Catwoman #2

Title: Catwoman
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Guillem March
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Rachel Gluckstern, Rickey Purdin
Cover: Guillem March

Biggest disappointment of the New 52 so far for me.

The first issue of this was controversial. I was okay with that. I went to bat for it. (Went to "bat"! Um, sorry.). But then...

*grumbles*

*SPOILER WARNING*

Lola was the best character in the first issue by far. Competent and capable woman who's attractive, but with a body type that isn't, well, that isn't EVERY OTHER WOMAN IN THE DC UNIVERSE NOW THAT THEY MESSED WITH AMANDA WALLER. In other words, not an anatomically dubious body that ranges somewhere between bikini model and Barbie doll.

So, of course, what happens?

She gets tortured and killed in the friggin' second issue.

Women in Refrigerators much?

Nothing in this issue made this particular plot development worth it. And I suppose it's possible that Lola's death with be made meaningful and poignant as the story develops in the subsequent issues.

But I won't be around for that. Too bad. The first issue was a good start. But you've just lost a reader.

Rating: 2.5/10

Catwoman #1

After a brief detour for The Great New England Steampunk Exposition, it's back to DC's "New 52". Here's one of this week's releases.

Title: Catwoman
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Guillem March
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Rachel Gluckstern, Rickey Purdin
Cover: Guillem March

The most unrealistic scene in this comic is not Selina crashing through an upper-story window and landing unharmed. It's not her dodging bullets, or outfighting overwhelming numbers of trained killers. It's not even Selina seducing the Batman.

The most unrealistic scene in this comic is Selina getting six cats into a single cat carrier in 30 seconds. Sorry, I don't care if she's the Catwoman. I wouldn't care if she had all the powers of Superman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Darkseid. NOBODY can do that.

That being said, this was a fairly entertaining story. It's definitely a violent story, and it was REALLY pushing the T+ rating, but you know what? That was fine for this book. I know I tend to get annoyed with some of the excesses of comics when it comes to violence, but if any book should be sexy and violent, it's Catwoman.

The story gets off to a running start as Selina gets the type of foreclosure notification that is accompanied by armed thugs and explosives. So she's broke and out on the streets. That's the motivation. Fortunately she's got her own personal "Oracle", a fence named Lola ("...and she actually was a showgirl." Ha!). I liked Lola. She's attractive, but still more realistically drawn than pretty much every woman in the new DCU (Apparently including Amanda Waller! WTF? Actually, don't get me started. That one gets its own review rant).

Lola sets up Selina with a gig bartending at a Russian mob party. Actually, she just supplies the address of the party. Selina helps herself to the gig using the time-honored tradition of rendering the bartender unconscious and stealing her clothing (Yay! Oh, wait, the scene takes place off-screen... Boo!). Selina takes time out from scouting her next heist to inflict some payback on a bad guy in need of payback. Brawl follows.

And then there's a sex scene with the Batman. All of which leads us full circle back to the genuinely hilarious title of this story, "And most of the costumes stay on..." Ha!

Okay, this was not exactly a literary masterpiece, but it was fun, and everything in the story worked well. I'd rather have the raunch factor cranked up in this book than have it be the standard for the whole "New 52". Here it works.

Rating: 7/10

Batman #699

Well, this represents my first miss. Sort of. I actually did read this comic and write the review yesterday, and had every intention of posting it once I had a chance to get a cover scan going. But between the breaking news of Bin Laden's death and a deadline for my day job, I simply forgot that I hadn't finished.

Anyway, here's yesterday's review. I'll have a new one up for today shortly.

Title: Batman
Issue: #699
Date: July 2010
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Tony S. Daniel
Art: Guillem March
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Mike Marts, Janelle Siegel

The Riddler has been poisoned by an almost-fatal dose of Joker toxin. Or has he? All is not as it appears in this story that hearkens back to an earlier criminal conspiracy by Riddler, Blackspell the Magician, Firefly (the third-rate villain, not the Whedon TV show, but you knew that, right?) and some other villains who I guess don't even rise to the level of third-rate and who are dead by the time this issue starts up.

This had some good action, and the plot generally made sense. I particularly liked Riddler's escape from a guarded hospital room by good old fashioned bribery. Somehow the concept of a corrupt Gotham police force makes more sense to me than an utterly incompetent one.

The final battle with Blackspell got very silly, with Blackspell transforming into what can best be described as an angry ent. Which doesn't help at all against the Batman. Dude should have just decided to make like a tree and leave (sorry!).

This was complicated enough to make me want to read more, but logical enough to be entertaining without all the pieces of the puzzle.

Backup story introduced the new Green Arrow series. Gang chases lone woman into woods. Tackles her and then get shot in their respective hands and arms by Ollie. I'm not really a fan of gratuitous implied rape, or of the use of it to justify gory (but non-lethal) violence by the hero. But the final splash page is almost good enough to make me forget all of that. Almost. Welcome back, Ollie. Hope they give you some better writing once your new plot actually gets going.

Rating: 6.5/10