The Stop Button

Black Panther (1998) #17 [2000] W: Chris Giarrusso, Christopher Priest, Glenn Alan Herdling. A: Bob Almond, Gregg Schigiel, Richard Case, Sal Velluto. Just when it seems like Priest has run out of surprise guest stars, he introduces another. Black Panther teams up with the Heroes for Hire and Falcon to fight a bunch of villains. It’s more Killmonger conspiring, which helps get Ross back into the action. The art gets looser as it goes, but the issue’s good. And impressively complicated.

Black Panther (1998) #18 [2000] W: Christopher Priest, Glenn Alan Herdling. A: Eric Powell, Gregg Schigiel, Kyle Hotz, Richard Case. Hotz’s guest art is a big departure from norm, even if it’s often beautiful stuff. Some gorgeous inking from Powell. After promising the Killmonger finale, Priest punts and instead has Ross beat up his girlfriend. Killmonger beats up with female supporting character too. It’s a big dampener on the issue, which introduces (and immediately resolves) a new narrative wrinkle.

Black Panther (1998) #19 [2000] W: Christopher Priest. A: Bob Almond, Sal Velluto. The feature–as Wakanda rapidly goes bankrupt, Panther does a bunch of exposition dumps regarding the story so far. Excellent art keeps it going, even as Priest lets the story threads get convoluted. Then there’s a done-in-one backup, all about how dangerous Ross’s job can get. It’s pointless… and just seems like filler to punt resolution.

Black Panther (1998) #20 [2000] W: Christopher Priest. A: Bob Almond, Sal Velluto. The Velluto and Almond start rises to the next level this issue, which has Panther and Killmonger punching on each other. There are some delightful POV panels; the fight’s dynamic but can’t be followed; it’s all about making things visceral. Real good. Even with Moon Knight guesting. The ending is truly surpassing, wrapping up some big threads… maybe.

Catwoman (2002) #22 [2003] W: Ed Brubaker. A: Cameron Stewart, Nick Derington. Selina and Holly get into some very predictable trouble on the road while Slam and Batman talk about who “deserves” Selina. Stewart’s just finishing Derrington’s layouts, which works out better than last guest layout artist but it’s just okay art. No great shakes. The issue reads like filler, with Brubaker grinding through tropes at the characters’ expenses.

Catwoman (2002) #23 [2003] W: Ed Brubaker. A: Cameron Stewart, Guy Davis. Holly and Selina fail Bechdel during a shopping trip to Opal City. While there, Catwoman teams up with JSA regular (?) Bobo Bennett to fight the Egyptian assassins who are following her. We also find out the whole road trip is surprise Holly with a still unannounced guest star. Davis doing layouts with Stewart finishing works out. Okay but thin.

Catwoman (2002) #24 [2003] W: Ed Brubaker. A: Cameron Stewart, Guy Davis. Selina and Holly’s road trip comes to an end, with Selina spending most of her time with the other guest stars. Brubaker once again fails Bechdel, but he also reveals the action subplot for this arc is going unresolved (as a tease, apparently). It feels more like wasted pages at this point. The Davis and Stewart art still delivers.

Catwoman (2002) #25 [2004] W: Ed Brubaker. A: Jimmy Palmiotti, Paul Gulacy. Gulacy joins as the new artist and does an okay job while never particularly vibing with Brubaker’s script. Selina is back home and the Mob has moved into her turf. Her part of the issue is fine; the villain stuff is very blah. Disappointingly, Gulacy’s main contribution seems to be “classy” cheesecake, And the end’s an eye roll.

Catwoman (2002) #26 [2004] W: Ed Brubaker. A: Jimmy Palmiotti, Paul Gulacy. Slam and Selina go to save a kidnapped kid from the bad guys, only for it to be an obvious trap they weren’t expecting because writer Brubaker is shrugging through. Selina even has a talk with Leslie Thompkins about how the series hasn’t gone anywhere so let’s try again. Zeiss is even more tedious than expected. It’s slipping fast.