DC Comics has steadily been releasing a series of One Bad Day graphic novels focused on various members of Batman’s rogues gallery, often showing them – or Batman himself – experiencing a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, while also sharing some context on their origins and backstory. The latest graphic novel from the line – Batman: One Bad Day – Catwoman #1 written by G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel, Poison Ivy) with art by Jamie McKelvie (Wicked + Divine, Young Avengers) – shows Selina Kyle’s Catwoman experiencing an altogether garbage day, with emotional flashbacks to her time being raised by a single mother, mixed with some fun interactions with Batman and the introduction of a fascinating new enemy for the infamous burglar.
Unsurprisingly, G. Willow Wilson’s writing for One Bad Day – Catwoman is characteristically impressive, as the acclaimed writer successfully dives into the mind of Selina Kyle while simultaneously telling a fun, lower-stakes heist story that includes the perfect amount of romance and mystery. Catwoman has been around for decades and has had many different writers attempt to capture her voice in a genuine way, but Wilson’s inner dialogue for Selina seems to perfect the balance between anti-heroic nonchalance, deep emotional turmoil, and incredible confidence that characterizes much of Catwoman’s core essence, while making her outward appearance the ideal mix of charm, intelligence, and stubbornness.
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SPOILERS AHEAD for Batman: One Bad Day – Catwoman #1!
The other highlight of Batman: One Bad Day – Catwoman is the incredible art by Jamie McKelvie – not to mention the continuously impressive lettering by Clayton Cowles – who brings his unique style to the comic in a way that beautifully captures the graceful, dynamic movement of Gotham’s best thief, while also managing to show Selina’s complex emotional states. McKelvie is able to make Catwoman appear almost constantly sexy while never being gratuitous, and makes Selina look iconically buff in one particular scene while wearing a dress, something that a thief at peak human strength would certainly look like. One downside of McKelvie’s art in this graphic novel is the almost constantly shifting shade of Selina’s skin tone, moving from a healthy glow in one scene, to Michelle Pfeiffer from Batman Returns in another, regardless of lighting, changing so quickly that it is hard not to notice.
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One Bad Day – Catwoman follows Selina Kyle as she attempts to steal a “Carnot Brooch” that once belonged to her mother from a high-end jewelry auction, where the brooch is being sold for a minimum of $25,000. It turns out that years ago, at a time when Selina and her sister Maggie’s mother was seriously struggling as a poor single mother, her mother sold the brooch to a pawn shop for $200, even though it was sold to her by someone claiming it was 100% authentic. However, according to Vivian Page, a curator at the auction house, the brooch is actually a WWII relic created in a Nazi-occupied Paris, and Page recounting the story of Selina’s mom selling the piece for only a few hundred dollars brings genuine tears to Catwoman’s eyes. The scene is haunting, and beautiful, and the impressive combination of Wilson’s writing and McKelvie’s art truly makes the reader believe in how emotional and caring Selina Kyle really is, no matter how far down she attempts to push that side of her.
What follows is a fun heist adventure, with plenty of twists and turns that won’t be spoiled here, and while fans of more bombastic Batman adventures might feel a bit let down by the “low key” nature of Catwoman’s One Bad Day story, the great thing about this line of graphic novels is that every One Bad Day book is catered to the titular character’s history, personality, and modus operandi. It is hard, at times, to pinpoint exactly when this story takes place in Selina’s career, as she obviously is already in a romantic relationship with Batman by this point and she is wearing her modern costume designed by Joelle Jones, and yet the tone of her heist and interactions with Bruce feel like from an earlier point in her history (in the end it doesn’t really matter, since these one-shot comics are meant to be non-canon). Regardless, her rooftop liaison with Batman is truly perfect, reminiscent of the two iconic to intimate rooftop scenes from 2011s Catwoman Vol. 4 #1 and 2017s Batman Vol. 3 #14, adding a wonderfully sensual moment of romance and passion into the issue.
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One of the major twists of the book is the introduction of a new enemy (or potential ally?) to Catwoman’s career as an anti-heroic thief, named the Forger. This villain, once revealed, is shockingly strong and supernaturally powerful, giving Selina a fight that does not the end the way Catwoman expects. The reader does not learn much about the Forger, except a promise to see them again, a slightly confusing ending given the fact that One Bad Day stories are technically out of canon so… when will the Forger show up again?
Even though Selina ends her day with a badly bruised eye and an even sorer ego, Catwoman’s “one bad day” turns out to be less terrible than she thought at first, giving her a chance to reconnect to her sister in a meaningful way while also settling an emotional moment from her childhood that has stuck with her in her core for the years since. One down side that really brought this writer out of the moment in a disappointing way is that the issue ends with Selina in full Catwoman costume, but with her hood fully down exposing her face, walking through the streets of Gotham. This feels incredibly out of character for the night stalking cat burglar who keeps her identity a closely guarded secret, and was just a very confusing ending to an otherwise lovely story.
Batman: One Bad Day – Catwoman #1 is a wonderfully fun heist adventure grounded in exciting action, genuine heartfelt emotion, and adorable romance, with brilliant writing by G. Willow Wilson, dynamic art by Jamie McKelvie, and on-point lettering by Clayton Cowles. Fans of Catwoman, exciting heists, action-oriented art, or anti-heroes with emotional backstories will surely love this new addition to the One Bad Day catalogue.
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