Saturday, July 22, 2006

Comic Nights

(spoiler below)

Every Wednesday, time allowing, I walk from the upper east side to
Midtown Comics near Grand Central. This week I didn't get to pick up my comics until Friday night (last night). I got rained on al the way down (my umbrella vanished weeks ago). It was a nice walk.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a comic mainstreamer. I like the Flash, I like the XMen, I like DC's crises, and I like Marvel's Civil War. Some of the comics I like now were comics I loved as a child.

It was a pretty decent comic week. A second new Flash came out. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are back in action in the JLA. The Civil War continues with Captain America standing up for civil rights.

Batwoman makes her first appearance this week in DC's "52." "52" follows the year after DC's latest crisis. It's a year without Superman, Batman, and Wonderwoman. Batwoman bursts onto to the scene to save Renee and Charlie (aka The Question, aka Vic Sage).

The story is pretty interesting. Renee is a former cop, a hard drinker, and the former lover of closeted heiress Kate Kane. Kate Kane is ... Batwoman :)

The buzz about the character is obviously over her being a lesbian superhero. But so far her former lover, Renee, has been the focus of the story. Kate Kane has only been in a few panels. It's tough to make a call on her.

So far we only know that she's closeted, wealthy, dating a doctor, Renee's ex, and Batwoman. I hope the writers don't parallel Batman's personality. He's such an ass. I've stopped following him (and Superman, but that's another post) unless he's in another comic I read.


I also hope they don't kill Renee. It looks like they might be building the back story of a rageful, lost the love of her life, Batwoman. In some panels, they've been writing Renee as a very tired soul. I really hope they don't play that tired song.