41st out of 448 books
—
381 voters
Batwoman: Elegy
A new era begins as Batwoman is unleashed on Gotham City! Marked by the blood-red bat emblem, Kate Kane is a soldier fighting her own private war - one that began years ago and haunts her every waking moment. In this first tale, Batwoman battles a madwoman known only as Alice, inspired by Alice in Wonderland, who sees her life as a fairy tale and everyone around her as exp...more
Hardcover, Deluxe Edition, 192 pages
Published
July 6th 2010
by DC Comics
(first published 2010)
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On Monday, I read two comics. One was pretty great and the other was Batwoman: Elegy. This is not to say that Elegy was bad. Unfortunately, it never actually gets better than pretty good.

The Rucka-penned adventure comic certainly has some worthwhile moments and Williams' art is varied enough to impress, but the book has several problems that prevent it from being better than it could be. But let's put the problems on hold for a moment to focus on what the book gets right.

The Rucka-penned adventure comic certainly has some worthwhile moments and Williams' art is varied enough to impress, but the book has several problems that prevent it from being better than it could be. But let's put the problems on hold for a moment to focus on what the book gets right.
[I suppose some caveat...more
BATWOMAN: ELEGY, written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by the fabulously talented J. H. Williams III, collects Detective Comics #854-#860 in one volume. It is the story of Batwoman’s battle with Alice, the High Madame, in protecting Gotham from Alice’s evil plot. Also included is the back-story of Kate’s growing up, her coming out at West Point and to her father, Colonel Kane, and the origins of her career as Batwoman. All of this is in one trade paperback!
Alice, the Lewis Carroll-quoting villai...more
Alice, the Lewis Carroll-quoting villai...more
My first foray into the DC comic universe.
Okay, I admit it: I’m a bad geek. I’ve never been much into superheroes or comic books. Masked vigilantes just have never really done it for me – I was always more a fan of Middle Earth than Metropolis, and I’d take a bow and arrow over a cape and cowl any day.
But then my favourite internet blogger/television recapper/geek-girl extraordinaire Heather Hogan started reviewing Batwoman’s solo title in The New 52 over at www.afterellen.com, and I got hooked....more
Okay, I admit it: I’m a bad geek. I’ve never been much into superheroes or comic books. Masked vigilantes just have never really done it for me – I was always more a fan of Middle Earth than Metropolis, and I’d take a bow and arrow over a cape and cowl any day.
But then my favourite internet blogger/television recapper/geek-girl extraordinaire Heather Hogan started reviewing Batwoman’s solo title in The New 52 over at www.afterellen.com, and I got hooked....more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Full review posted on Across the Litoverse
Kate Kane has taken over as Gotham City's caped crusader in the wake of Batman's apparent death in the DC event Final Crisis. Kane's a former marine, forced out of the U.S. Armed forces under the tenets of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", a policy barring gay and lesbian soldiers from serving openly in the military; however, her drive to protect Gotham, and her desire to overthrow a mysterious cult that tried to kill her six months earlier, motivates Kane to tra...more
Kate Kane has taken over as Gotham City's caped crusader in the wake of Batman's apparent death in the DC event Final Crisis. Kane's a former marine, forced out of the U.S. Armed forces under the tenets of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", a policy barring gay and lesbian soldiers from serving openly in the military; however, her drive to protect Gotham, and her desire to overthrow a mysterious cult that tried to kill her six months earlier, motivates Kane to tra...more
May 28, 2012
Xavier Guillaume
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
any comic book fan, especially gay comic book fans
Shelves:
lgbt-themed,
graphic-novel
If you haven't read Batwoman yet, what are you doing?! Get off your butt and get a copy of this book because it's one of the best comic book series going on right now.
Jokes aside, this book is incredible, and I was blown away by the character, the story, and the artistry of this book, and it really is artistry. J.H Williams III doesn't just draw these comics, he paints them, and some of these pages are downright creatively genius.
As for the black-and-red-suited heroine herself, Batwoman is the m...more
Jokes aside, this book is incredible, and I was blown away by the character, the story, and the artistry of this book, and it really is artistry. J.H Williams III doesn't just draw these comics, he paints them, and some of these pages are downright creatively genius.
As for the black-and-red-suited heroine herself, Batwoman is the m...more
I wasn't expecting much from this book. I borrowed it from my local library because I thought it had something to do with Batman and I liked the cover art. As I read through it I was amazed at just how different it was, and how eerily beautiful it was. Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka should be read, if only for J.H. Williams III's illustrations.
