In an 8/1/2014 interview with Matt Santori of Comicosity.com, Greg Rucka reveals the following:
I simply wanted another character who was identifiably Jewish.
For a bunch of characters that were arguably all created by a bunch of Jewish men, very few of them are actually Jewish and identify as such. And I have encountered more than one instance in my career where professionals have cited the core strength of a character in being their deep commitment to Christ. It always struck me as a little silly, because if you were deeply committed to Christ, you wouldn’t be going out and breaking someone’s jaw on a nightly basis. That ain’t what Jesus taught.
We knew she was queer. There was no question about that. The mandate was to reinvent Batwoman and she’s going to be gay. That came down from on high. I guess I just thought, “Well, why not do it?”
It’s interesting, because it’s something that J.H. [Williams III] really latched onto, mostly because he had done a far amount of reading and research on spiritualism. Add that to working with Alan Moore on Promethea and he came back to me with a whole ton of ideas involving kabbalah.
And for me, it might have been subconscious. Kitty Pryde’s Judaism was very important to me when I discovered it. She was the first Jewish character I’d seen, and she was an X-Man. That mattered to me. Perhaps there was a small element of that, too.
EW Article
“It was important for that character to land, and it was important for her to be Kate Kane, because there was already a Batgirl. So if we introduced her as Batgirl she would never be the ‘real’ Batgirl,” Didio says. “That way, it wasn’t something that someone could undo easily.”
There’s an added irony to a character named Batwoman being queer, because the original Batwoman was created as a Bat-love interest in 1956 to foil the accusations leveled by Seduction of the Innocent author Fredric Wertham that Batman and Robin were thinly-disguised gay propaganda. A few decades later, a new and improved Batwoman entered a cultural context that was more tolerant of diverse characters. In fact, the whole reason that she ended up in 52 in the first place was that news of her had been prematurely broken by the New York Timesin a story about diversity in comicsthis link opens in a new tab. According to Rucka (who formed the four-man writing team of 52, alongside fellow comic heavyweights Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, and Mark Waid), Batwoman was originally going to debut in her own self-titled comic from writer Devin Grayson. But when the news broke early, Batwoman was introduced in 52 instead.
“All of a sudden there was a lot of heat on the character. It came down the pipes to put the character into 52. Since I was writing Renee and I was in Gotham (the logical place to do it), it fell to me,” Rucka tells EW. “There was an easy in there, because Renee was established as queer. I remember having conversations with Devin, like ‘okay I’m supposed to use Kate.’ She sent me what she had been working on. We had a couple conversations, and then she showed up in week 7 or week 8, pretty early, and sort of ended up in my bailiwick.”
Kate joins military academy, but she’s found to be in violation of Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) Article 125
(a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.
(b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall by punished as a court-martial may direct.
One day, she’s mugged, fends off the attacker, and suddenly Batman appears
Her family tree and relationship to Bruce Wayne - Bruce's first cousin.
52 #33 (2006)
February, 2007
Executive Editor - Dan DiDio
Cover Artists - J.G. Jones Alex Sinclair
“The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”
Writers - Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid
Pencilers - Keith Giffen, Tom Derenick, Joe Prado
Inkers - Jay Leisten, Rodney Ramos
Colourists - David Baron
Letterers - Pat Brosseau
Editors - Jeanine Schaefer Harvey Richards Michael Siglain Stephen Wacker
“The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”
Written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, and GREG RUCKA
Penciled by Joe Prado and Tom Derenick, with breakdowns by Keith Giffen
Inked by Jay Liesten and Rodney Ramos
Colored by David Baron
Lettered by Pat Brosseau
Edited by Stephen Wacker and Michael Siglain
With a cover by JG Jones and Alex Sinclair
Speaking of that cover - Rockefeller Center like skating rink, clear Christmas theme, Batwoman holding a small gift on a roof while Nightwing falls away
You’d THINK she’s celebrating christmas
Page 10 - Hanukkiyah with wax melted down
Actually a menorah, seven branches. Womp womp
Renee Montoya staring out a large penthouse window
There with The Question, Vic Sage (born Charles Victor Szasz)
“Hanukkah ended last night. Kate made a big deal out of it. Cooked latkes and even laid out jelly doughnuts for dessert...Kate said she did it because that’s how her family celebrated Hanukkah, at least before her father remarried. That’s probably true, but that’s not why she did it. Hanukkah is the celebration of a miracle.”
Guess what Henry?
Hebrew calendar more or less balanced by solar. When calculating dates, sometimes Rosh Hashanah needs to be postponed by a day. They do this by adding a 30th day to Kislev
In 2006, Kislev had 30 thirty days. Which means the eighth and final day of Hanukkah would be the 2nd of Tevet
Guess what day December 24th, 2006 corresponds to in the Hebrew calendar? The 3rd of Tevet
Renee helps delirious Vic into bed
Ends with Kate returning home, holding Renee on couch as they stare at the menorah and out the window
DC Infinite Holiday Comic
“Lights”
Written by Greg Rucka
Drawn by Christian Alamy
Colored by Jason Wright
Lettered by Jared K. Fletcher
Edited by Peter Tomasi
Open with a lit Hanukkiyah in a window. Pirsumei nes
Counterbalanced by narration, “I don’t believe in miracles Katya”
We’re in Poland in December 1939
FYI, Hanukkah in December 1939: 12/7-12/14
Nazis forcing Jews out of their home, one knocks the hanukkiyah over to burn down the place
Page 2
“And that, Katya, is why I don’t light it. I will not celebrate a miracle when I do not believe in such things.”
“But I’m holding one right here, Manya. How else could this have survived the shoah?” “Feh.”
Manya - Hebrew/Russian name. In Russian, diminutive of Mary. Seems to be a variation on Miriam (babynames.net)
Miriam may be from Mar, bitter. Or meri, rebellion
Shoah - she calls it the shoah! The SHOAH
So Manya explains that a neighbor salvaged it with intent to sell it. But she returned it before he could (though he sold much more)
Her father made it with his own hands
She doesn’t believe in miracles, yet she placed the hanukkiyah gingerly in its place of honor
This sense that Judaism froze or broke. It became a relic to preserve and remember, not something to actually be lived
“Forgive me, I’m an old woman, eager to visit my pain on the young.”
Psychological trauma of the shoah
Page 3 - Kate gives her dad a gift (first-edition of The Big Sleep)
tells him to say thanks or happy Hanukah
Hate that spelling
Bought with stepmother’s money
Father asks if Kate is going to the Christmas party. Again, stepmom isn’t jewish. He probably isn’t either
Page 6 - BW has stopped a bunch of criminals in warehouse dressed as Santa
Spies a box full of gold, including a Hanukiyah
Page 7 - BW threatens one of the Santas (while holding the Hanukiyah), asking where he stole it from
Page 8 - BW spying on a family, I think spying on Manya
Narration reveals Kate telling Manya she saw her Hanukiyyah, Manya claims it’s impossible, one-of-a-kind, something nobody outside her family has ever seen
Manya reveals she has no family left
Page 9 - images show Kate dressed up as FedEx person delivering the Hanukiyah to Manya’s apartment above Ketterman’s Books
Kate argues with Manya over putting the candles in. She verifies that Manya’s father made it
“He made it to be used, Manya...he made it to celebrate the Festival of Lights”
What’s going on here?
Jumping through time?
The Santas broke into Ketterman’s and stole the Hanukiyah after the first flashback, Manya lost all hope
Manya placing a hanukkiyah in the window was an error, the hanukkiyah has been lost for years
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