Batwoman Omnibus

Batwoman (2011) #0-4

by J.H. Williams III, Greg Rucka, W. Haden Blackman

Acclaimed artist J.H. Williams III reveals the shocking origin of one of comics' most prominent lesbian characters, collected for the first time ever in one epic omnibus hardcover edition!

Determined to continue serving others after her military career was cut short by bigotry, Kate Kane has taken up the identity of Batwoman, leading a one-woman war on Gotham City's evil underbelly. Who or what is stealing children from the barrio, and for what vile purpose? How will Kate handle unsettling revelations about her father, Colonel Jacob Kane? And why is a certain government agency suddenly taking an interest in her?

J.H. Williams III's extensive work on Batwoman saw him play both writer and illustrator. Joined by frequent collaborators Greg Rucka and W. Haden Blackman, Batwoman Omnibus by J.H. Williams III collects his visually stunning work in its entirety.

Collects Detective Comics #854-863, Batwoman #0 (New 52), Batwoman #0-24, and Batwoman Annual #1.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Batman, Comic Book, Graphic Novels, Fiction

888 pages, Hardcover

Published October 12, 2021

About the author

James H. "Jim" Williams III, usually credited as J. H. Williams III, is a comic book artist and penciller. He is known for his work on titles such as Chase, Promethea and Desolation Jones.

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely a huge and satisfying chunk of comics.

Despite what you might expect from the term "omnibus," this doesn't seem to contain the first appearance of the character. She's just there fighting this group called The Religion of Crime, and we readers have to be content with the crumbs of context that are doled out sparingly over quite a number of pages–nothing a seasoned comics reader shouldn't be able to handle.

Kate Kane is Batwoman. She bears very little resemblance to the 1950's character of the same name, which is probably for the best. The original tales are not without their charms, but the character definitely needed extensive reinvention in order to fit into the context of modern comics. The writers do an excellent job of differentiating her from Batman, showing how her strengths and weaknesses differ from his. She's unsure of herself at the beginning, but gains confidence enough to go toe-to-toe with Batman himself by the end of it. I honestly wasn't sure how much I liked the book at the beginning. But seeing Kate grow as a person and getting to know her and her friends and family helped me warm to it.

High point for me was probably the extended storyline about the missing children. The climax involves a team up with Wonder Woman, and is suitably epic.

And J.H. Williams III's art is just stunning! True, he doesn't draw the entire book, but it's definitely noticeable when he does. His page layouts are wonderfully creative, and his storytelling is superb. Always a treat to read his work.

If you're interested in reading a stupefyingly large book of Batwoman comics, look no further. Recommended!

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batwoman as a package, in Omnibus form, is very very strong.

The Batwoman Omnibus kicks off with Greg Rucka's legendary run, even if it's short, with the "Elegy" storyline. Rucka totally nails Kate Kane's whole deal: she's this rich lesbian socialite with a super sad past, whose military career got cut short thanks to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." So, she becomes Batwoman, doing her own thing to protect Gotham.

Rucka really digs into her head, exploring her kinda perfect bond with her dad, Colonel Jacob Kane, and her fierce drive. The writing here is sharp, and the art is just chef's kiss. And don't even get me started on Alice, the main bad girl, she's creepy as heck, spouting riddles and leading a wild cult. Their showdown is a total mind-bender, dropping a bombshell about Kate's sister, Beth, that's just heartbreaking.

Then, when J.H. Williams III takes over the art for the New 52 series, it's just mind-blowing. His pages are pure genius, breaking all the rules with wild layouts and stunning two-page spreads that just pull you right in. He plays with different art styles and colors like a master, making Batwoman's bright red pop against Gotham's gloom.

The only time it dips in quality is really the Wonder Woman team up. For some reason Williams decides to add a unnecessary amount of wording on pages that contribute nothing to the overall storyline.

The best part though overall? Williams totally keeps the vibe and tone Rucka set up with Batwoman's origin, making the whole omnibus feel super cohesive and awesome from start to finish. This is pretty rare when two different writers are in one big omnibus.

