Batwoman #7 Review

 

Batwoman #7: Bad Seeds Week 4 Part 1 Review

Writer: Greg Rucka

Artist: DaNi

Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth

Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Cover Artists: DaNi & Matt Hollingsworth

Variant Cover Artists: Stjepan Šejić; Javi Fernández & Tomeu Morey; Dan Panosian

Editors: James Reid & Rob Levin

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $3.99 US/Variant $4.99 US (Card Stock)/Variant $6.99 US (Foil)

Release Date: September 16, 2026

 

Kate Kane thought her sister was dead. She blamed herself for the fall that killed Beth. Yet after the tide washed Beth away, she awakened on the shore in Gotham. And while Kate sought counseling in Greece, Beth found a new way forward. She was tired of playing the villain. She no longer wanted to be Alice, or even Beth. Perhaps she could learn to be a hero like her sister, Kate.

 

Now Kate Kane is back in Gotham, while Dr Zena Sidaris treats Beth as she once treated Kate. But has Kate recovered from her ordeal? And is she ready to take up the mantle of Batwoman once again? Let's leap into Batwoman #7 and see what happens!

 

Story

Kate Kane went to Greece to reconcile with having caused her sister's death. Instead, she battled a cult that worshipped Darkseid, and the people who had transformed her sister into a living incarnation of Alice from Lewis Carroll's novels. Along the way, her friend Renee Montoya vanished, and Kate only reclaimed her sister by deceiving her. Now, as she flies back to Gotham, Kate learns how some in Gotham feel about her.

 

In Batwoman #7, Kate Kane is physically and mentally exhausted. Yet when the lights go out in the city and electronic communication dies, nature takes inspiration from JRR Tolkien. Still, like any hero, Kate leaps into action. She asks, "What can I do?" It's not a high-profile assignment. Still, Kate rides out to help the Bat-family prevent nature from taking its hyperaccelerated course.

 

Amid the desperate circumstances, Greg Rucka shines a light on the TUCOs. Vandal Savage has convinced Gotham that the Bat-family makes things in Gotham worse. The "strong" Police Commissioner has drafted in his Tactical Urban Combat Officers to empower an institution that relies on vigilantism to keep Gotham safe. Yet the TUCOs view themselves, and their relationship with Gotham's people, differently.

 

Still, while the story reveals the TUCOs’ individual personalities and how they work together, Greg Rucka keeps the focus on Batwoman. Kate Kane has something to prove to Gotham and herself. Part of her may remain in Greece. Still, Kate knows that no one will survive in Gotham, Greece, or anywhere else if she and the Bat-family cannot nip Poison Ivy's hyper-accelerated evolution in the bud in Batwoman #7.

 

Art

As Kate Kane sits reading in First Class, she hears more of the social elite watching "Batwoman" shoot Master Slays' soldiers on a tablet. DaNi uses double-page layouts to portray Kate's rough homecoming and her realization that a nightmare has overtaken Gotham. Kate dons a fluffy robe after reaching her residence. Yet when she realizes she is needed, Kate dons different attire. Like the well-heeled elite, the TUCOs use a tablet to study Batwoman. Yet unlike her unique mask, the mercenaries wear identical face shields.

 

While Matt Hollingsworth adorns the daylight hours with a loaded palette, Kate Kane's red-and-gray shirt and pants evoke her costume. When night falls, violet and indigo fill Kate's world. A dance with death while wearing her white robe recalls the traumatic event that prompted Kate's journey overseas. Yet in the Batcave, the blue Bat symbol centers Kate and directs her actions.

 

Lowered voices appear as small lowercase letters in balloons. Transmitted communication fills spiky balloons. White letters haunt the surrounding darkness, which seems to follow Kate Kane wherever she goes. Just as the small lowercase letters contrast with the larger uppercase letters of normal speech, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou’s giant and jarring sounds of Kate's motorcycle highlight how silent Gotham becomes when the power dies. Yet the TUCO soldiers and the public pleading for help, using shaky or spiky balloons and lightning bolt arrows, show how Poison Ivy's actions have put everyone on edge in Batwoman #7. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.

 

Final Thoughts

We always like people to think highly of us. But the test of who we are comes when people don't. Public opinion of the Bat-family is wavering in Gotham. Some members of society also fear the change Kate represents. Yet even though she has given Vandal Savage and the news media another weapon to attack the Bat-family, Kate Kane strives to protect others, regardless of what they think of her, in Batwoman #7.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

For the events that shaped this series, see Batwoman #6 Preview. 

For Beth's reunion with Mother Despina, see Batwoman #5 Preview.

For Kate's reunion with someone she loves, see my preview of Batwoman #4.

For the murders that rock Greece, see my preview of Batwoman #3.

For Jacob "Jake" Kane struggle to see his daughter, see my preview of Batwoman #2.

For how this series started, see my preview of Batwoman #1.

For the Batwoman story, "Second Date," see my preview of Justice League Dream Girls: A DC Pride Event #1.