The art is mostly bland DC house style stuff but the "Batwoman vs Batman" story finally takes off here with Kate attempting to double cross the DEO as they unleash a healthy chunk of Batman's rogues on the city. The included Zero Year tie In is actually a lot of fun and works well with the established stuff from Batman. A little imperfect but still solid. ( )

Batwoman, Vol. 4: This Blood Is Thick by J.H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman, and Trevor McCarthy (Illustrated by Francesco Francavilla, Walden Wong, Sandu Florea, and Derek Fridolfs, colored by Guy Major) is a continuation of the DC52 series introducing kate Kane as the new Batwoman. This graphic novel collects comics #18-24.

After finishing up the last story-line, taking down the evil Medusa, Kate Kane, a.k.a. Batwoman, thinks her life will get a bit easier.
Isn’t that special?

Instead, the Department of Extranormal Operations, the D.E.O., sets their sites on Batman and they know exactly who they can blackmail to help them identify the person underneath the mask.

After the excellent Batwoman Vol. 3: World’s Finest, I was looking forward to the next installment, crossing my fingers that the creative team is on a roll. The good news is that they are, Batwoman, Vol. 4: This Blood Is Thick by J.H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman and Trevor McCarthy (Illustrated by Francesco Francavilla, Walden Wong, Sandu Florea, and Derek Fridolfs, colored by Guy Major) continued to expend the Batwoman world with style, action, and an excellent story-line.

The story-line not only highlighted Batwoman, but also her girlfriend Detective Maggie Sawyer (and old favorite of the DC Universe) who certainly proved she can handle herself without the protection of her vigilante girlfriend. The relationship between Maggie Sawyer and Kate Kane is really developing nicely and brings a more humane dimension to the characters.

The art, again, is really good and enjoyable to look at. I think it could have moved the story a bit better and a bit faster in some places, but overall I have no issues with either the artwork or storytelling in this issue.
Except one … what happened at the end?
Who’s decision was this?
To be honest, it was so strange I’m sure that the creative team got handed an ending and was “asked” to go with it.

I highly recommend the book and the series as a whole. The stories got better as they moved along, the characters are more familiar, and Gotham as dangerous as ever. I’m eagerly looking forward to the next installment.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com ( )

So, the D.E.O. sucks as much as ARGUS does. Mr. Bones is just as bloodthirsty as Amanda Waller. He has no problem blackmailing Batwoman into exposing Batman. I buy all of that.
What I don't get is where the "Batwoman hates Batman and that is why she is doing this" stuff comes from. I don't think that she particularly likes nor dislikes him.
I am interested to see where they are going with Kate's whole family now knowing about her secret life. Will there be tension between her and her step-mom.
I am also looking forward to seeing if Bette, aka Hawkfire, is actually good or just really lucky. ( )

Batwoman is still under the thumb of the D.E.O. who have now decided to play their trump card - revealing that they have Alice/Beth Kane in their hold. And they will only release her if Batwoman agrees to help them bring in the Batman to unmask his true identity. She's committed to do all this on her own, but her family discovers her plans and won't take no for an answer when it comes to providing their help.

This book is a continuation of the new 52 Batwoman storyline, picking up where World's Finest ended and peppered throughout with the characters we've seen so far - GCPD's Maggie Sawyer, Bette aka Hawkfire, Colonel Kane, the Religion of Crime, Killer Croc, and so forth. Because some time past between me finishing Volume 3 and picking up this title, there were a few small details that I had kind of forgotten, but they came back to me as I read on. There are also some new characters introduced (e.g., another D.E.O. agent as well as friends of Cl. Kane), and we see cameos of notable heroes and villains from the Batman universe, including the Dark Knight himself, Nightwing, Batgirl, Bane, etc.

Some highlights of this book were the continued exploration of Batwoman/Kate Kane's relationships with those around her, including her cousin, her father, and her finance. It's also interesting to see how Batwoman continues to try to both work with and against the D.E.O., stuck as she is under their threats but wishing to do things on her own terms. We also get a lot more back story and insight into the character of D.E.O. Agent Chase, making her somewhat more sympathetic. The same is true with Killer Croc, who finds love and starts to question his own villainous actions. (My favorite quote from him is: "[aloud - ] Time for a rematch, bat-bitch! [internally - ] Sometimes I hate the crap that comes outta my mouth ...")

The illustrations in this book are pretty good. Although it's hard to follow up J.H. Williams III's illustrations, Trevor McCarthy does an admirable job of keeping true to Williams's prior Batwoman art. A lot happens in this book, but it doesn't fill rushed or over-packed. However, it ends at such a cliffhanger than it's hardly fair to call it a cliffhanger - it's more like a mid-scene drop. So I'll definitely be looking forward to reading the next volume and see how this plot continues. ( )