Broken Wings
Batwoman #4
Like most issues of this comic, we get a couple of storylines running alongside each other. Kate Kane and Maggie Sawyer spend the night together, and then Batwoman investigates a woman named Maria, learning that her children died while she was in a drunken stupor and then she committed suicide, eventually becoming the Weeping Woman who has been abducting children recently. The second storyline focuses on Bette Kane, Kate Kane’s cousin and former crimefighting partner until Kate rejected her in an attempt to get her out of the superhero business. Unfortunately, Bette got mad and went out in her old Flamebird costume to bust some crooks’ heads — and she ran afoul of a killer with a boathook for a hand. Now she’s slowly bleeding to death in DEO custody, and all Agent Chase cares about is finding out Batwoman’s real name. Will Bette survive? Will Kate get arrested by the DEO?
Verdict: Thumbs up. Beautiful art, but that goes without saying. I’m good and worried about Flamebird by this point — very much hoping she survives, but assuming she does, it also leaves open the question of whether this will make her a more dedicated crimefighter, or if it’ll just scare her back into DC’s C-list characters folder. Let’s hope it’s the former and not the latter.
The Unwritten #32
Tom Taylor is stuck in the Antarctic with a nonfunctioning magic wand, unable to teleport himself to safety. And with Tom losing consciousness and slowly dying, the magic that keeps the generators running for Lizzie, Savoy, and Frankenstein is also stopping working. They use the Crystal Doorknob to rescue Tom, but Frankenstein ends up trapped in the frozen wastes. Can Richie figure out a way to save them using the belief of Tommy Taylor fans on the Internet?
Verdict: Thumbs up. A short, focused chapter. We get our heroes out of a jam and open up some new threats against them. And hey, kudos must go out for the fact that the Arctic setting was so well done that it made me go put on a coat. That’s nicely done work.
Today’s Cool Links:
- Snell has figured out the Wildstorm-related secret behind the DC Reboot.
- More real-life Calvin and Hobbes snowmen…
- Nice trivia about “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
- I just can’t read this superhero Christmas story without laughing.
- And here’s some fun, evil-inflected holiday greetings.
- And finally, have yourself a Merry Movie Trailer for “The Hobbit”.