I don’t typically review Graphic Novels but I occasionally find one that needs to be reviewed. Batwoman was one of those. It’s hailed for being Batwoman in the comic world and it’s disregarded for being Batwoman in the literary world. No one is seeing where the value lies.
Batwoman: Elegy is a LGBT graphic novel plus Batman. It was more forthcoming with backstory than Batman was on a comic to comic basis but when you make the main character a lesbian discharged from the army you’ve got a lot of backstory to cover. As a Batman story, it was subpar. I’ve certainly read worse, but this is not one of the greats. If the LGBT issues don’t interest you, don’t pick it up.
The depth of her backstory is told in a series of flashbacks after the plot has climaxed. If you were willing to go through the flashbacks, though, you’d find the most important information about Batwoman. Her discharge from the army and desire to serve was the catalyst to becoming Batwoman. Her father’s support, unique to this Batman hero, in face of her discharge and her vigilante work was very important to her character as well.
If you aren’t that interested in the LGBT parts of the story, you can skip the Seven Years Ago chapter and miss very little. Flip through the pages and you’ll get pretty pictures and you’ll get the first time she meets Batman and realizes her calling.
LGBT themes
Batwoman does cover common themes in most modern LGBT literature: DADT and the Closet.
Throughout the story, Kate Kane has four romantic interests. We don’t get much out of the first one we see (Anna) and we get very little out of the last one (Maggie). The two in the flashbacks are the important ones.
Her first lover was a girl at West Point.
When Kate was charged with Homosexual conduct, she makes it clear that she would deny the charges if her lover, Sophie, were charged as well. Sophie is not charged, so she takes her discharge honorably.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, though recently repealed, had been a very important issue in modern LGBT literature and this one handles it admirably. The romance with her lover is sweet and tender, not unlike the young love between students of any genders in any part of the nation. Suddenly there’s punishment for this sweet little romance. The commanding officer makes it clear that she’s a great student and will make a fine officer one day. He is willing to reduce the disciplinary action for the charges if Kate will promise it won’t happen again. She’d be lying to say it was a mistake and won’t happen again, so she’s kicked out of the army. A loss to the service.
Her next girlfriend is a cop still in the closet.
Renee tries to save Kate from self destruction but Kate pushes her away. The scene is childish and spiteful but her rejection of Renee represents her rejection of the closet. Kate does, however, try to get her back throughout the story.
The two relationships Kate has during the main timeline of the comic are with women who are out of the closet. In both cases, Kate’s secrecy and lying is what drives them away. She rejected the closet in regards to being homosexual and condemned those who remained hidden. But she chose an even darker closet when she became the Batwoman, condemning herself to be alone.
There are, of course, other themes common to most LGBT literature, but they didn’t play as large a part as her coming out as gay and hiding herself as the Batwoman.
The Batman
All Batman heroes have some things that are common to them as well. Family tragedy is a major player in their drive to put on the mask.
Kate’s family tragedy is two parts. Both are spoilers, so stop here if you don’t want to be ruined.
Part one is the loss of her mother and twin sister. On their birthday, they’re out to celebrate and general masked bad guys crash into them and kidnap Kate, her sister Beth, and their mom. The next page is darkness with text of Kate crying and people yelling and gunshots.
The next few frames are of her father carrying her away and trying to make her only look at him. It shows what is assumed to be her mother’s body with the face hidden and a gunshot wound in the chest. It also shows what is assumed to be Beth’s arm and hair sticking out from under a blanket.
Thus the desire to protect and serve is born. This is common to most Batman heroes.
The second part of her family tragedy is killing her own sister.
Beth comes back. But Kate doesn’t know this person is her sister. Beth is a villain. When Kate is made privy to this information, it is when Kate is trying to keep the villain from falling to her death. Beth stabs Kate’s arm with a knife, making her let go. Beth falls to her death. And so goes the origin story of the Batwoman. Her mother and sister were taken from her and when she finds out her sister is alive, her only option is to kill her personally.
This makes Kate Kane, The Batwoman, one of the more emotionally crippled heroes of the Batman series. She comes with more angst than your average superhero, but that doesn’t stop her from being a hot redheaded lesbian Batman. And that’s important. Because that’s why I bought the book and probably why many others even glimpsed at the cover.
Though it was rushed and angsty, if you’re into LGBT lit or into Batman, I’d give it a shot. The worst that could happen is you don’t like it. What you have read will have been something of value anyway.
