Catwoman’s high-speed high-stakes pursuit continues. Directly in its path is a glitzy, glamorous, movie premiere. But Selina’s never been one for obstacles now, has she?
They used to make more comics like this. DC had a litany of them in the ’90s that gets too frowned upon. Simple, streamlined issues that read easy, and continue from the last issue without packing on much extra. Is this a bridging arc? A well-done filler story? Will it all come in to play in later issues?
The answer to these questions won’t matter. The look on Selina’s face in close-up says it all. She’s having some wild fun, focusing on the mission at hand, and not overthinking it. And neither should the reader.
What development we do get to further threads along is minimal, but also enough. The last issue was weighed down a bit too much by multiple threads anyway.
Despite my continuing dislike of multiple artists on random issues, both Fernando Blanco and Hugo Petrus perform a strong task in creating thrilling action sequences and depicting an attractive celebrity in crowd and night of nights feel.
The coloring by John Kalisz is, once again, key to this and he does just as well to shower the bright lights of a big opening night in luscious colors, conveying the perfect blockbuster feel.
I’m enjoying Joelle Jones’ work on this book more with each issue. It really feels like she’s growing as a writer with Catwoman. Sometimes it’s her dialogue, sometimes it’s her story beats. Sometimes it’s issues such as this where she speaks volumes but includes less writing on a page.
Even amidst all-out action, the creative team continues to showcase Selina’s character. Her facial expressions, her reactions, actions, and body language as the danger ramps up really are spot on.
There’s a brief interlude with the Creels, a plot thread I thought had run its course but instead shows in brief spurts it has life and more intrigue to offer.
The ending of the issue was a tonal surprise. It’s effective but something about it also disjoints things a bit.
The feel of the book is becoming more confident too. It seems free from the shackles of the runaway bride role that launched it.
It also feels in part like the kind of book Vertigo would produce when it moved away from magic and the British invasion and started leaning on crime and political intrigue.