I must state that, as a member of the male gender, most novels with female leads are less interesting to me. Female leads always tend to be difficult to re...more
I must state that, as a member of the male gender, most novels with female leads are less interesting to me. Female leads always tend to be difficult to re...more
Imagine a comic book where different charaters are drawn in different graphic styles, it may sound a little weird but in this book, it´s done great and goes along all the time with the storytelling. Thats part of what this Comic book has. The art is Amazing, the story starts ok, then it gets a little weird, but the last part of the whole book is really great.
When I first knew that there was a batwoman charater and that she was a redhead, I was not interested in the character, I thought she was...more
When I first knew that there was a batwoman charater and that she was a redhead, I was not interested in the character, I thought she was...more
So, I picked this up after reading some of the hype about how Batwoman is a lesbian and it is awesome, but I kind of felt like it was just ok and maybe people were overreacting to the whole thing in general. One of the interesting things about Batwoman is that it is one of the few comic books that actually uses a full-on cover style of art throughout the entire book. And like any comics fan, there have definitely been a lot of times when I've bought a comic based on the cover art and felt sort o...more
Okay but why can't comic books number their volumes? T_T There's clearly at least a volume's worth of plot I missed before this. I was able to stumble my way through based on the introduction and characters referencing prior events but reading the first book would have really helped.
Let's break this down! The art in this is great, I love the distinctive red, white, and black colour palette Williams uses for Batwoman. He's aiming to establish her as an iconic character and it works, she's easily...more
Let's break this down! The art in this is great, I love the distinctive red, white, and black colour palette Williams uses for Batwoman. He's aiming to establish her as an iconic character and it works, she's easily...more
I'm not a fan of traditional superhero comics, but if they could all be this good, I'd read a whole lot more.
For those of you who don't know, Greg Rucka is an excellent writer, and excels at writing strong, believable women. Look no further than Whiteout, another graphic novel I'd highly recommend. JH Williams III pencils are sumptuous and translate seamlessly throughout the book from current day to past events, showcasing three different looks, depending on what time period we're reading. The...more
For those of you who don't know, Greg Rucka is an excellent writer, and excels at writing strong, believable women. Look no further than Whiteout, another graphic novel I'd highly recommend. JH Williams III pencils are sumptuous and translate seamlessly throughout the book from current day to past events, showcasing three different looks, depending on what time period we're reading. The...more
Sometimes a series happens that you hear a lot of good press about but, for one reason or another, never read until later. This is such a series.
Greg Rucka is at the top of his game with this book. He is one of the best at writing street level characters. As Rucka reveals Kate's background, it is believable. Her training in the military and the support of her father helps to give us a rich, fully realized character. And the anatagonist of the series, Alice, is a perfect foil for Batwoman. Rucka...more
Greg Rucka is at the top of his game with this book. He is one of the best at writing street level characters. As Rucka reveals Kate's background, it is believable. Her training in the military and the support of her father helps to give us a rich, fully realized character. And the anatagonist of the series, Alice, is a perfect foil for Batwoman. Rucka...more
I have some mixed feelings about this one. I'll start with the good.
This Batwoman was an entirely new character to me. Apparently she'd shown up in 52, but I avoided that and so went in knowing nothing. And Kate Kane is a really likeable character. The big news when she was introduced was the fact that she's a lesbian. I was honestly relieved to discover that it's not a major plot point or source of drama: she simply is a lesbian. It only becomes an issue in her backstory, when she falls afoul o...more
This Batwoman was an entirely new character to me. Apparently she'd shown up in 52, but I avoided that and so went in knowing nothing. And Kate Kane is a really likeable character. The big news when she was introduced was the fact that she's a lesbian. I was honestly relieved to discover that it's not a major plot point or source of drama: she simply is a lesbian. It only becomes an issue in her backstory, when she falls afoul o...more
Greg Rucka likes (and is good at) writing strong female characters. Starting with "Whiteout" and then with "Queen & Country", he gave us complex, layered characters that never felt *clichéd* or stereotypical, with emotional, action-packed storylines. He continues this in "Batwoman: Elegy".
