Remember Greg Rucka? Novelist turned crime comic writer, creator of ‘Whiteout’ and ‘Queen and Country’, then writer of an acclaimed run on ‘Detective Comics’ and the co-creation of the cultish ‘Gotham Central’? Then, as time went on, a general mainstream comic writer who followed runs on ‘Wolverine’ and the like with a stint as a DC exclusive creator, churning out largely indistinguishable superhero comics alongside DC’s other mainstays like Judd Winick and Geoff Johns?
Yeah, that Greg Rucka.
Well, a while back Rucka let his DC exclusive status lapse, and has been doing other stuff – co-writing a ‘Daredevil’ arc with Ed Brubaker, and returning to his creator-owned roots with ‘Stumptown’, a comic that sadly hasn’t yet reached the distant outpost I now reside in. By all accounts he’s seeing a return to form. Rucka hasn’t given up on DC work though, and over the last few months we’ve seen one major bit of unfinished business addressed – Rucka’s creation of the new Batwoman, Kate Kane, in the pages of ‘52′ a couple of years back.
Kate is back, with Rucka writing and the amazing JH Williams III providing art, as the lead character in ‘Detective Comics’ (with ‘The Question’ as a second feature). At last, Batwoman is getting her proper debut, in a story that deepens her background, introduces her family and fleshes out her motivations. Now, while I enjoyed bits of ‘Checkmate’ and what have you, this is by far the most assured scripting on a superhero comic I’ve seen from Rucka in years. It’s got a solid premise, a creepy villain, and a tone that goes some way to justifying another Bat spin-off.
Rucka has said that he’s writing this as a story that will be reprinted for as long as Kate is considered a viable character, and there’s a nicely timeless feel to the story, with wider DC continuity issues skipped blithely over – who is that in the Batman costume? Whoever you think it is, really. We get a full-throttle action story, but one which leads Kate to gradually think through her own background. Good stuff.
It’s the art that pushes it into truly gawp-worthy territory, and nudges this incarnation of ‘Detective’ over the line from ‘good’ into ‘unmissable’. Williams work is beautiful, and quite unique for comics art – a lot of very detailed, painted comics art feels static, and I tend to prefer the fluid sense of motion you get from good pencil-and-ink comics art. What Williams does isn’t static, but it doesn’t convey motion either – instead it seems to break time across the page with the vivid quality of time lapse photography, bravado compositions cutting-up action scenes into intense snapshots.
Quite unique. It’s like watching an amazing bit of nature photography in vivid high def – but instead of watching a tree frog jumping, we’re seeing a red-booted lesbian vigilante kicking some goon in the chops. Which has to be better – suck on that Attenborough.
Compared to this, the back-up (or Second Feature, as DC insist) was always going to be a bit of a sorbet after the main course. ‘The Question’, written again by Rucka with art by Cully Hamner, is a straight down-the-line crime comic with a sweaty, noirish feel to it. Hamner is a good fit for the material, and it’s a fluid and punchy read. It provides a good contrast to the main strip.
Nonetheless, it’s ‘Batwoman’ that people will be reading this version of ‘Detective Comics’ for, and the work of a writer/artist team at the top of their game. There’s a lingering question over whether Kate Kane will last longer than any other of the post-Barbara Gordon bat-lasses, and how she’ll work when given to a less stellar creative team, but those are question for another day.
For now we’re at the beginning, and the signs are very good.
