Building on the tension from last month, Catwoman #87 is a race against time for Selina. With her back against the wall because of an elaborate plan from Black Mask and Katarina, Selina has one hour to save the life of Holly Robinson, her friend, ally, and sometimes pseudo-daughter. It’s brutal, it’s sadistic and it’s all about to get worse.
Last month I thought the Catwoman title felt like a Michael Mann movie. This month, it feels like a Gareth Evans flick, particularly The Raid. At Holly’s apartment, Catwoman gets a phone call from Black Mask, confirming her worst fears that she’s been taken. She’s shown on video that Holly is locked in a room with a dwindling air supply and a heroin needle loaded for her for when she chooses to give up. Catwoman has to figure out where she is and get to her in time.
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She quickly deduces where she is and heads there but is met with the brutal violence of a character named The Faceless who is, you guessed it, faceless. Just when the book was starting to feel more like superhero fare it shifts back to a devastating melee between the two.
Catwoman is pushed to her limit as she scours the corridors of the Seagate Home for Troubled Teens for her friend. Maybe my favorite part of the fight was how weird the dialogue from the Faceless was. It wasn’t the typical “I’m here to slow you down/I’m here to kill you” exchange, it was genuinely unsettling the way he was asking about her teeth. It’s like when you watched Roadhouse for the first time and you’re like “Wait, what did Jimmy just say to Dalton?”.
As agonizing as the fight was, what comes next has to be more painful; Holly is terrified to see her. It turns out Black Mask and Katarina aren’t simply waging a war on Catwoman, they’re also waging a war on Selina. Someone wearing a Selina mask had taunted a distressed Holly and refused to offer her help as she was abducted. While our Selina (read: good, actual Selina) was trying to save her, this false-face imposter was going through Gotham setting up the next stages of Black Mask’s plan.
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As great as the tension is for the character, it’s even better knowing that Batman is not going to swoop in and save her. The two villains talk about this and promise that by the time they’re done, Batman is never going to want to be associated with Catwoman ever again. This plan to completely isolate Catwoman from her allies is so juicy and fun to watch unfold, like watching dominos topple except they’re made out of sticks of dynamite. However, the B-plot of the story hints that Selina may not be alone as she seems.
The art here is as high energy as the story. The panicked looks on every characters face effectively demonstrates the stakes for everyone involved, while the fighting choreography captures the cruelty of the faceless and the desperate grace of Catwoman. This is some really great stuff Davide Gianfelice on pencils and Patricio Delpeche on colors.
Torunn Grønbekk’s script is just as nimble as Catwoman, letting you know what’s happening with great clarity while still maintaining a hectic atmosphere.
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Catwoman #87 continues to deliver action-packed noir thrills every month since its soft readjustment with All-In. I’m evangelizing this book month in and month out because I think it’s unlike most books DC is currently putting out. It feels like a hidden gem crime thriller from the ’90s that you’re shocked more people haven’t seen. If you’re looking for something moody, atmospheric that’s heavy on a more realistic kind of crime that features the occasional “only in comic books” flair, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
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