Detective Comics #854

Detective Comics #854
By Greg Rucka
Art by J.H. Williams III

Overall: 6.5/10

For the first time in at least forty years, Detective comics features someone other than The Dark Knight--Batwoman.

We don't know much about Kate Kane. The major story line she was involved in was about a bizarre religion of crime. She was kidnapped by this cult, who attempted to sacrifice her because of her name, Kane, like Cain. Kate was stabbed through the heart, only to to be saved by Renee Montoya, aka The Question. This storyline picks up where that one left off, with Kate trying to discover the identity of the religion of crime's new leader.

The book opens with Kate interrogating a low-level criminal. Batman appears (Dick Grayson, we assume) and they have a few pages of conversation about how their are such-and-such number of crime covens, how this is a serious fight, etc. Kate, in the morning, goes to have breakfast with her girlfriend, Anna. Anna, believing that Kate's sleep-deprived appearance stems from Kate cheating on her, says that she needs a stable relationship and this isn't it.

Kate returns to her home, where she talks with her father about her mission. Then she enters her own miniature batcave, and receives from her father an experimental military gun, saying she knows "exactly who to use it on". She sets off on her batcycle to track down the religion's new leader. When she finds a coven of the religion's followers, she attacks them, demanding the leader's identity. Suddenly, a pale girl flanked by almost zombie-like guards appears. She calls herself Alice, and says "I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, because I'm not myself, you see." She is obviously the new leader. The comic ends with Batwoman pointing the gun she received at Alice.

Well, this is certainly one of the more different storylines this month. It has a lot of potential, but this first issue feels like mostly filler, and contrived, trying-too-hard scenes between Kate and the people she cares about. The character of Anna especially seems out of place. She only appears for three pages, long enough to break up with Kate and leave.

The whole conversation with her father as well just doesn't sit right. She goes from talking about the Batman to working out and being reminded of her injury to the batcave in a whirlwind of dialogue. The book really picks up with the entrance of Alice (the most interesting character in this whole book), but unfortunately it is three pages from the end.

The other problem is the art. When Kate has the costume on, it's done in a noir, almost painting style (ala Alex Ross). When she's Kate, it's a very comic style, except for one panel that looks like it's done in water colors. It's very disconcerting. You can't just read the comic, you have to constantly readjust to the art. And I don't know whose idea it was to have Kate look like a goth teen in the "breakfast with Anna" scenes, but its there.

There is a Question second feature (maybe I'm mistaken but weren't Renee and Kate into each other at the end of 52?) which is about ten time better than the cover story. If your a big Renee Montoya fan, I'd pick up the book for that, but otherwise this is one to skip.