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

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 2; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/21504857.2011.576883

2150-4865

Paul Petrovic,

Media, Gender, and Advertising

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.