Queer resistance, gender performance, and ‘coming out’ of the panel borders in Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III's Batwoman: Elegy

Abstract

Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III's Batwoman: Elegy recasts the introductory artistic depiction of Kate Kane (Batwoman) from the limited series 52, resisting the codification of this lesbian character from the former series' heteronormative visual designs by actively queering her character. This paper, drawing from Thierry Groensteen and gender theorists, analyzes how Williams utilizes an ostentatious visual design so that he and Rucka can retrace the censored scenario of Kate's sexual identity. In its experimental deployment of page borders and other artistic elements, Batwoman: Elegy offers a queering of the traditional comics form and radically challenges earlier incarnations of the character's heteronormativity. It is argued that this text and the recent Batwoman #0 allow Kate to fluidly operate against gender norms, and the text's use of the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy allows it to both situate Kate's political resistance and to interrogate the abuses caused by this restrictive policy.

Keywords:

• Batwoman
• J.H. Williams III
• queer
• resistance
• gender studies
• ostentatious design
• aesthetics

Notes

1. Although the arc collected in Batwoman: Elegy was first serialized in DC's Detective Comics #854–60 (2009–2010), I have opted to cite the collected volume because of the ease in adopting and teaching from this text over single issues, and this is how most readers will find the text. Because the text has no pagination, I have opted to cite from it as follows – if citing a quote/visual from the second issue, page three, the citation is listed as (2.3), et cetera.