Book Review: Catwoman: When in Rome by J. Loeb et al.

Catwoman: When in Rome written by Jeph Loeb, art by Tim Sale, and colors by Dave Stewart

Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, travels to Rome with Edward Nigma, aka The Riddler, in tow. She wants to find out something very important to her--who her parents really are. She suspects she is the daughter of Carmine "The Roman" Falcone, a top crime boss in Gotham City. Her investigation leads to a lot of other mafia (if there is such a thing) connections. She keeps having nightmares of Batman following her to Rome to "help" her. She really doesn't want help from the Dark Knight since she's dealing with enough problems for one plot line.

The mystery is intriguing. Selina is enough of a person (at least in this story) to hold her own as a lead. The conflicted nature of her character comes through. The art still has the dark and brooding style typical of Batman comics. She does appear scantily clad several times, so this particular story isn't for little kids. The narrative is good and Loeb has a great sense of how Selina/Catwoman talks. Another Loeb trademark shows up--a lot of other Batman characters are thrown in to the story to provide obstacles for Catwoman. She gets about what she deserves by the end.

Recommended for Batman and Catwoman fans.

Book Review: Batman Adventures: Cat Got Your Tongue?

Batman Adventures: Cat Got Your Tongue? written by various authors and illustrated by various artists

This collection of seven tales provides a scattershot view of Catwoman, the famous foe and friend (and romantic intersest) of Batman. Some of the stories feature their relationship, others just hint at or nod to it. She is an expert thief who often uses her skills for good causes but not in good ways. Her moral ambiguity is interesting and well presented. One story has her attacking a beauty products company because they use animals, especially cats, unethically in experiments. Her noble motivation is skewed by her operating outside of, and occasionally against, the law. Such behavior naturally brings the interest of Batman, who is debatably also acts outside of the law for noble motivations.

The art follows the style of Batman: The Animated Series, with its noir overtones and sharp contrasts. A lot of different authors and artists worked on this, it is surprising how tonally and visually united the set is. Though Catwoman is romantically interested in Batman, she is not drawn provocatively or graphically and readers see nothing more than a modest kiss, making this okay for kids to read. Batman is less interested in her (or less aware) and sticks to his code of honor. He's no perfect role model (something Catwoman points out more than once). They do make a fascinating pair.

Recommended.

Book Review: Batman: One Bad Day: Catwoman by G. Wilson et al.

Batman: One Bad Day: Catwoman: No Small Scores written by G. Willow Wilson, art by Jamie McKelvie, and letters by Clayton Cowles

Selina Kyle's latest burglary scheme is for a highly valuable pendant--a bird freed from a cage that was created after World War II by a world-renowned French jeweler. An auction house is starting bids at twenty thousand dollars. The pendant is even more valuable to Selina since it was her mother's. Her mom sold it to a pawnbroker who said it was a fake even though mom said it was given to her by her French mother. They only got two hundred dollars for it, barely enough for rent. So the heist has a little revenge in it too, though Selina thinks of it as getting back what's rightfully hers.

Like in The Riddler One Bad Day book, it's Selina that has the "One Bad Day," where the heist does not work out the way she wants to. Unlike The Riddler book, this story doesn't turn totally dark and pessimistic. The plot has some nice twists and pathos to it with a much brighter color pallette (though that is not much of an achievement).

Catwoman has often been an ambiguous figure--sometimes a straight-up villain, sometimes an ally to Batman, often a mixture of both. Her varying character is used to good advantage in the story, which is told from her perspective. The writer gives her a believable voice and the artist treats her with class, i.e. not like a sex object. She does have a bit of romantic distraction with Batman (naturally, he has to show up) but the scene does not have the tacky, exploitative depiction that happens with a lot of female comic book characters (or even in the Batman/Catwoman back catalog). 

Recommended--this is among the better Catwoman stories I've read.