Will we ever get the final 15 issues of new 52, and the 18 issues of rebirth? Probably not. But it would be nice, as Batwoman is a badass character. For now going with a 4 out of 5.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a massive beastie of a hardcover book in pages as well as weight.
It was my first comic meeting with this particular comic heroine and I must say the pleasure was all mine.
First of her social life is easily better than good old Batman, her activities are more in the mythical with a very nice guest part by Wonder Woman. And then she is blackmailed into finding out the secret identity of Batman, what can go wrong you can ask yourself.
Then there is the matter of Kate Kanes' sister Alice, who fell down a hole and is slightly crazy but still the sister of Kate aka Batwoman.
The art in this grand collection is at time crazy and beautiful, the stories aquire your attention at times and are very simple at other times. Still it was mostly a pleasure to read. The book itself is well worth the price and looks quite good on a bookshelf.
This Batwoman omnibus is well worth your time, otherwise watch the TV show with Ruby Rose who lured me into this omnibus. Now I have to watch the other seasons of Batwoman, which I expect are far less ambitious than the comic.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been meaning to catch up with Batwoman for years, and the recent omnibus release finally got me to do it. This run has a reputation for stellar art and iffy writing - the art lived up to the hype, but I thought the storytelling was actually pretty decent. Some of the plotting is a little confusing, and some bits do run long (like La Llorona and her kidnapped children, but Williams clearly loved the character). The Wonder Woman team-up is great, though, and I really liked Kate's relationships with Maggie Sawyer and her niece, Bette. I'm not much of a DC reader, and I was under the impression that Maggie was dead in the current continuity, so I was especially happy to see her.

Also, I kept thinking that this sort of hard-boiled supernatural storytelling was pretty much the book I'd always wanted for Jessica Drew, so I finally got to see what that would look like, kind of.

Unfortunately, due to what I'm sure was some kind of behind the scenes drama, the grand finale is written and drawn by an entirely different creative team. It's not terrible, but it's definitely a letdown. It's only because of that anticlimax that I'm giving 4/5.

Recommended.

[Cédric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cet omnibus était fort agréable à la lecture, surtout lors des passages illustrés par l’extrêmement talentueux J.H. Williams. La poésie dans ses mises en page est évidente et ravie.

Évidemment, lorsque l’on connait la manière dont les auteurs on quitté la série suite à des différences d’opinion avec DC comics, on se désole de rater la vision de Williams et Blackman au profit d’un auteur refourgué là pour pallier et offrir à la série un semblant de finalité.

[Bryson Grenfell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great!
I’ve never read Batwoman’s solo title before, so getting to have this be my first experience with Kate outside of the larger Bat-family was a real treat. She’s such a freaking badass, and never falters in being a rich compelling character with more than a handful of flaws that keep her so much more relatable as a person than Bruce usually is is.

I love her dynamics with Bette and her father, and I love love love Kate’s relationship with Maggie Sawyer. They’re great together, even with Kate initially struggling with the mine-field of trying to keep a relationship alive while hiding her dual identity as a, frankly quite violent vigilante that commits more to the cape than to her personal life.
It’s a shame this run didn’t go any further, but unfortunately the creatives had a pretty big disagreement with DC’s editor in chief at the time (look it up, it’s some juicy and disappointing stuff that went down)

Her rogues gallery is really great too.

I find myself wondering; with this as the blueprint how did they drop the ball so hard with the tv show?

Strong recommend

[Marko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zanimljivo sa više aspekata na prvo čitanje, a siguran sam da ću čitati ponovo.

Generalno je zanimljivo kako ti sporedni likovi iz Batman univerzuma prave otklon od samog Batmana i pokušavaju da budu sve ono što Batman ne može ili ne sme da bude. Nightwing mi je jedan od omiljenih likova koji je otišau u tu neku James Bond nišu, pa sam hteo da probam i sa Batwoman koje je mnogo toga u ovoj knjizi.

