Catwoman #1
Written and Illustrated by Joëlle Jones
Colored by Laura Allred
Reviewed by KrisK
First off, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR BATMAN #50! I warned you. Yes, the issues ending was given away by “All-the-news-fit-to-print”, but we don’t have to stoop to that level. And yes, I am still mad.
Cats has left Bats at the alter/rooftop, and she is not feeling good about it. She feels she had to make the sacrifice, so the world wouldn’t lose its hero. She hurts now. A mere week passed, and she battles insomnia with excessive gambling and some light drinking. She mourns the loss of her love. The world won’t let her mourn, though. A CopyCatwoman killed two police officers, and the world knows Selina is Catwoman. The police attempt to arrest Selina, and she is not happy.
Joelle Jones clearly knows what she is doing with Catwoman. The character feels true to both Tom King’s Rebirth run and the earlier New 52 series and even Jeph Loeb’s When in Rome. She talks like Selina talks, and she walks how Selina walks. The story doesn’t bother wasting time setting up the character, but instead, it leaps right into the story. The big bad for this arc is different then many other female villains. Usually, they are sexy characters, but Jones went the opposite direction with a character made grotesque by surgery and drugs. (She explains this in the back matter, which is also in the new DC Nation.)
Jones also did the lines, which is awesome. The transition from Batman to Catwoman really ties the series to Tom King’s Batman in a phenomenal way. I couldn’t have asked for better art. And I am so glad Catwoman is being drawn respectfully, unlike some of the previous artists who go out of their way to make Catwoman borderline pornographic. The colors are pretty much purrfect, too, and Allred’s work here reminds me so much of Jordie Bellaire’s on Batman, while still being original.
Here’s the thing if you haven’t heard though. DC moved away from the glossy paper they, along with Marvel, have been using for over two decades. Because they made the deal with Wal-Mart to print out giant sized anthologies, they decided to move to the cheaper paper needed for the anthologies, line wide.
Catwoman #1 is the first issue to sport the new paper. It takes a little getting used to. The comic smells like a comic book shop’s discount bin, which is different but comforting, and probably nostalgic for those who have collected comics for more than 22 years. The pages look and feel different, and while Jones’s heavier inking style works for the paper, I worry how a more colorful book will fair. I personally feel that colorisys has made huge leaps in recent years as they get more respect for their craft, and I would hate to lose that progress.
Verdict: BUY! This issue is everything I hoped it would be. Jones gets Catwoman, and I can’t wait to see where this soon to be historical run will go. I want it right…meow.
