2652

Much less of a mixed bag than the first two volumes. Kate teaming up with Wonder Woman proves to be a great pairing, and this has gorgeous two-page spreads from Williams in spades. Looking forward to more. ( )

Okay, I like this book. I like Batwoman in general. But, comic book continuity (DC in this case, but most publishers) leaves a lot to be desired when looking at different titles.
This book takes place at the same time as Death of the Family in the res ot the Batverse, but the stuff which is going on in this book is not mentioned in any of them And without getting all spoilery, it's a pretty big thing and the rest of the Gotham heroes would certainly be aware that this is going on. Not to mention that Wonder Woman is the guest star - which is totally awesome by the way - but in her comic book at this time, she is fleeing from villains (again, I won't spoil, but it's a big deal).

The book is worth the read, just treat Batwoman as a stand-alone, which coincidentally is the way to treat the Dark Knight series too. Part of the New 52, but not really. ( )

This book wraps up the storyline introduced and expanded upon in the first two volumes. This time, Batwoman gets some help from Wonder Woman to get to the bottom of the mystery of Gotham's missing children and the Medusa organization that's behind the kidnappings for unknown reasons. As I've mentioned many times before, I'm not a huge fan of crossovers in comics, but unfortunately that's just the way it is. In this case, there was a bit of logic to introducing Wonder Woman as this volume concerns itself a lot with mythology and mythological creatures; also, for lack of a better of term, it was cute to see Batwoman and Wonder Woman internally size each other, with Batwoman feeling like an imposter next to Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman being in awe of Batwoman's courage and bravery.

In addition to a lot of action sequences, this book has an interlude section where Kate Kane recalls her background before becoming Batwoman and reflects on her tense relationship with her father. Her other relationships are also explored to a lesser, but still important, extent. And while this book concludes one ongoing plot, its final pages reveal a shocker to keep the reader hooked for the next volume.

As usual, J.H. Williams III's illustrations are simply amazing, seemingly three-dimensional and full of detail. He continues to do interesting experimentation with the panels, including making a bird-shaped frame for page spreads dealing with Kate Kane's cousin Flamebird/Hawk Fire; another frame that starts out as bat ears for Batwoman and fluidly morphs into a star for Wonder Woman; and a couple of circular illustrations.

This is another great addition to the Batwoman storyline, and I look forward to reading Volume 4! ( )