DC Comics Batwoman - Supergirl: World's Finest Giant Issue #1 Review

Since July 2018, DC Comics has been publishing 100-page Giants.  The first volume, which lasted until August 2019, were exclusive to Walmart stores and could be found near the check-out lanes.  I suppose DC and Walmart were hoping to attract new readers via impulse purchases.  Due to outcry from comics shops and readers who don't live near a Walmart location, DC decided to launch Volume 2 this year, available to all retailers.  Walmart still gets exclusive covers and a 3-week early selling window, though.

This July, Jim Lee tweeted a video of himself arranging comics on Walmart's shelves: https://twitter.com/JimLee/status/1150284341399834625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1150284341399834625&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fdc%2F2019%2F07%2F16%2Fdc-to-unveil-100th-batman-black-and-white-statue-at-san-diego-co%2F

As a DC fan, I'm very disappointed with the company's haphazard approach to this initiative.  Walmart's exclusive titles initially included Batman, Superman, Justice League of America, and Teen Titans.  Each title included new material amounting to about half of a regular comic issue (10-12 pages).  The remaining pages were all re-printed stories available for a long time in collected editions or as back issues in numerous comics shops.

Walmart's Batman Giant Issue #1 Table of Contents

Okay, fine, these details were made public in advance of the books' publication, and we also knew in advance that long-running new stories would eventually be sold as single-issue magazines or their own collected editions.  However, DC soon made it difficult to keep track of what was happening.  A new, long-running Wonder Woman story was started in Justice League Giant, which was canceled/renamed to Wonder Woman Giant.  Both Batman Giant and Superman Giant started with brief, two-part stories that have yet to be solicited as one-shots or in anthologies.  Since I don't go to Walmart on a regular basis, I missed the opportunity to get Batman Giant Issue #2, and I can't finish reading "One More Chance" since Batman Giant Issue #2 isn't online.

I basically stopped paying attention to what was happening with these Giants until I heard that DC was going to make them available to all retailers this year.  DC also announced that the Giants would include more new material.  They almost got me to buy Batman Giant Volume 2 Issue #1 since it includes a new story featuring Batwoman, but I think it was only 16-pages long.  I didn't want to pay $5 for 16 new pages and a bunch of New 52/Rebirth stories that I had already read.

I'm glad that I waited because during a trip to Walmart today, I saw a new title, Batwoman - Supergirl: World's Finest Giant Issue #1.  This is obviously meant to appeal to people who watch the CW TV shows Batwoman and Supergirl on Sundays, which includes me.  I looked at the Table of Contents, which indicated three new stories.  Furthermore, I wasn't familiar with the last story, Batwoman's "Beyond a Shadow".  It was originally published as Batwoman Issue #0 when the New 52 era began.  What's confusing is that there's an actual New 52 Batwoman Issue #0, and most collected editions have that issue rather than this one.  So, all in all, I got to read four stories that were new to me.  Oh yeah, I got the Walmart exclusive cover rather than the regular cover.  ^_^

Walmart Exclusive Cover

Retail-wide Cover

Table of Contents

The first story, "Sister, Sister" (16 pages), is a welcome addition to the DC canon.  Batwoman and Supergirl don't really interact in mainstream continuity or in Elseworlds tales, so this is a rare team-up moment.  (Supergirl wasn't in the Rebirth Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Issues 15-17 "Manslaugher" storyline.)  Writer Margaret Stohl and artist Laura Braga seem to roll back some of the developments in New 52 and Rebirth by showing Beth, Batwoman's twin sister, dressed up as the murderous Alice again.  The interaction between Batwoman and Supergirl reminded me of Batwoman and Batgirl's first meeting during New 52, which makes sense since Batgirl and Supergirl are temperamentally similar.

New 52 Batgirl Issue 12 Cover

The second story, "Faceless" (8 pages), was written by Sanya Anwar and illustrated by Chad Hardin.  The artwork is a little rounder and thus "cuter" than you might expect of Batwoman, though there are plenty of dynamic action panels.  This story depicts Batwoman tracking an old nemesis, Black Mask, who has kidnapped a reporter.

The third story, "Exit Interview" (8 pages), was written by Andrea Shea and illustrated by Mike Norton.  Supergirl is fired from her internship at CatCo, so she decides to pursue another career path.  This one feels like filler material, though it's aspirational in nature (there's a S.T.E.M. theme) and has nice artwork.

I enjoyed reading the two Rebirth 1 issues again, in large part because of the beautiful art by Steve Epting (Batwoman) and Emanuela Lupacchino (Supergirl).  Epting's art is so striking that DC even used it to create the Walmart exclusive cover, lol.  Also, as I'd mentioned earlier, "Beyond a Shadow" had somehow fallen through the cracks of my previous archeological attempts to re-construct Batwoman's narrative.  I've always admired J.H. Williams's complex paneling (even if they gave me headaches sometimes).

Batwoman: Rebirth 1, art by Steve Epting

Supergirl: Rebirth 1, art by Emanuela Lupacchino

Batwoman, "Beyond a Shadow"

Parting thoughts: This issue was actually worth its cover price.  There were 32 pages of new material.  Although two of the reprinted issues are from recent times, they are visually beautiful, especially since DC has been using newsprint paper rather than glossy paper for these Giants.  (Glossy paper reflects light, creating glare that makes it difficult to read pages sometimes.)  I'm also grateful that DC included the Batwoman Issue #0 that I didn't even know existed.  This situation does highlight the need to stop using crazy numbering stunts to generate sales, especially when you end up creating two issues with the same number!