Absolute Catwoman #2: Cat Run

After her encounter with the mysterious “shadows” Selina is now hot on their trail in order to rescue Holly. When her search leads her to a secret auction in the icy mountains of Switzerland, Selina comes face to face with more figures of her past and uncovers a secret that could destroy everyone’s future.

Not content with the shocking twist of the first issue, the creative team behind one of the newest Absolute titles turns up the heat for the next high stakes issue. Selina in this series feels more like James Bond than a cat burglar in this universe with her hi-tech gadgets, aliases, and trips to exotic locales. All of it comes together to give a new, yet still familiar portrait of the anti-hero we all know and love.

Scott Snyder and Che Grayson work well together in telling this universe version of Selina Kyle’s story. She embodies more of the loner archetype than Bruce Wayne here, but it fits given the origin we got in the debut issue. Even still her core character traits remain she proves to be an interesting character to follow. Speaking of characters, adding on the shocking reveal of Cassandra Cain last issue, issue 2 also marks the debuts of the Absolute versions of Huntress and The Question (known as VicTORIA Sage here) as members of Selina’s old crew the Calicos along with Holly. It’s clear there is some bad blood between them, mostly in regards to Selina, so it will be fun to see how this trio manages to reconnect to rescue Holly.

The art is a bit less action-heavy this time around, but that doesn’t matter when Bengal’s pencils are doing the work. The depiction of Switzerland’s icy mountains as well as the auction house are captivating, and when the action DOES get started its high-octane and fun thanks to Bengal’s use of motion and Giovanna Niro’s deep colors.