Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Detective Comics #949

By Avi Weinryb
January 31, 2017 - 08:13

This issue takes us deeper into Batwoman’s past, demonstrating what made her originally put on a costume and go out into the night to fight crime. Just two years earlier, she had been working for her father’s secret project and stalking Batman. Now her dad is locked up in a cell within the Bat headquarters and she is aware that her cousin, Bruce Wayne, is the Batman - and she fights alongside him as Batwoman. This would be great if it were a mini series that told the tale of how she came to be, showing rather than telling, but instead, we get it jammed into an issue subtitled as “Batwoman Begins”. If this had not been rushed, we’d have a delightful tale spread across several issues in which we get the history of the Wayne and Kane family dynamics, with young Bruce and Kate, the tensions between their fathers, the birth of Kane’s Colony project, and perhaps even a cool interconnection between Wayne Enterprises and the formulation of the much sought-after Monster serum. But instead, we get something more quick and dirty, with heavier exposition, and although it’s tied up in a nice bow with lovely art, as a reader and fan, I feel a little cheated.

Missed opportunities aside, the art by Ben Oliver (and a two-page contribution by Szymon Kudranski) is excellent. Characters look realistic, with Batwoman being a full-figured, fit woman in tights and Batman being a ripped but real imposing figure, standing in your doorway in a cape. It’s hard to describe in writing, but there is a realism within the anatomy, muscle tone and movement that just rings true, making the accompanying action more visceral. Panel distribution takes no real risks, but composition is playful; the moment when Batwoman uses a simulator to make extra copies of herself leads to a delightful shot in which a dozen red-gloved hands are grasping one unlucky baddie, shooting into the frame from every direction. Costume design is strong too - the villain, Simon, has unique, high-style duds that would not look out of place in a next generation edition of a Halo-type video game. The book is very easy on the eyes.

Here’s hoping Detective Comics #950 doesn’t miss any story opportunities, biting off more than it should chew. The ambition of rolling out a Rebirth (or should I say reborn) universe is great, but DC Comics should stop to smell the roses and not jam heavy exposition into a single issue when it’s a story dying to be told in a longer format. That’s not economic storytelling - it’s a missed chance.  

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12