Batwoman je u ovoj knjizi detektiv, baš kao Batman, ali je otišla dosta u neki Hellboy momenat jer se bori protiv dosta nadrealnih stvari. Tu su kultovi, čudovišta i pojave primerenije za Dylan Doga nego za Batman univerzum. I to je zabavno.

Druga stvar gde Batwoman treba da dopuni Batmana je taj neki woke momenat. Batwoman je autovana lezbejka i kao takve je bila izbačena sa vojne akademije i prepuštena da sebi da se snalazi. Nije htela da odustane od svojih principa i javno iznosi svoju seksulanost koju prihvata i njen otac "bivši-general-JNA-u-penziji" na američki način, što je bitno za radnju.

Treža bitna stvar je feminizam. Iako su svi sidekick ovi Batwoman žene i iako je u glavnoj ulozi policajka, pomoćnica načelnika Gordona koji se skoro pa ni ne pojavljuje, i specijalne agentice i neprijatelji su uglavnom sve žene, bitno je naglasiti da ni jednog trenutka nisam imao neki utisak da se sad to jako nameće, iako je očigledno da je moralo biti tako. Ako je ovaj run trebao biti neka demonstracija feminizma, ja mislim da je uspeo u tome na jedan vrlo prizeman i suptilan način a to je da se glavne uloge stvarno podele ženama ali da tu nije priča tu zbog njih nego su one tu zbog priče i priča vodi i nisam tokom čitanja imao utisak da mi se bilo šta nabija na nos, kako to uglavno biva u zadnje vreme u pop kulturi.

Glavni razlog zašto sam uzeo ovaj omnibus je JH Williams III i njegov crtež koji je fenomenalan. Obožavam rad ovog čoveka koji se trudi u veoma komercijalnom okruženju da se igra sa formom stripa tražeći način da vodi priču kroz samo njemu svojstvene kadrove koji se ređaju na netradicionalne načine i variraju od okonosti i narativa. Duple strane JH Williams III su njegov zaštitni znak i nikako ga ne treba čitati na formatu manjeg od ovoga.

U samoj priči ima oscilacija i nekad se poseglo za brzim i jednostavnim ali neupečatljivim rešenjima, ali to je odlika američkog superherojskog stripa. Kao jedna zaokružena celina priča ima smisla i ima svoje uspone i po koji pad, ali sve u svemu vredno je čitanja.

[Chris M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic art that doesn't let panel conventions restrain it.

Unfortunately, the plots in this omnibus are mostly rubbish.

The writers don't seem to know what to do with Batwoman. The stark realism of her origin clashes horribly with the random supernatural monsters she fights, and her practically albino skin is ridiculous.

Throw in some stereotypical and overused family connections to some of the villains, and the story is incredibly disappointing compared to the art.

Art is 5 stars, story is a 2. If art alone can carry a graphic novel for you, get it.

[Ethan Hunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel guilty for giving this two stars because I always really enjoy Batwoman stories, and it’s neat to see things carry over from the 52 event even after Flashpoint, but the plot just wasn’t what I expected. I enjoyed my time with it quite a bit but it was a bit too much supernatural and not enough street level at times. It just needed a better balance with its arcs that’s all, but I understand why they’d want her book to be very distinct from the Batman run at the time

[Tim Pieraccini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I'm old-school when it comes to artwork. Beautiful as this often was, I found it quite difficult to take in, and the storytelling sometimes felt muddled to me as a result of this. Much to admire, though.

[Joakim Ax · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Elegy story still holds up but the New 52 era was so long ago that Ivé read so I think I build up to much expectations for this book when it finally was released.

[Samuli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Kate Kane so much!!!!

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need more Kate Kane in my life.

[Astrid-Birgitta · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best collection of Batwoman comics out there. Great writing and art. I love it very dearly as Batwoman has always been my favourite superhero. Glad to have a copy of this on my shelf.

