Catwoman: Lonely City #1
B. Radtz
Recap
Ten years ago, the massacre known as Fools’ Night claimed the lives of Batman, The Joker, Nightwing, and Commissioner Gordon…and sent Selina Kyle, the Catwoman, to prison. A decade later, Gotham has grown up—it’s put away costumed heroism and villainy as childish things. The new Gotham is cleaner, safer…and a lot less free, under the watchful eye of Mayor Harvey Dent and his Batcops. It’s into this new city that Selina Kyle returns, a changed woman…with her mind on that one last big score: the secrets hidden inside the Batcave! She doesn’t need the money—she just needs to know…who is “Orpheus?”
Review
Cliff Chiang pulls out all the stops and literally does everything (writing, drawing, coloring, and lettering!!!!) for this new Black Label mini featuring Catwoman, and it’s set years after the death of Batman, Teo-Face is the mayor, and she’s been in prison for a decade. Trying to start from scratch, well as starting from scratch as you can expect from Catwoman, she’s in a totally different world. Like their Starbucks equivalent costing $15 for a coffee, and cash isn’t a viable way of payment anymore. Unless you’re at the skeevy bodega down the street). It’s a whole new world, and it’s not what she’s used to. All that in just a few pages. We get to see “batcops”, a retirement afed Penguin, and a new puzzle piece, “Orpheus”, that Cat’s gotta figure out to complete this last big score.
Chiang’s art here is as amazing as it ever has been, and his color palette used here gives us a whole other take on Gotham. We’re used to darkness and terror. It’s the most dangerous city in DC’s America, but the lighting and colors give it a whimsy that you’re not used to. Also, just the mundanity (is that a word?) of everything leading up to the job just flowed really well. His pacing, while not perfect, definitely suited the story well.
Now future, out of continuity tales for Batman are the opposite of rare. There’s probably more “elseworlds” stories told about Batman than any other of DC Comics’ properties, so a future Gotham isn’t something that’s novel, or unique, but it’s the way that Chiang tells Selina’s story that’s so interesting. Also Chiang’s style and tone he’s using here reminds me a lot of Darwyn Cooke’s Selina’s Big Score graphic novel, and I’m not mad at it. Wherever Cliff takes us from here, I hope that it’s as interesting as this first issue has been.
I’m going to be completely honest, I’ve never read a book written by Cliff Chiang, but I really enjoyed what he brought to this book, and character. Pacing was slow at times, but the art and colors really elevated the tone for the book. This story could have been one full of doom and melancholy, but we got something more. Depending on how this mini ends, I’d like to see Cliff Chiang take on another character to go along with this continuity that he’s crafting.
Final Thoughts
With equal parts kitsch, sass, and a whole lot of…exquisite art, Cliff Chiang has decided to throw his hat in, and give us one of the most interesting looks at Gotham City. His style of Neo-classicism really lends to the strength of his storytelling abilities. High art mixed with the flair of the noir, Selina’s world is magical here, and looks like it stepped right out of a 60’s Pop Art Deco exhibit. Hopefully the rest of this mini is as enjoyable as this one was.
Catwoman: Lonely City #1 She’s a tramp, but I love her…
- Writing - 8.5/108.5/10
- Storyline - 8/108/10
- Art - 10/1010/10
- Color - 10/1010/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10
