Batwoman: Everything You Need To Know

2. Batwoman's Comics - Where Do New Readers Start?

Batwoman a Tale of Blood DC Comics
DC Comics

Though the comics medium has a somewhat-deserved reputation for being particularly difficult to access, with decades' worth of continuity, confusing reboots, relaunches and redesigns making collecting a difficult prospect for newcomers, the good news is that because Batwoman is a relatively new creation, it's really easy to devour their greatest hits in no time at all.

Fans looking to explore the character should consider giving '52' a read, but it shouldn't be considered essential. For most fans, their first port of call should be Batwoman: Elegy, the first collection of stories written by the formidable Greg Rucka. DC have recently reprinted this story and other Rucka Batwoman tales in Batwoman by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III, and it's really where the character first took off.

Somewhat confusing, however, is the way the publisher have numbered these collections. Despite picking up almost immediately where 'Elegy' left off, Batwoman: Hydrology (written by Hayden Blackman and Williams) is referred to as Vol. 1. You can thank the New 52 for confusing everyone in that regard, but it's still a wonderful book, and sparked what would become a four volume stint on the character in the following months, with To Drown the World, World's Finest, and This Blood is Thick rounding off a truly epic and defining tale in Batwoman's relatively short vigilante career.

Blackman and Williams would depart the book (and thus leave their run without a definitive conclusion), after DC Editorial shockingly refused to allow Kate Kane to marry longtime partner Maggie Sawyer in their conclusive final arc. Following this came only cursory appearances in various Bat-media, but when the New 52 made way for DC Rebirth in 2016, Kate finally returned to the spotlight and reclaimed her own solo comic, written by James Tynion IV and Marguerite Bennett.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.