Batwoman Proposes to Girlfriend in New Comic

by Jason St. Amand

National News Editor

Friday February 22, 2013

Spoiler alert: Batwoman may be tying the knot with her girlfriend in the upcoming issue, "Batwoman" #17, according to the comic book blog, Bleeding Cool.

On Wednesday it was announced Batwoman, aka Kathy Kane, will ask her secret girlfriend Maggie Sawyer to marry her. Bleeding Cool writes, "No idea how well that's going to go down. And you have to read the build up to this - and the rather dangerous epilogue. There's no guarantee we're going to hear wedding bells. But I think that's a story."

ComicBookResources.com notes that Kane reveals to Sawyer that she is Batwoman and says, "Marry me, Mags," and gives her a passionate kiss. Salon points out that Sawyer is a captain on the police force and once worked with the supernatural task force with Superman, but was transferred to Gotham City to be in charge of their Major Crimes Unit. That's when she began her scandalous love affair with Batwoman.

The comic's artist, J.H. Williams, even hinted that something significant will be happening in issue #17, as he tweeted on Wednesday, "Pimpin' my sh...Batwoman 17 is out this week, an important chapter for the series in many ways. Brief commentary at http://www.jhwilliams3.com."

"Batwoman is an important character, and a socially important one that has meaning that extends well beyond the printed pages of the world she lives in, reaching out into ours possibly affecting those who encounter her story," he wrote on his website Tuesday.

DC comics publishes "Batwoman, and the company's staff wrote Batwoman as being of Jewish descent and as a lesbian in order to diversify its publications. Her sexual orientation was revealed in 2009 and the news made national headlines. Kane is considered to be one of the highest profile gay characters to appear in comics; others include, X-Man's Northstar and Green Lantern. DC announced the Green Lantern, aka Alan Scott is gay in June 2012. Northstar also married his partner last year in an issue of the "Astonishing X-Men."

DC Comics was recently under fire for hiring Orson Scott Card, who has been vocal about his opposition to gay marriage, to write the new Superman comic. A petition was filed that urged the company to drop the controversial author but officials from the company said in a statement, "as content creators we steadfastly support freedom of expression, however the personal views of individuals associated with DC Comics are just that - personal views - and not those of the company itself."