series in the New 52 are like this. To be honest they probably are, I just never noticed because I already know the backstories for the series I collect and read. The other thing that bugs me is that this is only the first 6 issues (counting #0) so the story arc isn't nearly complete. If the arc crossed over multiple characters I could see having more than 1 book for the arc, but this is soley Batwoman's story!
Basically, my complaints are with the set up and the lack of issues in this TP, not with the story itself. I actually was familiar with La Llorna thanks to TV's Grimm so I felt rather proud of myself. :)
So I'm on the fence. I've got volumes 2 and 3 on hold at the library. I'll read through those and decide then if I want to continue with Batwoman!
I feel much the same way. I also don't know the character but so the references to her history were confusing. In the third collection, there's one issue devoted to her back story, so it makes things a bit clearer. I love the art, though!
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