Writers Walk After DC Alters BATWOMAN Storylines
Batwoman is a character loved by almost every DC geek on the planet. The newest incarnation of Batwoman is known as Kate Cane. She's tough, she's smart, she's witty, and she can throw a right hook that'll knock your socks off. Kane first appeared in 52 #7, during the spring of 2006. Around that time DC also announced her sexual orientation, and for those of you who don't know, Ms. Kane is a lesbian.
Batwoman's creators, Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III, announced that they would end their run on Batwoman once they finish issue #26, and released this joint statement Wednesday, September 4th on their individual blogs:
"Dear Batwoman readers -
From the moment DC asked us to write Batwoman — a dream project for both of us — we were committed to the unofficial tagline “No Status Quo.” We felt that the series and characters should always be moving forward, to keep changing and evolving. In order to live up to our mantra and ensure that each arc took Batwoman in new directions, we carefully planned plotlines and story beats for at least the first five arcs well before we ever wrote a single issue. We’ve been executing on that plan ever since, making changes whenever we’ve come up with a better idea, but in general remaining consistent to our core vision.
Unfortunately, in recent months, DC has asked us to alter or completely discard many long-standing storylines in ways that we feel compromise the character and the series. We were told to ditch plans for Killer Croc’s origins; forced to drastically alter the original ending of our current arc, which would have defined Batwoman’s heroic future in bold new ways; and, most crushingly, prohibited from ever showing Kate and Maggie actually getting married. All of these editorial decisions came at the last minute, and always after a year or more of planning and plotting on our end.
We’ve always understood that, as much as we love the character, Batwoman ultimately belongs to DC. However, the eleventh-hour nature of these changes left us frustrated and angry — because they prevent us from telling the best stories we can. So, after a lot of soul-searching, we’ve decided to leave the book after Issue 26.
We’re both heartbroken over leaving, but we feel strongly that you all deserve stories that push the character and the series forward. We can’t reliably do our best work if our plans are scrapped at the last minute, so we’re stepping aside. We are committed to bringing our run to a satisfying conclusion and we think that Issue 26 will leave a lasting impression.
We are extremely thankful for the opportunity to work on Batwoman. It’s been one of the most challenging and rewarding projects of our careers. We’ll always be grateful to everyone who helped us realize 26 issues: Mike Siglain, who brought us onto the project originally; Greg Rucka for inspirationally setting the stage; our amazing artists Amy Reeder, Trevor McCarthy, Pere Perez, Rob Hunter, Walden Wong, Sandu Florea, Richard Friend, Francesco Francavilla, Guy Major, Dave Stewart, and Todd Klein; Larry Ganem, for listening in tough times; and editors Mike Marts, Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, and Darren Shan.
And most of all, a huge thank you to everyone who read the book. Hearing your voices, your reactions, your enthusiasm every month was such a joy, so humbling, so rewarding. You guys rock! Because so many of you embraced the series, we were able to complete four arcs, and your passion for Batwoman encouraged us to push ourselves to do our best work with each and every issue.
Thank you for loving Batwoman as much as we do.
Goodbye for now,
Haden & J H"
I think that it's incredibly important to note that Mr. Williams confirmed on his twitter account that the characters remaining single had nothing to do with their sexual orientation. DC's co-publisher, Dan Didio, had this to say on the matter at the Baltimore Comic-Con, via The Hollywood Reporter,
"They put on a cape and cowl for a reason. They're committed to defending others — at the sacrifice of all their own personal instincts. That's something we reinforce. If you look at every one of the characters in the Batman family, their personal lives kind of suck…
"Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, and Kathy Kane — it’s wonderful that they try to establish personal lives, but it’s also just as important that they put it aside as they know what they are accomplishing as the hero takes precedence over everything else. That is our mandate, that is our edict, that is our stand with our characters."
Being the Bat-family fan that I am, I can almost understand Didio's position in not wanting DC's characters to tie the knot. Everybody wants to see their favorite heroes punching people in the face, not holding hands and taking walks on the beach. Yet, I understand the other side of the argument as well. Why not let one Bat-Family member get married? I mean after all, they are defending a city, they are putting their lives on the line for Gotham, why not let them feel some sort of peace inside?
What do you guys think? Should Batwoman be allowed to get married? Or do you agree with Mr. Didio and think that things should stay the way they are?