In this book, he establishes the modern Batwoman as a compelling character by giving her a dark, heart-breaking origin story and by giving her her own nemesis: Alice. It is hard to elaborate without spoili...more
In this book, he establishes the modern Batwoman as a compelling character by giving her a dark, heart-breaking origin story and by giving her her own nemesis: Alice. It is hard to elaborate without spoili...more
I should start by saying that this is the first series I had read that featured Batwoman or Karen Kane. That said, I feel very ambivalent about this graphic novel, and grow more ambivalent the longer it is since I have read it. I'll just quickly outline a few of the pros and cons.
Pros:
- The art style is completely gorgeous. It is why I still debate over what to ultimately rate the book, because I spent a lot of time just starting at panels, they were so gorgeous.
- I found all the characters pret...more
Pros:
- The art style is completely gorgeous. It is why I still debate over what to ultimately rate the book, because I spent a lot of time just starting at panels, they were so gorgeous.
- I found all the characters pret...more
I know that everyon has been talking about this book for a while, and perhaps everything that needed to be said has been said, but do lets keep talking. We should talk about the art, which is beautiful and perfect--especially those splash panels and the bat-shaped frames. Because this Batwoman is everything that Batgirl always should have been: strong, separate, and capable. She stands on her own, inspired by Batman but never his in any material way. We should talk about Batman's cameos and how...more
When Gotham’s newest crime-fighter was introduced a few short years ago, I was at first excited. Not just because she sported a sartorial look reminiscent to Terry McGuiness’s Batman suit in the futuristic Batman Beyond TV series, but more because she was written as an out-of-the-closet lesbian from day one; truly one of the first of its kind in comics. (Earlier lesbians in mainstream comics being cleverly closeted to varying degrees.) But I found her character, when she showed up in the curious...more
Prior to this gorgeous incarnation, Batwoman has always seemed to me to be a weak character. One that nobody seemed to write well and in turn made the fans care very little. She was little else but a spin-off of the Batman mythos, just another Robin, and nothing so interesting as to warrant an in-depth analysis of her character or her stories. Batwoman and Batgirl both seem to harken back to that time before the Frank Miller 80's revamp of the caped crusader, candy colored clowns that were comic...more
An excellent expansion of the Batman mythos -- or perhaps I should say an excellent parallel to the Batman mythos. Tight, briskly paced storytelling from Greg Rucka accompanied by gorgeously stylized art from J. H. Williams III.
I'd only read Rucka's non-superhero comics before (Queen and Country; Whiteout), and his run on DC's Checkmate title. Rucka excels at writing female lead characters and Kate Kane is no exception. The new Batwoman garnered attention by being DC's openly gay superhero, but...more
I'd only read Rucka's non-superhero comics before (Queen and Country; Whiteout), and his run on DC's Checkmate title. Rucka excels at writing female lead characters and Kate Kane is no exception. The new Batwoman garnered attention by being DC's openly gay superhero, but...more
First Impressions!
This hardcover collection by DC Comics of Detective issues 854-860 attracted me for several reasons. Batwoman, Kathy Kane, has been out of circuulation for a few decades. [The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines] She was originally created in response to Dr. Wertham's (Seduction of the Innocent,[Seduction of the Innocent] a treatise on the "evils" of comic books and its supposed influence on juvenile delinquency in the paranoid 1950s)...more
This hardcover collection by DC Comics of Detective issues 854-860 attracted me for several reasons. Batwoman, Kathy Kane, has been out of circuulation for a few decades. [The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines] She was originally created in response to Dr. Wertham's (Seduction of the Innocent,[Seduction of the Innocent] a treatise on the "evils" of comic books and its supposed influence on juvenile delinquency in the paranoid 1950s)...more
probably the most innovative new character in the batman franchise in a long time. i was skeptical of the character and the story when i first heard about it and put off reading it and am now sorry i did. Greg Rucka has written an intelligent story that goes far deeper than what it superficially suggests.
Kate Kane comes off as a full character in her own right and the more salacious nerd-boy bait aspects (i.e., her sexuality) are treated as they should be - as a component of her life, but not th...more
Kate Kane comes off as a full character in her own right and the more salacious nerd-boy bait aspects (i.e., her sexuality) are treated as they should be - as a component of her life, but not th...more
During a time when The Dark Knight was absent, Gotham began to recognize a new heroine in black, Batwoman. What Gotham doesn't know is that Batwoman is Kate Kane, a tough woman from a military family with a powerful stubborn streak. When a a new cult leader, The High Madman of the Religion of Crime, comes to town, she knows she needs to get involved. After all, the previous High Madam drove a knife into Kate's heart. But what Kate has no idea of is that there's more to the new cult leader than s...more
The art in this was really amazing. It was pseudo realistic and definitely stylistic, too. The panel layouts were interesting, but a little confusing at times and distracting.
