New writer Marc Andreyko (Manhunter) takes over Batwoman with issue 25 out tomorrow. The Zero Year tie-in looks at Kate Kane’s past and continues the writer’s resume of strong female characters.
“I’ve always been fascinated by women who are just as complex, damaged or flawed as the male characters. There tends to be two kinds of women in entertainment. They tend to be hyper-sexualized or very maternal, and there’s so much more to women and to people. There’s so much more we could be doing. I’m a huge fan of Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect because she smokes, she drinks, she’s never been married, she’s not good with people… She’s basically Wolverine, but she’s a woman. It was considered controversial and groundbreaking when they created the character because she’s a woman, but women are just as complicated and interesting as men, so it was actually very reductive. So yes, writing comic book characters who happen to be female, but who have all of the depth and complexity of comic’s male characters is really interesting and important to me.” he tells DC Comics All-Access.
The outgoing team left over editorial differences. Andreyko explains what he will focus on including Kate’s romance.
“Well, there will be lots of complications in her personal life. The engagement is by no means a happily ever after situation. That comes with its own set of complications. We’ll open up the supporting cast some more. We’ll see some more of Maggie’s personal life. Maggie does have a daughter with her ex-husband in Metropolis that we haven’t yet seen. There will also be some new villains introduced. My first arc after the Zero Year issue introduces a new villain. We’ll also hopefully reintroduce some characters and villains that we haven’t seen yet in The New 52. So it’ll be a nice mix. We’ll also be folding Kate more into the Bat-universe proper. After all, while Gotham’s big, it’s still only so big. These people have got to cross paths every now and then. But in an organic way! I’ve never been a guy who does crossovers for crossovers’ sake. You need them to be special. Kate’s also Bruce’s cousin, so there’s that as well. There’s just so much to play with when it comes to this character, that’s it’s really just figuring out what we want to tackle first.”
Batwoman #25 the Zero Year issue arrives tomorrow.
By Editor