Reconsidering the Superhero

Batwoman Elegy

This was absolutely gorgeous. I don’t know what I expected from that comic but I loved it. I tend to read superhero comics anyway and as much I enjoyed the past classes it felt good to be reading about caped crusaders again.

The art was gorgeous, the comic actually changed styles between Kate Kane and Batwoman. The symbolism of the covers mirroring to hero with villain, because they were twin sisters, was well thought out but not obvious. It was still tailored to the male gaze but the writing realized this and poked fun at it. I am familiar with Greg Rucka he wrote for Wonder Woman Hiketeia and Land of the Dead. He handles female characters very well; they exist for themselves and not for anyone else. Not for the male reader’s fantasy.

Kate Kane was such a real character, and very positive representation of a gay character. She was shown as a human and wasn’t simplified to cheap stereotypes. She wanted to fight crime, after leaving the military she ended up fighting crime. She wore the bat symbol so people would understand she was a hero. She isn’t actually affiliated with Batman. She exists for herself.  This is impressive because so many characters are linked with batman that Bruce Wayne practically has a Bat Family. It would’ve been easy for the writer to add Batwoman to the team but Rucka didn’t do the easy thing. With the help of her father, Kate Kane became Batwoman and Batman had nothing to do with it. Batman doesn’t even know who she is. (Unless you read Batwoman Issue 0, then you see the great detective unlocks her identity very quickly.)

I really love that the villain was Kate’s sister Alice (no doubt in affiliation with mad hatter) it made her fight so much more personal. The assumed death of Kate’s mother and sister drove her to be strong. She didn’t want to be weak or over powered ever again. And now the reason for her strength is trying to cut her down and hurt civilians. It’s such complex rivalry.

Civil War

While we’re talking about superheroes reinvented I believe the Marvel Civil War deserves and honorable mention. The Civil War is about the superhero registration act which would require all heroes to reveal their secret identity to the government so they can be held accountable for destruction. The two head are Iron Man, who sides with the government and Captain America who is against the act. All the superheroes had to pick a side. This Marvel event tied in nearly all of Marvel current series into one plot. All the different writers changed their comic to fit the Civil War.

Marvel has had other events such as the secret invasion or the Dark reign but nothing holds a candle to the Civil War. It was truly a sophisticated issue dealing with justice. It was handled well.