Catwoman: Lonely City #1 She’s a tramp, but I love her…

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.