The story was written well, although I would be disappointed if there wasn't more. Not sure if this is part of an ongoing story or not. I really liked the pacing of the story and how her origin was revealed. There seems to be one glaring hole in the plot, though. The spoiler is below and would ruin the story if you haven't...more
The story was written well, although I would be disappointed if there wasn't more. Not sure if this is part of an ongoing story or not. I really liked the pacing of the story and how her origin was revealed. There seems to be one glaring hole in the plot, though. The spoiler is below and would ruin the story if you haven't...more
The recent arrival of Batwoman to the world of DC Comics came with much excitement. She is the first major superhero from either of the two big houses (Marvel or DC) to be gay or lesbian. This was my first chance to actually read some of her title, and this book is actually made up of a series of issues from the comic.
Kate Kane is not what most people would think of when they think of superheroes. She is a bit of a goth-girl with tattoos, short hair, and a gruff exterior. But when darkness falls...more
Kate Kane is not what most people would think of when they think of superheroes. She is a bit of a goth-girl with tattoos, short hair, and a gruff exterior. But when darkness falls...more
When I first read about Batwoman, my initial reaction was: "Cool! A gay, bat-related superheroine!" Then I thought, pretty much immediately right after: "Let's hope that gay isn't all she is." And then I waited.
Then came the previews. I still remember that I was taken aback by the red and black, and I wasn't sure I could like this. But then I actually read the preview and knew that I *had* to have this.
When the first issue was finally, finally released I was completely blown away. I had somewha...more
Then came the previews. I still remember that I was taken aback by the red and black, and I wasn't sure I could like this. But then I actually read the preview and knew that I *had* to have this.
When the first issue was finally, finally released I was completely blown away. I had somewha...more
Greg Rucka hit a home run here. Controversy from having the highest profile openly gay ensured people would be talking about this book and series. Since Batman's death, Batwoman assumed the lead role in the Detective Comics series.
From Rachel Maddow's gracious and heartfelt introduction to the brilliantly crafted artwork page after page to Rucka's compelling storyline, this book is a must read. While the Bat-world already has one Lewis Carroll inspired villian, my initial reaction to seeing Alic...more
From Rachel Maddow's gracious and heartfelt introduction to the brilliantly crafted artwork page after page to Rucka's compelling storyline, this book is a must read. While the Bat-world already has one Lewis Carroll inspired villian, my initial reaction to seeing Alic...more
Jul 05, 2010
Sebina (Classicmaiden)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
To anyone who loves reading great comics
Recommended to Sebina (Classicmaiden) by:
No one, since I collect Detective Comics in which this first appeared.
I first read Greg Rucka's stint on Batwoman in the Detective Comics #854-860, and I was truly excited to get it collected in this graphic novel. Because, like everyone else, I was truly impressed by the sheer originality and versatility in the art by J.H. Williams III, together with the beautiful coloring by Dave Stewart. Furthermore, I became in love with the thought-provoking take on the Batwoman character as written by Greg Rucka (hands down!). His storytelling is so rich with detail and huma...more
As a huge Batman fan, I absolutely adored this comic. The artwork was so deatailed, vibrant and just downright beautiful. The writing was smooth and interesting and as the first openly gay comic heroin, I feel Greg Rucka did a wonderful job in portraying Kathy Kane's life. A military brat from the day she was born, Kathy was always the tomb boy like her sister, whom was kidnapped along with her and her mother who were brutally murdered by terrorists because of her fathers occupation. Since that...more
I liked this book. But given all the hype and high-praise it has received, I was expecting to love it.
Batwoman is a very interesting character. I enjoyed reading about her exploits in 52, and I was glad to learn more about her background here. My favorite aspect of Batwoman is that her motivations for putting on the cape present a nice contrast to Batman's origins. While Batman was born out of personal tragedy and a quest for vengeance, Batwoman (a Marine discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell)...more
Batwoman is a very interesting character. I enjoyed reading about her exploits in 52, and I was glad to learn more about her background here. My favorite aspect of Batwoman is that her motivations for putting on the cape present a nice contrast to Batman's origins. While Batman was born out of personal tragedy and a quest for vengeance, Batwoman (a Marine discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell)...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Greg Rucka, is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.
More about Greg Rucka...
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