I was never a big fan of Batwoman when she made her debut in “52″ then last year when Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III took over on Detective Comics and  told us a bit more about Kate Kane. I became a fan of those issues and a few of them (Detective Comics #853,#854,#857)were pick of the week here at ComicImpact. A big part of why I fell in love with those story was  because of J.H. Williams III artwork and how he lay out his pages.

When I first heard there was going to be a Batwoman ongoing comic I was hoping it was going to be the same team. Well Rucka is out doing god knows what and this time around Williams III is doing the writing and the art work with Amy Reeder (Supergirl covers/Madame Xanadu) with some help for the best colorist in the business Mr.Dave Stewart.

I was not sure what my feelings were on hearing that Batwoman would start  off her solo career with a number 0. I am not really a big fan of number of 0’s  but now that I have read it it  works find and here is why. Bruce Wayne is doing what he did best in those  road home comics , he is spying on the new self-appointed  Batwoman and trying to found out if Kate Kane is really Batwoman.  The story is told thought the eye’s of Bruce as we see him spy on Kate as she goes to the Cemetery to drop off some flowers to her mother and twin sister Beth that where both murdered by terrorists , then  later at a night club where we see her meet  someone and at one point  Bruce even dresses up and tries to mug Kate on the way home from the market. All these events take place over a period of 24 days.

This part of the story is done by Amy Reeder and wow her work  here looks and feels  quite reminiscent of the real world stuff  from Detective Comics that Williams III did. The other pages or the half of the pages is Batwoman taking some bad guys down and  that is done by Williams III and as someone  with a graphic design background. I am not going to bull shit  you when  I tell you that I popped some wood when I was looking  at those pages. Williams III is a master when it comes to page layouts.

This issue ends with Bruce Wayne  finding out  that yes Kate Kane is Batwoman. This is a GREAT jumping on point for anyone who ever wanted to know about this character. The only down side to this issue is that number 1 does not hit comic book shops till February. After seeing the preview images this issue it makes me want to go back and reread the Detective Comics stuff and if you have never read it go out and order it right now from Amazon and make sure to pick up Batwoman #0 since it is a must read for the upcoming year.

Simon Daoudi
Simon@ComicImpact.com