Graphic Novel Review: Catwoman vol.2: No Easy Way Down by Ed Brubaker

Catwoman Vol. 2: No Easy Way Down by Ed Brubaker

Publisher: DC Comics

Publication Date: June 2013

 Wendy's Rating: 4 of 5 stars

As much as I enjoyed the New 52 Catwoman, despite the controversy surrounding her angry sex with Batman, I was intrigued by the overwhelming feeling I got from fans of her previous incarnations that felt this new version of Selina Kyle was not the “lady” they had known and loved. Consequently, I’ve been slowly working my way through some of the older Catwoman stories, and as a result, have come to understand the loss of this lady.

This particular book was recommended to me recently and I grabbed it on one of my monthly trips to the not-so-local comic store. It was described to me as the definitive Catwoman, and with this quote alone, I can see why:

"She’s a creature of instinct and planning, of rigid desire and unpredictable contingencies, shifting between them the way the rest of us breathe.”

It is a character based noir story that gives us a lot of details about Selina’s past. Her origins have changed over the years, depending on the era and who is writing her, but the consensus seems to involve a tough life on the streets, fighting to survive by whatever means necessary. No Easy Way Down takes Catwoman back to Alleytown, the home of Gotham’s underprivileged and forgotten. But Brubaker makes it clear that Selina does not forget her roots or her friends as she performs some Robin Hood-esque feats to take care of them. Even Bruce recognizes the good she does and turns a blind eye to the source of some of her funding.

But in the process of trying to do good, her enemies attack her where she is most vulnerable: her friends and family – and it breaks her. She goes on a self-destructive spiral that, I believe, the New 52 Catwoman books tries to emulate, though the new Selina lacks the level of class and sense of responsibility that the original Catwoman has. Brubaker’s Catwoman falls and Batman intervenes, but he knows that she doesn’t need him to pick her up. Catwoman is and always has been a strong, fiercely independent woman and, when she’s laid low, the only person who can bring her back is herself.

This is truly Catwoman at her finest, which is to say, at her most flawed and therefore her most perfect. She was created to be Batman’s foil as much as a love interest. A villain, yes, but one who toes the line as much as Batman does. Eventually, she earns her title of “anti-hero” and teeters on the edge of Batman’s trust, though she will always have his love. And mine.

Graphic Novel Review: Batman: Hush/Heart of Hush

Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee

Batman: Heart of Hush by Paul Dini and Derek Fridolfs

Wendy's Rating: 3 of 5 stars

These books are squeaking through a three star review almost entirely because they indulge my OTP of Batman and Catwoman, but only because I have let my imagination take that relationship where my imagination needs to take that relationship. Otherwise, I was very disappointed with that and with the story in general.

Hush introduces a new villain for Batman; someone who knows him extremely well and is able to manipulate his enemies into attacking him where it hurts most. The villain parade seems to be a thing for Jeph Loeb, culminating in a brand new villain that Batman must defeat. Hush is so clumsily and obviously shoehorned into Batman's life that the outcome became quite obvious early on in Hush. Heart of Hush tries to give the character more depth and reason for his obsessive hatred for Batman as he goes after Batman's "heart" : Catwoman, but ultimately fails because of the amount of exposition involved.

Like I said, I am a big fan of Catwoman and Batman's romance, but the introduction of their relationship felt too much like an immature fanservice plot device, shoehorned in just like Hush and Bruce's new bestfriend, Tommy Elliot.

I admit that I have not read much in the Bat-universe beyond the major story lines like this, so I don't know how much has been established between the two characters prior to Jeph and Jim shoving them together, but I think they did a poor job of making their relationship clear within the context of Hush alone. For comparison, the nature of the new52 Batman/Catwoman relationship is evident from the start - and no, it's not that they are merely ****buddies. Perhaps the key factor in the latter is that Catwoman actually gets to have a personality, whereas in Hush, she's a plot device in a catsuit.

Both Hush stories also did a lot more show than tell, which is pretty disappointing in a comic. And what they showed was so fractured and filled with gratuitous splash pages that it all grew very tedious. I realized that my love affair with Jim Lee was long over. His art has not changed or matured over the years and his characters continue to look the same. Derek Fridolfs' art was new to me, and I enjoyed it, but I would have preferred if Dustin Nguyen got to do more than just the covers of Heart of Hush.

Graphic Novel Review: Catwoman Volume 1: The Game by Judd Winick and Guillem March

Catwoman, Vol. 1: The Game by Judd Winick and Guillem March

Series: Collects Catwoman #1-5
Publisher: DC Comics
Publication Date: May 22, 2012

This isn't exactly the Catwoman I wanted to learn about, but I do like her and I can see her learning to become the woman Batman loves and respects, once she figures out the baggage she's hanging on to.

4 of 5 stars

A lot of controversy surrounded Catwoman's reboot as part of DC's New 52. Along with Starfire's questionable outfits, sexuality and posing, Catwoman's raunchy, angry sex with Batman, culminating in this splash page, DC successfully offended many of their established readers.

I have always liked Catwoman (and totally ship her with Batman,) though I'd never followed her titles. The New 52 gave me an opportunity to finally get to know her properly, though I understand in reading it, why former fans of the character would be offended. Selina Kyle is no longer the lady whom Batman both loved and respected. Now she's a reckless 22-year-old who keeps walking the edge that will get her, or worse, someone she cares about, killed. Batman is determined to stop her - to save her from herself - if only she weren't so damn enticing.

Catwoman is also very angry and very violent in this incarnation. It was the violence of the story that caught my attention more than the (gratuitous) sex splash page. In fact, that angry Bat/Cat sex is all part of this new, angrier Selina persona. This isn't exactly the Catwoman I wanted to learn about, but I do like her and I can see her learning to become the woman Batman loves and respects, once she figures out the baggage she's hanging on to.

I'm happy with the way she handles Batman. He's a strong influence in her life and I assume he'll continue to show up from time to time (well, it's Batman and if there's one thing common to just about every book in the New 52, it's that Batman needs to stick his pointy ears in every one of them), but it becomes clear that she's not one of the many problems that the great detective can solve, no matter how much he wants to.

The art is slick, perfectly capturing the agility and expressions of the character. I loved the use of reflection in many scenes, allowing the focus to remain on Catwoman and her reactions.

Without getting into spoilers, I was somewhat disappointed with the treatment of a certain character who was very important to Selina. It upset me enough not to want to actively pursue the series. However, I recognize the purpose of the particular plot device and appreciate where things ended up at the end, implying that maybe Catwoman will begin to learn the lesson Batman is trying to get through her head.