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@ Pop Syndicate-- Detective Comics #858

"J.H. Williams III is a chameleon when it comes to his artwork.  For Kate’s childhood, Williams adapts a style very reminiscent of David Mazzuchelli’s Batman: Year One artwork.  It seems like an obvious choice if you’re going to be telling the origins of the new Batwoman to make it look like Batman’s origin but there’s more than mere copying going on here.  As we’ve seen already during this run on Detective (and elsewhere like Promethea and Seven Soldiers,) Williams uses his artwork to invoke memories and sensations in the readers.  The way he adapts styles is more than simply aping another artists look; it’s a deliberate choice by Williams to make his artwork suggestive and more in tune with the story.  By mimicking Mazzuchelli’s simpler, more immediate style, Williams grounds Kate’s background more in reality.  They hyper-intense style he uses when Kate’s Batwoman wouldn’t work here.  Through his artwork, Williams is separating the world of Kate Kane and Batwoman.  It will be interesting to see if the varying styles collide anywhere down the line."

You can read the full review here.

Because everyone is focusing more on Williams' artwork (which deserves all of the accolades it gets,) most of my review tries to concentrate on Greg Rucka's writing, which I think is some of his strongest writing yet.  I'm not a huge fan of when Rucka works on super-heroes but this is like Checkmate, using superheroes but folding them up in Rucka's strengths as a storyteller.  I may not have Queen & Country or Tara Chace right now but Detective's Kate Kane is a welcome substitute.