(Image Source: DC Comics)
Most of the Batman Family of characters’ have origins that involve the death of a loved one. Kate Kane was a rare exception when she first started her vigil. However, her new solo series opens with a death that is as shocking as it is confusing for longtime Batwoman fans.
Written by Batwoman co-creator Greg Rucka, with art by DaNi, the new series opens in a mental hospital in Greece. Kate Kane is a patient here, suffering from what her therapist seems to believe is a repressed case of survivor’s guilt. The therapist asks Kate about her twin sister, Beth, and her apparent death when they were 12.
(Image Source: DC Comics / DaNi)
However, when Kate talks about the last time she saw her sister, she is speaking of the last time they fought. For just as Kate became Batwoman, Beth became the villain called Alice and High Madame of the Religion of Crime. This strange cult sought to bring about Kate’s death as part of a prophecy to hand Earth over to Darkseid.
Who dies in Batwoman #1?
A flashback shows Batwoman and Alice battling, as Alice tries to activate a New Gods weapon. Kate is able to destroy the trigger, but Alice keeps fighting her on a cliff’s edge during a storm. It is unclear if Alice fell or if she was struck by lightning. However it happened, Kate is convinced her sister is dead and this revelation broke her spirit.
(Image Source: DC Comics / DaNi)
There is some resonance between this scene and Batwoman: Elegy; the story in which Greg Rucka introduced the character of Beth Kane/Alice. That story ended also ended with the apparent death of Alice after falling out of an airplane. Later stories confirmed that Alice had been resurrected by the Religion of Crime. However, those stories were not written by Greg Rucka.
Why Alice’s death may be a retcon
When the new Batwoman series was announced at NYCC 2025, Greg Rucka said it would be based on an untold tale from when he stopped writing Kate Kane in 2009. “It’s a story I wanted to tell back in the day,” Rucka explained, “but the world moves on, and so does this story.” The problem is that Alice went down a different path than what Rucka apparently intended.
Alice’s body was recovered by the Religion of Crime, who attempted to resurrect her with a magic sarcophagus. However, she was brought back by the DEO, who attempted to use her to blackmail Kate into revealing Batman’s secret identity. After that, Kate’s father had Alice put into a mental hospital in Switzerland so she could recover.
(Image Source: DC Comics / Fernando Blanco)
However, when Batwoman was endangered, Beth assumed the heroic identity of Red Alice to save her. Her original evil Alice identity briefly returned during the 2018 Fall of the House of Kane storyline. However, when Beth was last shown in a comic story, she was sharing an apartment with her sister and getting therapy privately.
It is unclear if Greg Rucka is ignoring all of the history that came after Batwoman: Elegy. It is simply possible Beth had a relapse and became Alice again. However, given Alice’s convoluted history, it’s also possible DC retconned it so Rucka’s lost story could be told.
Batwoman #1 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
