Review – Catwoman #32
Review – Catwoman #32
Published by DC Comics
Written by Ram V
Art by Evan Cagle
Colours by Jordie Bellaire
Lettering by Tom Napolitano
Available: 17th June 2021
Synopsis
TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT SELINA KYLE…
Who is Selina Kyle? That’s the question that Father Valley has taken to the streets to find out. From her humble beginnings as an Alleytown kid to her greatest heists as Catwoman, all will be revealed. Because when Father Valley asks a question, it’s best to answer. . . but when he’s already quoting verses, pray that it’s not already too late for you. Proverbs, 25:2.
Writer: Ram V
Ram’s getting a bit of flack from critics about this issue I’ve noticed, based on the fact that it’s a filler issue using the supporting cast to narrate backstory. I kind of disagree, this issue is a kind of Keyser Söze tale, using historical stories to create a sense of fear and a mythology for those that are after Kyle.
Father Valley, The Magistrate, is torturing Leo Carreras and wanting to find all he can about Kyle and spot weaknesses or flaws. Instead, Carreras recounts a heist from Sicily where Selena and he first met her. As this is happening, Valley’s goons are rounding up all the strays asking the same questions. Shoes (aka Lian Harper) recounts to Lieutenant Kollak a story of Selina’s past with Mama Fortuna. When all hope was lost a young Selena helped save both people and goods get back to safety. Finally, Maggie relates her own past to detective Hadley, describing how Selena planned out her capture and acted revenge on the Black Mask.
These tales create a mythology of a calculating, cunning Selena always at least one step ahead and ruthless in her revenge on those that hurt her friends.
Art by Evan Cagle
Guest artist Cagle does a formidable job taking over from Blanco on this issue. The setup and heist scenes are straight out of an Oceans 11 movie and the clever pullback in shots to show rooftops hints to Catwoman just out of shot watching the proceedings with rising anger.
Every character, no matter how small or negligible gets enough character for you to understand then, from goons to police and the strays. Rain adds dramatic effects with diagonal rain tearing through the halos created from the police cruiser lights adds mood and atmosphere.
Cagle’s work adds to V’s story increasing the tension for the next issue.
Overall Thoughts
For an issue about Catwoman, this actually works well, but I think we can only do it from time to time. The next issue should therefore be the grand battle we’ve been circling for the past few issues. V and Cagle are a formidle creative team. I’ve marked it down slightly as it’s a very hard issue for casual readers to pick up and understand.
Our reviews of previous issues are here and here.
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