A Look at Batwoman #17

Title: Batwoman #17

Author: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman

Artist: J.H. Williams III

Publisher: DC Comics

Rating: T+

Release date: February 20, 2013

Verdict: Best of the Week!

***SPOILERS FOR ISSUE #17 TO FOLLOW***

The big news at DC these past few weeks has been the uproar about Orson Scott Card. Mr. Card, the avowed anti-gay ultra Christian right-wing writer of the Ender’s Game series of novels, has been contracted by DC to write an issue of their online Adventures of Superman series. The internets had a stroke and petitions were flying around to get DC to not hire Mr. Card due to his personal beliefs and agenda. Comic book stores all over, including both of ours, are responding by refusing to stock their shelves with his work, which includes several pieces at Marvel Comics including a run on Ultimate Iron Man, as well as adaptations of his Ender books.

With all the anti-DC sentiments out there, due to their apparent lack of respect for the LGBT community, maybe people have forgotten that Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, is one of the most prominent gay characters in all of comics, and DC is her home. She’s been ‘out’ right from the get-go, and people may not realise as she is not constantly talking about it. She’s gay…she’s in relationships…she’s not special because of it, and she doesn’t claim to be. She’s an amazing character with a fantastic creative team behind her who respects the fact that she’s gay, but does not dwell on it.

Anyways…the perfect response to this whole situation was right there in this week’s issue #17, which of course, was finished long before this ordeal with Orson Scott Card started. It’s a bit of a spoiler, so be forewarned, but when all was said and done in this issue…when Batwoman had finally vanquished the bad guys she’s been fighting for 17 months and finally rescued all those missing children, she asked her girlfriend to marry her. It was heart felt and romantic and a beautiful scene. Will she say ‘yes’? Who knows! We won’t find out until next issue…but for now, I’m just happy for them.

So… a big win for DC in the RESPECT column, right on the heels on a huge loss. On a sad note, I hear that this is the last issue of Batwoman that JHW3 will be drawing for the foreseeable future. He will continue to co-write with Mr. Blackman, but as he is drawing Neil Gaiman’s new Sandman story (debuting later this year), he won’t have enough time to do more than covers on Batwoman. But I’ll still be sticking around. As I said earlier, Kate Kane is an amazing character and I plan on following her adventures for years to come…and with that last page, how could I not come back?! Everything seems to be going full circle for Batwoman and her family. See you next time J .