In this review of Batwoman #6, we take a look back at the mystery of how Kate and Beth came to where they were in the Eschatology arc, and a hint at their future.
Batwoman #6 main cover by DaNi (DC Comics)
BATWOMAN #6
Written by GREG RUCKA
Art by JEFF SPOKES
Main Cover: DaNI
Variant Covers: STJEPAN ŠEJIĆ, JEFF SPOKES, JORGE FORNES, WALTER SIMONSON
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 8/19/26
This review contains spoilers
About two months ago, northwest of Gotham in the mountains during a massive thunderstorm, Batwoman and Alice plummeted from a cliff into a roaring river. Batwoman reached to save Alice, but her sister was swept away by the waves, and Batwoman hit by a huge log. She makes it to Jacob Kane’s manor, where he is startled from his miniature painting by her bloody appearance.
Though Kate is distraught thinking she killed Beth, Alice arises from the waters and wanders into a town, where Anna, Kate’s ex-girlfriend (from the beginning of Elegy) mistakes her for Kate. Beth insists Anna bring her to Kate’s apartment, and begins to try to take Kate’s place, cutting her hair and getting tattooed, trying to shut up the reflection of Alice in the mirror.
Bruce Wayne visits a catatonic Kate, recommending a mental health facility in Petalon, Greece. Kate weakly accepts, saying the bag guys won.
Jacob stops by Kate’s apartment, not seeing Beth, but she follows him into the Batcave in the apartment, and learns that her sister is Batwoman.
Now, in the present, Kate reveals she is Batwoman to her doctor in Greece, and asks her to help Beth. The doctor and Beth both agree, and Kate and Jacob watch as she enters the facility.
Where it all ended for Kate and Beth… or did it? (DC Comics)
Analysis
After the end of the first arc, Eschatology, Greg Rucka and guest artists Jeff Spokes (finding some interior work after the Red Hood series he was on was cancelled earlier this year) take a look back at how we got from the fight between Kate and Beth seen in the first issue and their tense reunion in the heart of the Religion of Crime. Though I’ve gone on record as saying the first three issues should have been combined into one issue, I wonder if Rucka had chosen to tell the story more as parallel narratives rather than a mystery if it might have played better. Hard to say, but this issue is very satisfying in seeing how Kate came to be in the Petalon facility, and how Beth came to think she was Batwoman. I hope we’ll get some further delving into questions such as – why was Beth Alice again, and why were she and Batwoman fighting in the first issue? What happened between Jake and Kate that they are working together again, after Rucka had broken their relationship pretty thoroughly in Go? Or is he accepting the healing that the otherwise mostly ignored stories between Elegy/Go and Eschatology did? We likely won’t get answers for a while, as the next two issues of the series feature Batwoman facing the wrath of Poison Ivy in the Bad Seeds event!
After main series artist DaNi’s thick-lined, moody pencils, it’s fascinating to get Jeff Spokes’ clean lined, very appealing art. Though not as dramatic in layout as Elegy/Go artist JH Williams III, Spokes still uses some creative framings, and the way he draws the characters feels more in line with that original depiction, still so engrained on Batwoman fans’ eyeballs. We’ll have to see if DaNi manages to break that visual stranglehold for Batwoman! If Spokes becomes a regular guest artist, that would be delightful as well!
Rucka seeds tons of fascinating and fun details throughout this issue, from Jake’s miniature painting (a very soldierly hobby), the return of Kate’s ex-girlfriend (now married to another woman, but still apparently concerned about Kate), and more. Hopefully he’ll have time after the Bad Seeds issues to explore these rich elements, as well as dig into the questions of the Religion of Crime, who all these villains are, and what they really want (other than just killing one or both of the Kane sisters). Plus, of course, the mystery of why they killed Kate and Beth’s mother and kidnapped Beth all those years ago! It’s also very nice to see Rucka write a Bruce Wayne able to express his concern and care for his family. Hopefully when Kate and Bruce cross paths again, whether during Bad Seeds or later on in the series, this healthy attitude will continue!
Main series artist DaNi, though on a break from interior art this issue, provides a dramatic Alice vs. Batwoman fight from the flashback, providing nice artistic continuity even with a different interior artist. Stjepan Sejic continues his series of variants for this series with a portrait of Alice in a cave full of water, dangling a pistol from one hand as red bats fly. Guest artist Jeff Spokes provides a gorgeous Batwoman and Alice portrait style cover, with ominous ring and rock formation imagery behind. Jorge Fornes gives us a Batwoman mask close-up, with red Gotham City details in the hair and background, colored with heavy zippetone effects. Lastly, comics legend Walt Simonson provides a Batman vs. Superman Dark Knight Returns 40th Anniversary cover as part of that series.
Final Thoughts
Though it doesn’t push the story forward too much, it’s great to get a sense of how all the disjointed pieces of the Eschatology arc fit together, and guest artist Jeff Spokes provides an absolutely gorgeous rendering of Batwoman and her world.
