The Bat and the Cat continue to delight.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Russell
Art: Ryan Benjamin, Richard Friend
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
What They Say:
What seems like a simple foiled diamond heist continues to puzzle Batman…because when Catwoman is involved, nothing is ever “simple.”
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While I’ve really gotten into a number of things Mark Russell has been writing elsewhere, his time digging into a range of the digital-first books for DC have made me a bigger fan with what he’s doing. With this issue, we get a full-length story from him that has the room to breathe and tell a solid one-off tale that I really enjoyed. And a good part of that enjoyment came from the character dynamics but also some fantastic artwork from Ryan Benjamin and Richard Friend. With Alex Sinclair coloring, it has the right kind of rough and raw elements to it it needs to feel like a proper Batman book but it also delivers some really neat moments with how the flashback is handled or the red sky moments at the end of the story. It doesn’t overplay the sexuality too much either, though there’ll always be some element of that with Selina.
This tale focuses quite specifically on Batman and Catwoman as he’s in the midst of stopping her from stealing from the Malfi clan. While he doesn’t mind when criminals fight each other, something like this can blow up bigger and cause more problems for Gotham. It’s a standard line but works well so he can insert himself in the situation because of his own feelings toward Selina. That she’s just swiping some diamonds and has a kind of blah attitude about it, he’s got the hint that this is something more than that and allows her to escape in order to track her. While she does enjoy her diamonds it’s clear this was very specific and with meaning that he can’t quite suss out yet.
We get the connection to it through Selina’s past with a flashback to when she was young and the Malfi clan had control of her in order to use her to teach other kids how to steal. And those who weren’t good ended up in a bad way, which made her resent the whole thing. It’s little surprise that this becomes a long game in the moment for her to exact some revenue but it has some welcome accents to it that makes it interesting, such as seeing her and Bruce as teenagers in police custody and how different their lives are. We’ve seen a lot of interpretations of their dynamic over the years in all media and Russell gets a good grove with it here, presenting an “early” period in the kind of relationship that they have and building the tension well. It’s fun to watch them go back and forth physically but also the simpler dialogue that comes up as he tries to convince her to be more like he is.
In Summary:
I always enjoy a good Batman and Catwoman story and this one touches on their younger days to varying degrees that helps to accent it nicely. The main story is one that slides a reveal within a standard kind of issue that goes on and it’s easy to see Selina being whimsical enough to just steal for the sake of it. Bruce and his way of dealing with her almost always has a bit of lenience to it but there are times he comes down harder on her as well. Here, it’s more about using her just a bit to figure out what’s really going on and it flows well. The artwork is definitely the big win here but Russell’s characterization for both of them is solid and engaging.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology and Amazon Kindle
Release Date: July 21st, 2020
MSRP: $0.99
