Batwoman

DC Comics might not be your first thought on where to go for horror comics. Vertigo, sure, and the characters who originated in DC's mature readers imprint. There's a lot there. The Sandman, John Constantine, Swamp Thing, all characters who were technically in the DC universe and now are officially in the New 52. If you're looking for horror in the New 52, you might overlook Batwoman. After all, she's just fighting criminals in Gotham. If you think that, then I accuse you of not really paying attention.

Ever since her debut in the New 52 Kate Kane has been fighting not criminals... but urban legends. Her eventual target is Medusa, the mysterious leader of a cult/organized crime syndicate with the power to transform ordinary people whose lives resemble those of figures of folklore and urban legend into actual avatars of myth. Imagine, if you will, Killer Croc, empowered magically with the raw force of every person who believes, deep down, that there are alligators in the sewer.

But Medusa isn't above manipulating lives to make better matches for her magic. As is the case with the poor alcoholic mother who was led to believe she was responsible for the drowning deaths of her children so that she could be transformed into La Llorona, the spectral, child-snatching Weeping Woman of Mexican folklore. In myth, La Llorona is unable to enter heaven until she finds her children... who she drowned in order to win the heart of her lover. In Batwoman she terrorizes the vulnerable poor children of Gotham in disappearances that law enforcement is unable to make any progress on until Kate unravels her true identity and her connections to Medusa, the Mother of All Monsters. Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?