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According to DC’s March 8th retailer email, BATWOMAN #1 by JH Williams III, W. Haden Blackman, and Amy Reeder has been delayed again. The book had been delayed from an earlier launch, although Williams said it was always a bit nebulous:

Some think that this book was to launch last July, this was never the case, this was speculation on the part of some. The book was also never to launch in November either. The zero issue which came out at that time was never in the original plans, but was done as a bit of a reminder as requested by DC, and to set the stage, this of course took out time of the work already in progress. February had been decided on the launch date by the company with reservations about that from me. I felt that was a bit too soon in a realistic look at work progression. One of the reasons for this was that I had been seriously committed to making appearances around the world over this past year. I think maybe 3 months or more of work loss occurred during that time. I kept trying to point this out whenever discussions about schedule came up. When first discussing the launch date earlier last year we had originally wanted April 2011, and now ironically that is what we have. Only after solicits stating otherwise, causing some unnecessary frustrations.


The mailer went out on Tuesday, tersely stating, as is customary in a retailer mailing,

BATWOMAN #1-2 TO BE RESOLICITED
Please note that all order for BATWOMAN #1 (FEB110145) and #2 (MAR110302) are cancelled. These issues will be resolicited at a later date.


This was particularly sad because just this week a gorgeous BATWOMAN preview had started running in a bunch of DC books, paving the way for the planned April launch. This preview was also run on the DC Source blog, on Wednesday, optimistically, if nebulously, stating:

BATWOMAN #1 is the new series that places Katy Kane in the starring role of an ongoing series. Written by J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman with art by J.H. Williams III and Amy Reeder, this premiere issue will be one that you won’t want to miss.


Given the timing of all the promotion — it’s clear that this was a very sudden decision.

No explanation for the delay has been released, which means sites like iFanboy are taking the ball and running with it:

I joked earlier on Twitter that DC might as well cut their losses and solicit the ongoing as an OGN. While I look forward to eventually reading the series in a weekly format, maybe the character and the artists involved deserve the time and venue to present their story in graphic novel format. As a Kate Kane loyalist, I’m willing to follow her adventures in whatever iteration DC would like to offer. That said, time is of the essence, and delays could do some damage to the trajectory of such a new character whose history is already fraught with controversy and neglect. Rucka and Williams gave her her due, and it’s important that momentum not be lost.


Writer Paul Montgomery suggests that at this point an OGN might be the way to go. Given the stunning beauty of Williams’ art on the project, this is one project that is worth waiting for.

1 COMMENT

  1. The graphic novel of the Detective run was well received (as shown by the “PW’s Best Books” link below the post).

    DC should consider an “Earth One” edition instead. The character is self-contained and has a great elevator pitch.

  2. I just recently dug out earlier issues of First Wave (so I could remember what happened before reading issue 6), and in the back of FW issue 3 (Sept. 2010, probably released in July) is a DC Nation page previewing a page that has turned out to be from Batwoman #1. “Who is this woman and why is she crying?” wrote Ian Sattler. “You’ll find out the answer sooner than you think.”

    Nine months later, I still don’t know who she is. But I think I know why she’s crying.

  3. Let these guys take AS LONG AS THEY NEED to make their book. I happily waited 14 months between issues of Eightball
    and Acme.

    In fact, I love the idea that JHW is taking an incredibly long time on this because it means that Batwoman is much more than just a paycheck gig for him.

  4. Ha. I guess we all know now why Batwoman was delayed. In September, the dc universe is being reset. As much as we all would have wanted to read Batwoman yesterday, having it be cancelled by editorial mandate would have been worse. It goes to show that DC really does care about Kate Kane.