Batwoman: World's Finest (Volume 3)

DC Comics

Batwoman:  World's Finest (Volume 3)
J.H. Williams III
W. Haden Blackman
2014

The Summary
"Goddesses among us.

"Trained at West Point and battle-tested on the mean streets of Gotham City, Batwoman is one of the world's finest crime fighters.  But the crimes she's fighting now are not of this world at all.

"A monster straight out of mythology is preying on the children of Gotham, using supernatural horrors from the city's urban legends as her foot soldiers.  Together they serve an organization called Medusa--and worship the Mother of All Monsters.

"Teaming up with none other than Wonder Woman, Batwoman begins a perilous journey into the underworld of Greek myths to rescue the children and save her city.  Can these two women warriors triumph over the stone-cold creature they must face?"

The Good
I was so excited to read Batwoman:  World's Finest.  I mean, I was still a little on the fence about my commitment to Batwoman, but, truthfully, this volume kicked me over the edge and turned me into an ardent Batwoman fan.  That, and it made me want to read the new Wonder Woman comics.  (Wonder Woman is amazing, just in case you didn't know.)

World's Finest is the culmination of a plot that has spanned three volumes and multiple issues.  In it, we get to meet Medusa and see the horrifying results of her plan, we get to see Wonder Woman in all her Greek demi-goddess glory, we get to finally--finally!--see Batwoman at her finest as she rescues the people she loves and the city she was sworn to protect.  It was awesome.

Please excuse my fan girl squealing.

The Bad
Confusing art direction.

I love the artwork in Batwoman, I will never deny that, but I was consistently frustrated by the panel arrangement in this volume.  I understand the need to be creative, to do something that's not often seen, to give detail and depth to a story through the art.  The illustrations help fill in the gaps when dialog cannot, which I totally get.

But I was not a fan of this:

The centipede thing is Nyx, goddess of Night.  Creepy, isn't it?
DC Comics

I was lost.  Completely and utterly lost.  Maybe that was the point, I don't know, but I didn't like it.  Not one bit.

The Ugly
Oh.  My.  Gosh.

I thought Hydrology and To Drown the World were macabre.  They're nothing like World's Finest, which basically confronts world-ending events when the Mother of All Monsters is summoned.  Whoo boy.  It gets ugly.

Very, very ugly.