[Aidan]

The Greg Rucka part of this I’d already read and it’s fantastic. When JH Williams takes over as both artist and co-writer with W. Haden Blackman the character work, overall story pacing, and narrative logic suffer. Williams and Blackman have exciting story ideas, following up on Rucka’s writing very naturally, and they seem to understand the characters and overall direction well, but their handle on dialogue is not the best, and the issue to issue pacing and story structure is at times repetitive, drawn out, confusing, or anticlimactic, leading to a largely forgettable story with several memorable moments. Williams seems to fall into a surprisingly common trap of an artist-turned-writer where he massively overwrites in the caption boxes. About halfway through I stopped reading those. Despite all this, it was still a blast to read every night, and got me to request Williams’ work on Chase from the library. It’s incredibly disappointing that DC editorial canned Maggie and Kate’s wedding at the last minute, forcing Williams and Blackman off the book with their story unfinished. Marc Andreyko’s annual finishing off those plot threads was pretty bad on all fronts, with some redeeming art by Trevor McCarthy. Tough way to see such an iconic run go out.

The reason to pick this up is the book is jaw droppingly beautiful and consistent when Williams is penciling, artistically elegant and complex in a way unparalleled in superhero comics, save Williams own work on Seven Soldiers. The guy is in a league of his own. Williams’ pencil work here continues to be at times highly detailed and others impressionistic, experimentally lain out, making use of multiple styles within a panel to represent different characters or ideas. The sequence cutting back and forth from Kate and Maggie’s hookup drawn like black and white polaroids, to Flamebird out on patrol with flaming border details stands out as a favorite. He’s like the best penciller of 7 completely different styles, moving between them like a composer emphasizing or deemphasizing different instruments. Even when Williams isn’t on art duties, his and Blackman’s writing encourages the other artists to go for the same sort of exciting details and layouts, although never up to the same awe inspiring work that Williams’ pencils display as accompanied by Dave Stewart’s colors. The only artist who comes close is Francesco Francavilla’s single issue about Killer Croc. I gasped with excitement when I got to that issue, what a wonderful surprise. Special shoutout to Todd Klein who letters the whole book. He is incredibly varied and expressive without ever being confusing. Truly over-powered that man.

[OmniBen · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 2/5
I was pretty sure I knew what this was. In fact, I was all but certain of it, but Greg Rucka's name on it, (which is ridiculously misleading, due to the fact he writes less than a quarter of the stories here), along with J.H William's III were enough to get me to dispel my well placed reticence, and pick up a copy. Either the sales weren't there to keep him (Rucka) on it, which is doubtful, or even he didn't want to be associated with this nonsense, although possibly also doubtful as he doesn't seem to have a problem with where modern comics are, both politically and ideologically. And sure, the art is technically excellent, but there were far too many abstract splash panels, and not nearly enough regular, defined storytelling panels. The splash pages looked great, but made it hell for consecutive storytelling. And with a story this difficult to follow (code for rubbish), I didn't want to be straining any harder than I already was.
Did you know Batwoman is a lesbian, by the way? If you didn't, don't worry, this book will remind you every chance it gets. I don't know what Batwoman's original backstory is, although I can assure you, it wasn't this earnest, heavy handed and completely on the nose as it is done here.

Batwoman's a lesbian by the way.

Quite how they could turn a generally aesthetically pleasing woman (women) because half of Gotham's women seem to be lesbian now, too, into so unappealing a prospect for the predominantly male readers is anyone's guess. Though if someone can tell me why Kate Kane looks like a second audition call back for Twilight, I'd love to hear it. Nobody else in this book, despite mostly all being white, looks like they never grew out of that embarrassing goth phase, yet Kate Kane doesn't appear to have gotten any sun since 1997. That said, the male gaze needs to be averted and subverted at all costs.
It is at this point I should mention I only really read half of this. I got somewhere around the halfway point, and I just couldn't bring myself to finish this. I can think of only two other omnibus' I abandoned at some point during, and they were some god awful dreck. This was probably the better of the three, still, I wasn't going to submit myself to another 400+ pages. Flat, unlikeable characters, writing that would meet the dictionary definition of average. Coincidences and contrivances aplenty, garbled plot lines, zero meaningful set up, this book has it all. This is the quintessential modern comic book run, and its bloody terrible. Batwoman is a lesbian by the way! Don't worry, you won't forget anytime soon. 2/5


OmniBen.

