Batwoman #8 Review
Batwoman's storyline finally coalesces.
It took until this issue for me to realize, but Amy Reeder's work has given this title the storytelling backbone that its plot needed to progress as quickly as it needs to move. J.H. Williams' extravagant work on the first arc did an outstanding job of introducing the characters by bathing the reader in emotion and ambiance rather than by supporting a sprawling narrative. Reeder's work, as exemplified in Batwoman #8, allows for a solid sense of direction in the series by changing the medium in which the story is told. The perspectives used by Reeder to draw the reader into the story are highly effective, and they remain fully unobtrusive with respect to the flow and understanding of the story's logic.
The story itself gives a lot of development to both the tenuous arrangement between Kate and Agent Chase and to Falchion's various minions. The main attraction here is the final two pages in which the story orients itself for quite an interesting resolution after a slow, stealthy build-up over the length of the book. Unfortunately, that build-up is rather clunky, as the transitions between segments (which consist of brief flashbacks) are poorly integrated and somewhat confusing.
Batwoman #8 focuses the series to a degree unseen in previous issues. Killer Croc may look a little dopey here, but he's really a fleck on the skillfully executed artwork provided by Amy Reeder. The plot develops significantly here, and those developments are compelling. However, the flashbacks are not stitched together in the smoothest fashion possible. If the collaboration between Reeder and her writers, W. Haden Blackman and J.H. Williams III continues the way it has, this title's plot points should be hurtling along at breakneck speed when Reeder's first turn on Batwoman ends.