There’s something about me reviewing Batwoman BEFORE and AFTER meeting Dani, the artist on this series. I was already enamored with her gothic, moody, saturated art, but greeting her in Como, Italy, gave me a full-circle moment. She was so kind, lovely, and gracious with her time in chatting with me (and she gave me one of her sketchbooks, no less). Then I inquired about what it was like to collaborate with Greg Rucka, and she noted that he was methodical and brilliant. All this to say, color me nerd-struck with glee, so returning to review Batwoman #4 feels like a homecoming.
This issue reaches its penultimate arc as you can cut the tension (and suffering) with a knife as Kate Kane’s (Batwoman) ongoing war against Despina and her ‘Dark Faith’ cult hits an explosive climax. With the rise in unprecedented deaths, she’s drawn the attention and alarm of the moralist hero community, so Renee Montoya (the Question) tracks Kate down in Greece to find answers. She does figure out that, despite the optics, it is not actually her who killed all those people (side note: Renee happens to be Kate’s former love interest, so she is aware of her more vulnerable and true colors as a person).
Meanwhile, Despina is also rewatching the footage of these unhinged killings and has also noted that the ‘real’ Batwoman doesn’t kill, but this one did. She is thrilled with this and puts two and two together that their cult’s fellow ‘sister’ Beth (AKA who becomes the villainous Alice) is donning the mask. It becomes a race against the clock between Kate Kane and Despina’s minions, trying to seek her out first.
Credit: DC Comics
Ultimately, all of these actions are fulfilling a long-standing apocalyptic prophecy that has haunted Kate Kane since she was a child. It also doesn’t help that she feels responsible for the demise of Beth before she became a baddie.
Batwoman is certainly weighty on the heart and mind, so that’s been a consistent through-line in this new series. As a result, I do wish there was a tiny bit of levity to the narrative, as a lot of the tone has been so somber. As a result, it wasn’t easy to read this all in one go. I had to take a few mental breaks. I suppose this can also be interpreted as a compliment to Rucka’s writing commitment with so much raw trauma and psychological grief poured into this (the mirror scene between Kate and Beth is particularly gut-shattering and Dani’s line work here beautifully captures the unyielding pain).
Credti: DC Comics
Curiously, my favorite element in issue #4 was actually Matt Hollingsworth’s use of colors to paint such an immersive visage. The plums, grays, and blues were primarily reserved for Batwoman, whereas in key scenes, the villainous Depina got deceptively happy shades of pastel pink, orange, and yellow, which lent a kind Stepford wife creepiness to the scenes.
In issue #5, I hope that Kate can reach Beth first and prevent bloodshed anymore, but my educated guess is that we may not be so fortunate.
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