Batman/Catwoman #2: Memories

The second issue of King’s latest series is only slightly less disjointed than the first. The reader is catapulted between the past, the present and the future like a ping-pong ball hurtling between paddles. This isn’t necessarily a flaw, and we are slowly catching up to what King is doing in this story, but it is a bit annoying to be two issues in and still being trailed along like a toy on a string. 

Having said that, I will never get tired of Granny Selina literally murdering people with her fingernails. That she spontaneously developed Superheroine Body™ in the space of a flip, only to devolve back to Grannybod™ once she landed was a forgivable sin, all things considered. This story might be a little confusing, but it is fun. And it’s nice to see Selena at the center of things, for once. Tom King doesn’t usually give his female characters a whole lot of agency, so this is a refreshing change— even if Selena’s whole world does revolve around her dead husband. 

Clay Mann’s art is really phenomenal. I’m more than willing to forgive the incident of temporal shapeshifting in light of the rest of the issue. The characters (old or young) share the same physical tics and behavioral markers— with slight (realistic) variations that are down to an understanding of how movement is affected by ageing. Morey’s coloring adds a great deal of depth and emotional tone to the line work. This is especially visible in the slightly-off shadings of The Joker’s retirement trailer. Taken together, these artists elevate an otherwise standard (if choppy) revenge narrative into an artefact which rises above mere craft.