Catwoman (2002) #12

Cw12 Ah, the days when the first part of an arc was really the first part of an arc. This issue opens with Selina—as Catwoman—chasing a kid through the streets of Gotham. He’s in Alleytown, a frankly gorgeous but rundown and dangerous neighborhood in Gotham. Artist Cameron Stewart busts ass on the scenery, so much so it’s like they should’ve just set the arc in Paris. But, no, it’s in Gotham. And we see more traditional Gotham towards the end of the issue when Slam’s out getting wasted and telling Holly how much he luvs Selina.

But Alleytown is this architecturally distinct neighborhood where Selina—in her narration—describes spending some time as a youth. At first, it seems like writer Ed Brubaker is going to delay revealing the connection, but as things progress, we eventually get the backstory. Selina’s trying to figure out what’s going on with a rash of pickpocketing–there’s something very strange about Leslie Thompkins and Selina ratting out Leslie’s pickpocket—a Black kid on a skateboard–to the cops, especially since Catwoman is all about how the cops are dirty. The kid still manages to get away, thanks to some quick thinking on his part, so Selina has to go investigating while in costume.

With help from Leslie and (an off-page) Bruce Wayne, Selina is converting an old church into the new East End Community Center, where kids can learn from famous artists for free, amongst other activities, and stay out of the streets and out of trouble. Selina’s using the diamonds she stole in the last arc, though—as always—Bruce spends more on batarangs than she did on getting this community center set up. Even though he’s not in the comic, it’s another reminder that Batman’s a dick.

It’s a good issue—Stewart has a lot of fun toggling between the action and the talking, especially once he gets to juxtapose a Slam fight scene and a Selina fight scene. Selina meets an old friend—while the cliffhanger is Holly meeting another old friend—only Selina’s old friend is actually a villain out to get her. Brubaker wastes no time on that reveal, with the flashback covering Selina’s youth in Alleytown and her old friend Sylvia, who exited Selina’s life sometime before Batman: Year One. Only Sylvia’s working with a mystery big bad (it’s not a mystery to me, either thanks to distant memory or just the teasers about the next big bad in previous issues, not to mention the Secret Files).

And it’s all set up. It’s Brubaker arranging the pieces on the board to play with in the rest of the arc. There’s the community center, Sylvia, the pickpockets, Holly’s mystery guest star, and Slam being in love with Selina; we’re in for a big, character-driven arc.

And I think I just remembered something terrible will happen before it’s over. Something really terrible.

I can’t wait, but also… it’s going to be rough.

Catwoman (2002) #11

Cw11 Presumably, regular writer Ed Brubaker needed someone to cover for him so he could work on Catwoman Secret Files, so Steven Grant fills in on the writing here–Brad Rader’s on pencils, with new-to-the-series Mark Lipka and Dan Davis on inks.

It’s an outstanding issue for Rader. The issue’s entirely action, with Catwoman breaking into a mansion and defeating its elaborate security systems so she can steal a cat statue. There’s a bookend about an FBI agent and his partner setting up the robbery victim—a female gangster—so they could also catch Catwoman. The bookend’s terrible, but it’s an okay sort of terrible.

The issue’s just filler. There’s no reason to read it outside being a Catwoman reader, not even for other Catwoman canon. There’s a nothing-burger previous relationship between Catwoman and one of the people in the mansion, there’s not great fighting, but Rader’s sense of action pacing for Catwoman escaping the traps is phenomenal. It’d be a great action comic if there were any stakes whatsoever, but Grant writes Catwoman as a carefree adventurer. It seems like thin characterization until Grant gets to the FBI agent who’s narrating. The ending’s silly and desperate.

At times, the issue feels like they’re doing a Batman: The Animated Series Presents Catwoman special—just change the costume—but then the overwrought FBI stuff makes it feel more like it’s just a not skeevy rendition of a Jim Balent issue.

Worth the twenty bits? Maybe not. But it’s nice to see Rader developing even when the story and the vibe are middling.

Catwoman (2002) #10

Cw10 This issue opens with Selina narrating—remember, she hasn’t been narrating lately, so it took until the second or so page before I realized it was her (and she wasn’t talking about her sister, whose name I thought was Rebecca—it’s Maggie). There’s a girl named Rebecca (in flashback) who went bad; real Bonnie & Clyde stuff. Including what seems like moralizing but won’t be. Writer Ed Brubaker’s going to get back on the ball with narration as the issue progresses, and, luckily, the next scene is a winner.

Socialite (or whatever) Selina Kyle pays local philanthropist Bruce Wayne a visit to talk about her “resurrection,” including mentions of New York City (was she in New York before this series?), but mostly it’s charming flirt banter. Brubaker writes the two with easy but unfulfilled chemistry–obviously, it’s better with the masks on—and penciler Brad Rader very quickly establishes the issue’s visual tone.

