Batwoman: To Drown the World by JH Williams III, W Haden Blackman, Amy Reeder and Trevor McCarthy

Kate Kane/Batwoman battles ethical conundrums that are straight out of the tragedies of ancient Greece in the second bound volume of the Batwoman series. Will she betray her father or her lesbian lover? Will she kill one person in order to save a host of children? The monsters that Batwoman battles are also straight out of the mythologies of ancient Greece -- and other places and times -- including Medusa, La Llorona, the shapeshifting fox of Japan, and the reptiles in the sewers of modern urban legend.

To Drown the World is Volume 2 in the DC New 52 Batwoman series, collecting issues 6-11. The story is told in jagged pieces, jumping between the present and assorted flashbacks. I found it unpleasantly disorientating the first time through, but everything comes together and subsequent readings went more smoothly. Several artists contributed to this work and I disliked the pale colour scheme on some of the pages, which added to the initial choppy feeling.

There are some terrific sexy moments between Kate and other women. Yes, women plural. But it is abundantly clear that Maggie is Kate's true love. I already know that a marriage proposal comes up in a future issue because of a news story on the AfterEllen website: "Batwoman writers resign, say DC won't allow Kate and Maggie to get married." It'll be interesting to see what comes next for Batwoman.

My reviews of two previous Batwoman episodes can be found here: Batwoman: Hydrology and Batwoman: Elegy.