Spoilers! Batwoman #17 Ends with Two Shockers; Only One Incredibly Ironic

Today’s issue of Batwoman is the last issue that J.H. Williams III will draw for the foreseeable future and his last issue is filled with two huge cliffhangers. One of which is incredibly ironic given some recent controversies.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

The last page of the book includes the return of Kate’s sister Alice who is shown being held captive by Director Bones. 

The other cliff hanger has Kate Kane apparently revealing her secret identity to girlfriend Maggie Sawyer and asking Maggie to marry her.

I find it sadly ironic that DC has a comic showing a gay woman asking for another woman to marry her in the same month the publisher has announced that Orson Scott Card, who is on the board of the National Organization for Marriage which works against marriage rights, was hired to write a Superman story.

I’ll note that Maggie Sawyer is a character that was created for Superman comics and she was one of the first opening gay characters in DC Comics.

Card goes beyond just opposing marriage rights. He actively works against them. It is not a stretch to think the money he gets from writing Superman will support his hateful activities.

I said my piece about this issue on 3 Chicks this week but I’ll repeat some of it here. I have been very happy with DC’s attempts at inclusiveness. They clearly want their comics to have diversity from Batwoman to Alan Scott to Bunker.

But hiring a rapid homophobe to write Superman works at odds to that message and undermines it. The idea that these are his “personal” beliefs and a non-issue are troubling. Would they hire someone who was a rabid, outspoken racist?

The fact that the character he’s writing is Superman who stands above all other superheroes in standing for equality and justice just makes it worse.

I remain hopeful DC will fix this - I believe contributing some of the proceeds from Card’s issue to LGBT group would be a good move.

Batwoman would want that. Consider it an engagement gift.