Rader and inker Rick Burchett deliver a great issue–none of the previous arc’s too (literal) cartoonish panels. The story’s a mix of flashbacks, including courtroom testimony, talking heads, and heist. See, Selina grew up with that girl in the opening flashback; now that woman is on death row, and today’s her last appeal. It turns into this exceptional (and exceptionally efficient) story for Selina. Brubaker also addresses the idea of real people in the superhero world, just as it seems a little strange Catwoman would be helpless in this situation.

Then there’s a delightful bookend with the Bruce Wayne scene.

It’s not the best issue in the series—though it’s Rader and Burchett’s best issue for art—but it showcases what makes Catwoman so special. Not just Brubaker and Rader’s attention to the characters but the (no pun) clawing humanity at the series’s foundations. It’s wild.

It’s also a done-in-one, so no hints at what’s to come, but I can’t wait, especially with Rader and Burchett having worked out the kinks.

Catwoman (2002) #9

Catwoman 9 The finale proves way too much for penciler Brad Rader and inker Rick Burchett. It doesn’t look like a Batman: The Animated Series comic; it looks like a generic riff on one. Rader and Burchett rush through every character who isn’t Catwoman or Slam, which is kind of nice, I suppose. They were the leads of this arc, though this issue doesn’t have any time for anything but Catwoman’s complicated scheme to clear Holly’s name.

Oh, Holly and her girlfriend Karon are better illustrated than the norm. However, the dirty cops, who aren’t actually interchangeable, are where the artists really rush. And guest star Crispus Allen, who opens the issue talking on his phone to Montoya over at Gotham Central; they really should’ve had him break the fourth wall to announce the new series.

Anyway.

Selina’s plan involves getting Allen on her side, tricking a mob boss, using Slam as bait for the dirty cops, and so on. It’s a very tell, don’t show conclusion, with Rader getting some of the composition right until the big fight scene, and then he whiffs it. Burchett’s inks don’t help anyway, but it’s all composition problems.

And Allen being so front and center in the issue, he makes Slam and Selina feel like the guest stars.

It’s a pretty good resolution issue, but there’s nothing special about it, which is unfortunate. It’s unclear if writer Ed Brubaker’s in a hurry or just out of time (since he spent the first issue of the arc on a Holly done-in-one); the pacing’s fine for a talky triple-cross story or whatever; it’s the plotting where Brubaker falls short.

The last page reveals a secret villain, promising they’ll be back some time. But, even as the villain decides Catwoman needs to be dealt with… it just feels like another way to move the book’s focus away from Selina.

Also, I don’t know if they do anything with the stolen diamonds from last issue. Maybe they give them to Leslie off-page.

Again, it’s adequate. But I was definitely expecting more.

Catwoman (2002) #8

Cw8 Batman doesn’t appear in this issue, but he really ought to be here somewhere. What with the cops moving a bunch of heroin through the city to make a deal with the Russians. One would think the Darkknight Detective would give a shit. But he apparently does not. It’s hilarious how bad Batman is at his job.

Anyway.

Enough about useless white men and on to the awesome ones.

Writer Ed Brubaker, penciler Brad Rader, and (sometimes) inker Rick Burchett do incredible work in this issue. The pace is phenomenal, starting with the cops pestering local businesses in the East End to put up Holly’s wanted poster. It leads to Karon, Holly’s girlfriend, calling the apartment to check on her, which wakes Slam, who’s on the couch (with a kitty), getting some shut-eye before he and Selina execute their plan.

The way Brubaker plots their plan is capital–it has different moving parts for each of them; Slam confronting a cop (which still hasn’t paid off) while Selina gets some information from a fence. Meanwhile, the cops (and their mobbed-up bosses) talk about their big deal for the night. Nothing can go wrong. We don’t see them setting up the deal; we don’t hear Selina’s plan to foil them (which Slam swears he doesn’t think is the worst idea, just not a good one because he doesn’t realize Selina’s the GOAT). Brubaker’s revealing the cops’ brash dealings in (for a comic) real-time, while Selina’s messing with them, but we don’t know to what end.

It’s brilliantly executed, heist-y stuff. Rader’s page layouts and visual pacing are exceptional; even at his best, nothing indicated he would do anything this good on the book. And Burchett, inking on his own (Cameron Stewart assisted last issue), only occasionally makes it look way too much like “Batman: The Animated Series.” It’s usually during the action sequences, so the lack of detail isn’t particularly painful.

And Burchett’s inks on the open’s outstanding; Slam and Selina are figuring out their team-up dynamics, and it’s gorgeous art. Fun, but serious.

