Holy Sappho, Batman! Batwoman is a dyke!

Batwoman returns to the pages of DC Comics as a lipstick lesbian and I’m just licking my lips thinking of the artwork to accompany the voluptuous woman’s kicking and punching and fighting evildoers and all that crime fighter stuff.

It is interesting that DC Comics, the same company that ordered a New York gallery to halt an exhibition featuring Batman and Robin in homoerotic poses, is now making news as portraying Kathy Kane, aka Batwoman, as a lesbian super hero.

According to reports, she’s set to make her first appearance in the July issue of “52,” a weekly year-long project that debuted on May 10. In addition to the gay character, the new DC Comics series focuses on an ethnically diverse set of characters, including a Mexican teen as the Blue Beetle and the Great Ten, a government-sponsored team of Chinese crime fighters.

While gay men may have always had an affinity for super hero comics and their muscular bodies wrapped in spandex suits, as noted by Brian Moylan in his narrative to the X-Men and Marvel comics, it often goes unnoticed that some lesbians also hold comic super heroes close to their hearts.

I can remember as a young girl flipping through the pages of DC Comics’ Superman stories and wishing to be the man in red and blue, whisking down from the skies to rescue Lois Lane from some unsavory villain. I probably also wished to have his great hair and sideburns, with that little bit of curl at his forehead.

And what respectable lesbian now in her mid-30s didn’t imagine being the Bionic Woman or Wonder Woman — or possibly being rescued by these gorgeous women — while growing up as an angst-ridden girl despising having to wear skirts on picture day?

Comic books played an incredible role for me growing up in shaping my ideas of right and wrong. And while most were about men and starred male super heroes with the women oftentimes portrayed as damsels in distress, I often identified with the sullen super hero men who had this secret they could not share.

It will be interesting to see how Kathy Kane, the lesbian Batwoman, and her relationship with Gotham City ex-cop Renee Montoya will play out in the pages of “52.”

Will their story line be smart and progressive and one that will inspire other young lesbians out there looking for role models?

I hope so. And I don’t mind admiring her tight suit, either.

I have to give credit to 52. This story isn't dragging at all. I was all set for this book to move along at a snails pace, but so far I've left each issue satisfied with how much story it contained. Actually the 52 title packs more story than most regular comics with the added bonus of the History of the DCU back story. This title is also showing how a company can refocus the spotlight on some already existing characters instead of making some new flavor of the month character. Montoya, Question, Steel, and Black Adam are all going to come away from these issues with a boatload of new fans...at least I think they will.