A face from Sophie’s past as a rookie in the Crows brings trouble for her, Ryan and Mary in the present. Alice finds herself bargaining for her very life, at the mercy of Black Mask.

Batwoman continues to plunder the vaults of Bat-villains perhaps lesser-known to non-comic readers, with this week’s instalment featuring Arthur Brown, AKA the Cluemaster. This dastardly ex-gameshow host was finally brought to heel by a rookie Sophie who solved his deadly puzzle and put him behind bars, leaving him to fume for the last five years wondering how a young girl who wasn’t even a full Crow yet could have thwarted him when so many others had failed.

Fast forward five years to the present and Arthur has escaped his imprisonment and is seeking revenge, as well as answers. But Sophie won’t face this threat alone, thanks to an expensive bottle of tequila, her concern for Mary in light of the recent revelation her father is on Snakebite, and Ryan’s impeccable sense of timing.

In truth, Cluemaster is merely a backdrop to an episode in which Sophie and Ryan dance around one another. Sophie knows Ryan’s secret identity, and she wants to convince Ryan (and therefore Batwoman) of her trustworthiness, but she’s also getting frustrated at the barriers Ryan puts up. The back and forth between them suggests that Kate Kane may well end up not being the only Batwoman Sophie has ever shared an intimate moment with, but that’s getting ahead of myself. Here, the two bicker and snipe with poor Mary stuck in the middle of it all as they attempt to solve the deadly puzzle laid out for them.

The way in which Sophie goes about things here is particularly pleasing, rolling together several themes on multiple levels to highlight not just why Ryan should have more faith in her but why we the audience should too. That’s important, in a show which is largely about the relationships of the various characters to one another, and how those relationships can shift over time.

Elsewhere, Alice finds herself at the mercy of Black Mask, someone who can perhaps give even her a run for her money in the cold, dispassionate sadist stakes. Reluctant to give him the information he seeks, Alice elects to bargain for her life another way, using her particular skills in the use of human skin. But giving Black Mask’s ‘daughter’ her face back may cause Gotham’s vengeful crime queen more issues than it solves…

Verdict: Excellently paced, with great character work and some fantastic beats. Firing on all cylinders now. 9/10

Greg D. Smith