Great heist-y cliffhanger, a sparing return of Selina’s narration, and some B plot building on the Mister Big… Brubaker balances it all beautifully. Catwoman already got great fast, but this issue’s sublimely raising the bar even more.

Catwoman (2002) #7

Cw7 Last issue ended with Holly, on assignment from Selina (but maybe a little too gung ho), shot by dirty cops. This issue opens with them approaching; luckily, Selina gets there in time. Selina rushes Holly to Leslie Thompkins’s clinic and reveals she knew Holly was a recovering addict this whole time.

As Leslie gets to operating, Selina takes the scant information she’s got—Holly was trailing an undercover narc before seeing some cops kill him—and heads over to Slam Bradley’s. Meanwhile, very special uncredited guest star Crispus Allen shows up at the dirty precinct to help out in the murder investigation, not suspecting he’s after some fellow officers.

Most of the issue is Selina and Slam bantering and getting the skinny from his contact at the precinct. Writer Ed Brubaker wastes no time getting to the meat of the corruption; the precinct has taken over the local drug trade, shooting down anyone who gets in their way. It’s good exposition stuff, tough capes noir, with some really nice layouts from penciller Brad Rader.

The other big change this issue is the narration. There isn’t any. Brubaker’s not narrating from Selina’s perspective (or Holly’s, like last issue). And with Selina wearing her mask most of the time, there’s less potential insight into her emotions. The issue’s very quick—Selina wakes Slam up at four in the morning or thereabouts, and the cliffhanger is the morning news—something the art doesn’t convey.

The art this issue’s a tad disappointing. Rader has Rick Burchett and Cameron Stewart inking; Burchett makes it all look like an issue of Batman: The Animated Series, with Stewart presumably the one who gives Slam some visual character. It’s too bad, though it’s worst at the open and improves throughout.

It’s a compelling story, slightly bland visuals or not, and Brubaker’s plotting is impressive. I was expecting another first act for the arc since last issue was a Holly “fill-in,” but no, he’s full speed ahead on the story. And already writing Slam and Selina great together.

Catwoman (2002) #6

Cw6 Still newish penciller Brad Rader (his second issue) leans a little too heavily into the Silver Age romance comic homage, but otherwise, it’s a near-perfect comic. Writer Ed Brubaker figures out how to give the story the done-in-one feel while still kicking off a new story arc. So it’s part one of four, but really (presumably) part zero of three.

It’s a prologue from Holly’s perspective. She’s out working for Selina, an East End Peculiar, trying to get some information on a new dealer while reconnecting with people she hasn’t seen in a while. Brubaker sets some of it up with the first scene, which has Holly filling out an email personality test. Her choices on that test come up throughout the issue, whether introducing the romantic interest, filling in some details of Holly’s story post-whenever she last appeared in a Catwoman comic, or addressing Holly’s addiction recovery.

She still hasn’t told Selina about her relatively recent sobriety and how she tried to avoid triggers, which Selina is now asking her to seek out. Lots of excellent character development for Holly, with her self-reflection arc causing her to make some ill-advised, daring choices to get the issue to a dramatic conclusion and set up the story arc with a good cliffhanger.

Brubaker, Rader, inker Cameron Stewart, colorist Matt Hollingsworth (who’s got to show shitty Gotham during the day), and letterer Willie Schubert (the narration is Holly’s journal—in her head presumably—and the lettering conveys personality) knock it out of the park.

The comic’s from the relatively short period between ubiquitous email (or enough you can turn it into a plot point) and smartphones. Lots of Holly’s day is frustratingly boring in a way a smartphone would help. In addition to everything else, it’s historically fascinating–just an all-around excellent book.

Catwoman (2002) #5

Catwoman 5

New art team Brad Rader and Cameron Stewart take over for this done-in-one, which brings Slam Bradley into the series proper—he appeared in a Detective Comics backup setting up Catwoman (or at least tying in enough to be reprinted in the first trade… I think). But he and Selina team up this issue, which is a profound style clash. Rader and Stewart visualize Catwoman action scenes akin to previous artist Darwyn Cooke—with one big exception, which I’m saving for later—but their Selina and Holly investigation procedural pages are like Silver Age romance comics.

And Slam looks like a villain out of a Dick Tracy knock-off, which is some of the point. There’s the contrast in characters, come together in this weird little corner of Gotham City, but Rader’s not great at integrating the two visually. Slam always looks out of place, just slightly too much of a literal caricature to fit.