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll start off by saying that I don't know why J.H. Williams III's name doesn't come up more often when discussing the best artists in comics. Every page of this could be framed and put as a piece of art in a museum, and Williams' use of page layouts in particular is the best I have ever seen in comics. There's not too many comics with standout colorist work but man, Dave Stewart does most of it, and his work here is absolutely incredible. Greg Rucka's arc is very good and self contained, but I can't help but feel it ends up being dwarfed by what comes after. Rucka focuses a lot more on establishing Kate and her supporting cast than writing a grand epic plot like Blackman does, and he definitely succeeds at that. Something I really appreciated is that Kate is presented as a very flawed person, but that doesn't take away from her relatability. She makes a lot of mistakes early on in both her personal and costumed life that directly hurts the people around her, which might make her seem unlikeable to some, but that's what makes her development so satisfying. While Rucka's Batwoman excelled at establishing the groundworks for greatness alongside a fairly generic plot, Blackman delivers a story that I absolutely did not expect but found to be absolutely amazing. Read this for the art alone honestly, but you will absolutely be surprised by just how unique this run is.

[TheMadReader · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is simply God awful, actually horrific. Greg Rucka has some stories in here and they’re also entirely lackluster. This infamous Greg Rucka folks rave about, Gotham Central was my introduction to him and this omnibus is my second encounter, I’m sorry but I’m not impressed.

The art is nice but the story is very uninteresting, I forced myself to sit there and read this as I don’t have a habit of starting something and not finishing it however, I came very close for the first time in my life. All I kept coming across was virtue signaling and very below average writing. One minute Katherine Kane is sitting on the couch with her girlfriend, and the next page she’s chasing Medusa with Wonder Woman because Gods and mortals and monsters blah blah blah.

If you like gothic shit, fables and mythology…this is for you.

I have no interest, simply bought it to continue my Batman and Batwoman collection of Omni’s.

[drown_like_its_1999 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting this run to be visually stimulating but was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the whole package. Williams' art is as dynamic as ever with creative and evocative panel layouts framing detailed and cinematic scenes. Batwoman's near vampiric paleness is sometimes a bit much as Kate Kane but I quite enjoy the paleness in-costume and think it completes her stark scary-sexy goth adjacent aesthetic. While the art is still the star of the show the accompanying characterization and atmosphere is damn satisfying. Kate Kane, Colonel Kane, and Captain Sawyer were all quite multidimensional and their interpersonal relationships had some compelling drama which made me pretty invested. Early on the plot was rather clunky, the nonlinear storytelling was a bit excessive, and the rushed ending felt quite cramped but I still had a great time. 8.25/10

[Neon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what an incredibly dark and gripping story that manages to intertwine gothic horror with fables and mythology too. Artwork here is stunning, creative and unique too which really compliments the dark twisted story and theres a great balance between action and character development. My only gripe is sometimes there's so much going on in the art on pages that it can be overwhelming to take in at times. That being said it's an absolutely stunning book that's definitely a must read for Bat fans that like thier stories much darker and full of not only physical violence but head trauma too.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a huge Batman fan, but not that big a fan of his side kicks, i like most but dont know to much about them. I only know Kate Kane because of her big role in James Tynions Detective Comics, and i really liked her there, so lets see what Rucka which i dig as writer does with the character. I love the artists on this book, Jock has been awesome for years, and Williams can draw so good, i really need to check more of his work, it doesn't feel like a superhero book artwise with these artists, and i love that, the story is fast paced and decent, i had some good fun.
3.5 stars.

[Petrit Kabashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the book. First time reading anything of batwoman and I finished the book in two days. Easy to read and engaging storyline.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mysterious and beautiful, just like Gotham. The painterly style is fantastic, this book just looks amazing. Great story throughout,keeps you guessing, My favorite Batwoman run!