Batwoman #1

Batwoman begins with a couple telling a Gotham City Detective about the kidnapping of their children. Some creepy old lady ghosts snatched their kids while they were held immobile. But Batwoman comes crashing through the window to not really save the day! The ghosts disappear but they've taken the kids with them. So Batwoman promises the couple that she will find their kids. She'll save them all.

I'm kind of hoping that Batwoman deals with all of the paranormal crimes that happen in Gotham! I may end up liking her better than Batman. All I know about her from the 52 Megaseries is that she's a lesbian and has red hair. I hope she gets more interesting than that!

She has a sidekick just like Batman! I mean her sidekick isn't like Batman at all. But Batwoman has a sidekick named Flamebird the way that Batman has a sidekick named Robin. But Batwoman doesn't like Flamebird's costume so she's making her change it. I don't even remember Flamebird. Sounds like a West Coast Teen Titan's loser.


Oh Mr. Bones! How far you've come from your youthful days needling Infinity Inc!

Turns out Mr. Bones, sorry, Director Bones of the Department of Extranormal Operations is interested in Batwoman for some reason. He's also interested in some terrorist organization called Medusa (any relation to Basilisk? Two halves of the same group?) located in Gotham. So he's sending Cameron Chase to hunt down Batwoman.

It's times like these when I'm a bit confused about DC's New Universe. Bones is still doing his Black Ops work, so that's the same. And Cameron Chase is apparently still hunting down Super Heroes and/or Super Villains. I forget exactly what she did. And they discuss going after Batman again. Which they did back in the old universe. So they've done that now in this one too?

DC decides to do a reboot to unload tons of super hero baggage and let their characters begin again, fresh and clean. But then they keep going back to the well of the old universe to seed this one with history. Can't they just make up new history? I'm glad to see Director Bones involved in this story. He basically went from his Infinity Inc. cyanide touch villain days to become the Smoking Man of the DC Universe. Which I think is great. And that just (hopefully!) means that Batwoman's comic is going to be a little more paranormal than the other comics. But it's just so confusing the way DC is handling this reboot.

The watery ghost spirits seem to be behind the disappearance of 13 children and the drowning deaths of 6 others. The locals call her La Llorona, the Weeping Woman, an urban legend about a woman who lets her kids drown and then drowns herself.

Later, Flamebird admits to being a Teen Titan who fought Deathstroke! So she was a WEST COAST TITAN LOSER! Flamebird's secret identity is Bette Kane which makes her the cousin to Batwoman, Kate Kane.

Flamebird's affiliation with the Teen Titans is revealed as Batwoman and Flamebird get naked while changing out of costume. Earlier when they changed into costume, they got naked as well. Not totally nude since this is a Teen Rated comic. But enough side and bottom boob and underwear to get all the male fanboys excited about the naked lesbians! Or one naked lesbian and one naked woman who wouldn't look twice at them even though she likes the man stuff.

When is the last time Batman and Robin had a scene like this? Um, not that I want to see one! But it is some sort of weird double standard. It's convenient to have them chat about things while they change. You know, the way women do and men don't! And I guess they're cousins where it would be inappropriate for Batman to wave his Bat dingle in Robin's face while they change. I think. Is it? I don't know!

While they're having another undressing scene, Batwoman's father, Colonel Kane, comes in and they have a little fight. He seems to drop in just so Batwoman can explain why they haven't been talking. He doesn't get to say much more than a greeting so it is never revealed why he shows up. I think it's just so Kate can explode in a multitude of flashback images which recount a storyline that involved her sister thought dead but comes back as a Super Villain named Alice who only speaks in Alice in Wonderland quotes and ends up drowning in Gotham Harbor.

This all happened in the old DC Universe! Perhaps I'm just confused about how this reboot works. I guess some super heroes weren't affected by the universe change. This dimension is practically the same dimension as the last one for Batwoman while people like Firestorm have a bunch of different things going on. Maybe it's because Batwoman's first appearance was in the 52 maxi-series, so she's allowed to keep all of her old history. Even though some of that history deals with Batman's death and Dick Grayson being Batman for awhile. So I guess that part doesn't count! Just the parts about her sister dying in the bay.

On the final page, Batwoman is all alone at the scene of the most recent child drowning. Batman appears and says, "I have a proposition for you."

Shouldn't the great Bat-Detective know that Batwoman isn't interested in him? But then why would he be interested in her? She's frickin' gray!