Batwoman, aka Kate Kane, is engaged to Detective Maggie Sawyer, who has a daughter, Jamie, from a previous relationship. Maggie’s ex-husband has primary custody of the girl, however, and is suing for sole custody. In the latest issue, we learn that Maggie is hoping to change that. We see Kate and Maggie waiting outside a courthouse to speak with a high-powered family lawyer who Maggie has been hoping will take her case. He refuses, and Kate responds, “We’re coming to you because you specialize in gay custodial issues. We’re gay, and we have custodial issues.” That “we” tells me Kate is already feeling like part of Maggie and Jamie’s family.
The lawyer pleads a work overload, but Kate offers to double his fee and make a sizable donation to his favorite charity, the Trevor Project. He says he’ll think about it.
I doubt they’re going to go into too much of the political and legal environment, but the storyline is still a nice nod to some of the challenges LGBT parents may face.
Alas, even if the lawyer does take the case, the comic’s editors have said that Kate and Maggie won’t be getting married. They’re engaged, so it’s not that they don’t want to. I sense trouble ahead for the relationship. My guess? Batwoman’s activities somehow endanger Jamie, and Maggie breaks things off in order to protect the girl. That’s been a fear of Maggie’s for a while.
I’ll stand by what I said last fall, however: What we really need is a new comic with a lesbian superhero couple and their brood of superkids, kind of like The Fosters meets The Incredibles. Of course, all parents are superheroes in some sense, though, right?
