Tag: Cameron Stewart

Catwoman (2002) #12

Cw12Ah, 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 Secret Files and Origins (2002) #1

CwsfI sort of forgot about Secret Files. Especially this Catwoman one, even though I do remember Holly’s resurrection explanation being covered in it. Like I remember wanting to see how writer Ed Brubaker would address it. Now to decide if I want to spoil the reveal.

But first, the feature story, with Michael Avon Oeming pencils and Mike Manley inks. Brubaker cuts between some hoods reminiscing about their encounters with Catwoman over the years and Holly telling girlfriend Karon about it. It’s initially a cute idea, but then it gets a little weird because Karon doesn’t know Selina is Catwoman, so it’s basically Holly lying to her girlfriend while the hoods just rate Catwoman’s hotness through various outfits. Oeming doesn’t do cheesecake, but the hoods fill in the male gaze with their dialogue.

For a 2002 comic, it’s distressingly progressive but hasn’t aged great.

Oeming and Manley’s art is okay—they do better with Holly and Karon’s section—while the rest seems like a riff on “Batman: The Animated Series.”

Then there’s a Slam Bradley short—Brubaker wrote all the stories in this issue, which is almost a mistake. Like, he’s got different artists on each story, and only the Slam one really fits the regular Catwoman Cooke-inspired vibe (Cameron Stewart does the art), and maybe it should’ve been the other way around.

The Slam story also ages poorly. And not just because of Stewart. Brubaker writes it first-person from Slam’s perspective, and it’s all about him thinking about how men used to be men, and now they’re all on their smartphones or something. Selina is hanging out with him and helps out during fight scenes, but she’s utterly pointless to the story. It implies their relationship is further along than the regular series has gotten. Like, they’re at the hanging out and not talking stage of their romantically-charged friendship.

I think in the main book they’ve had like one case together.

It’s okay but doesn’t have one clamoring for a Slam Bradley solo book.

Then comes the Holly resurrection story. It’s two pages, with lovely Eric Shanower art, but it’s cheesecake. The style’s a Love and Rockets riff, only Holly and Selina aren’t the Locas, and Shanower’s not Jaimie. It’d be better if it were a more direct homage. Instead, it just treats Holly like she’s Maggie and Selina like she’s Penny Century—and Shanower’s cheesecake approach draws further attention to the first story’s tell don’t show male gaze.

It’s a miss. Even before getting into the story itself. But would it be a miss if I didn’t see what Brubaker and Shanower were doing without acknowledging? Probably? Like, it too suggests the regular book emphasizes really good Selina and Holly scenes, but… for the most part, it doesn’t. Catwoman is doing great, but its Secret Files tries to draw attention to what it doesn’t do.

Very weird.

Then comes the Black Mask story, establishing him as the series’s next villain. It’s Brubaker doing first-person narration again—more successful than Slam’s, but now an exhausted device—while Black Mask muses about how he’s got to deal with Catwoman. We once again see his slick lawyer sidekick, who’s down with evil but not Black Mask’s penchant for gruesome torture.

Stewart does the art again, and it’s fine. It’s just an extended Catwoman scene they didn’t have time to do in Black Mask’s reveal issue; they actually could’ve taken the last two pages from this one and tacked it on to that reveal, and it’d have been fine.

As someone who likes the idea of Secret Files well enough—don’t get me started on the Who’s Who entries—the Catwoman one is a disappointment. None of the stories accurately get the main series’s tone, which—thanks to Stewart doing some of the art—is clearly Brubaker’s problem, not the artist’s. It’s an even stranger miss taking Brubaker’s successful done-in-one fill-ins; he’s had a really good one on Catwoman already. You’d think he’d do great with an eight-pager focusing on a side character.

Nope.

It does have some historical value in the history of comic book objectification of women, but mainly as an example of a cop-out. A multi-tiered cop-out.

Anyway.

Can’t wait to get back to the series.

Catwoman (2002) #7

Cw7Last 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

Cw6Still 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.

Motor Crush (2016) #4

Motor crush 4

You know what happens to Motor Crush when Babs Tarr doesn’t get a lot to draw? It plods. This issue plods almost the entire way though, with Domino confronting her dad about her past and her dad storming off. She then pushes away the ex-girlfriend before robbing a rival gang of their speed drug. There’s a chase scene, but it’s complicated by Domino ripping off the drugs. The weak characterizations and scenes–and lack of Tarr dynamism–make this one a snoozer.

Motor Crush 4 (March 2017)

Motor Crush #4You know what happens to Motor Crush when Babs Tarr doesn’t get a lot to draw? It plods. This issue plods almost the entire way though, with Domino confronting her dad about her past and her dad storming off. She then pushes away the ex-girlfriend before robbing a rival gang of their speed drug. There’s a chase scene, but it’s complicated by Domino ripping off the drugs. The weak characterizations and scenes–and lack of Tarr dynamism–make this one a snoozer.

CREDITS

Writers, Brenden Fletcher and Cameron Stewart; artist, Babs Tarr; colorist, Heather Danforth; letterer, Aditya Bidikar; editor, Jeanine Schaefer; publisher, Image Comics.

Motor Crush 3 (February 2017)

Motor Crush #3Motor Crush is starting to lose me a little. Fletcher and Stewart aren’t doing a lot with the characters, instead focusing on the melodrama. It’s early, so if they do rebound with some character development and not just cliffhanger mysteries, the book can easily recover. Tarr’s art is strong, with some ambitious composition layouts too.

CREDITS

Writers, Brenden Fletcher and Cameron Stewart; artist, Babs Tarr; colorist, Heather Danforth; letterer, Aditya Bidikar; editor, Jeanine Schaefer; publisher, Image Comics.