It doesn’t really matter because it’s a great issue. Ed Brubaker’s script is superb, and—aside from Slam sticking out—Rader and Stewart do a fine job. And here’s that big exception—out of nowhere in the second half, Rader bakes in this building rage in Selina. She boils over with it, even as her narration is relatively cool. It’s fantastic stuff and one heck of a success for Rader on his first issue, especially following up Cooke. When a pissed-off Selina comes across a bad guy, her anger’s palpable entirely through the art.

Very cool.

The story’s about Selina trying to shut down a drug mule operation. The bad guy is getting neighborhood kids to do it, flying down to South America with a fake parent, swallowing a bunch of dope, flying back in intestinal distress, pooping it out. I’m pretty sure there’s another way to get the drugs….

Anyway, doesn’t matter. Holly has found this bad thing going on, Selina will take care of it. Even after she collides with Slam, who’s working a case somehow involving the Mr. Big.

But then there’s also the initial bad guy, who Brubaker gives this incredibly efficient character arc. Outstanding work, with Catwoman distinguishing itself well as something other than “Darwyn Cooke’s Catwoman without Darwyn Cooke.

The creative team seems to realize they’ve got to make a good impression, and all of them do so in unison and separately. It’s real good.

More, please.

Catwoman (2002) #4

Catwoman 4

And here’s how you do a comic book. I was wondering when Catwoman was going to click and level up, and it’s this issue. It’s not just Darwyn Cooke’s pencils, though he’s got dozens of great panels in the issue. Pretty much everything except Selina fighting Clayface Y2K’s muck is great. The muck stuff is fine, but it’s gross, and it’s just muck. Worse, it’s pink flesh muck. Icky bad.

The issue starts with Selina confronting the killer and hearing some of his origin story. U.S. soldier, battlefield injury, weird experiment, dumped as a monster on the streets of Gotham by the U.S. Army. Tracks. She thinks she can talk him down and get him some help from that dickhead Batman (who does end up cameoing and is a complete piece of shit, gloriously rendered in a forties nod from Cooke and inker Mike Allred). She’s not entirely wrong, but she’s not right enough not to have a big supervillain fight. Except she’s Catwoman, and she’s not ready to fight fleshy muck monsters.

Writer Ed Brubaker does an exceptional job writing the fight scene. It’s a character development micro-arc for Selina as she realizes the new responsibilities she’s taking on; there’s doubt, regret, turmoil, all in rapid-fire as the fight progresses. Brubaker captures these snapshots into Selina’s experience through the text, tied to the visuals, and it’s phenomenal stuff. I knew Catwoman was going to get good, but I didn’t think it would get this good this fast.

Especially when the epilogue involves setting up the series proper, with Holly becoming a Kyle Investigations operative and Leslie Tompkins firmly established in the supporting cast. Except Brubaker writes it as a contrast to dickhead Batman, who doesn’t care about sex workers getting murdered and thinks writing Leslie a check fixes all the problems with the poors.

Only then Cooke (and Allred and colorist Matt Hollingsworth) turn the final splash page into this Batman visual homage deep cut. It’s so good.

This opening arc has got to be a killer trade.

Catwoman (2002) #3

Catwoman 3

There’s a lot of great Darwyn Cooke “good girl” art in this issue as Selina goes undercover to find the john who’s been killing all the girls, which I suppose could kick off an interesting discussion of how male gaze works in a non-realistic styles like Cooke’s. But it doesn’t make for a great issue. There’s a terrific opening with Selina visiting Leslie Thompkins, but after a dream sequence for Leslie.

Like three pages. Beautiful art, with Cooke doing a Will Eisner Spirit nod. It has absolutely nothing to do with the comic itself. It’s just padding. Selina’s visiting Leslie to get Oracle’s digits; Batman doesn’t give Selina his white friends’ phone numbers. It’d be something if they wrote Batman—or even could imagine writing him—as more thoughtful than a sixteen-year-old rich kid.

Oracle comes through—off-page—and Selina and Holly go undercover to interrogate the used car dealer who sold the killer his car. Selina gets to wear the costume; Holly gets to walk the Cooke “good girl” runway. Again, great art. But not a particularly good mystery development. It’s a fun, mischievous scene but has to basically hold up the comic because afterward, it’s just a chase scene.

The bad guy gets past Selina, and to pass the level in the video game, she has to search three different warehouses before he kills again. Writer Ed Brubaker intercuts Selina’s mission with the killer and his date flirting and being sweet when really we know he’s going to disintegrate the girl.

The art’s neat, and some of the dialogue’s excellent; plus, Leslie and Selina are cool pals, but it’s like half an issue with clutter to make up the rest. It’s Darwyn Cooke art, so the issue’s definitely worthwhile; it’s just not a great installment in the arc. Brubaker doesn’t have much narration from Selina this issue either. The whole thing’s a little off.

But very pretty.