Catwoman #57 - Comic Review

 

The Gotham War continues in the latest issue of Catwoman as we pick up where Batman left off, with Bruce having to deal with the fact that his family home is now officially lost to him. The immortal caveman Vandal Savage has bought Wayne Manor, and is the legal owner. This seems to push Bruce even further into a pit of despair, and leaves him lamenting his woes over the graves of his parents. This story really seems to be showing how important Alfred was to Bruce, because it seems like without his surrogate father figure there managing his real world affairs in the background Bruce, who's still rich, can't even manage his finances and affairs enough to keep his house. 

But this also seems to be something that's being pushed for the character right now, a breaking down on his reasoning and his ability to think clearly. The Zur En Arrh stuff seems to be Zdarsky's end goal, and any of the Batman titles that have a connection to his run are pushing Bruce closer and closer to a point where he's going to snap and Zur En Arrh will be let loose. That's why here, much like in Batman, he's acting crazed more than anything else; but other titles with him like Batman and Robin are depicting him as being perfectly normal. This issue also seems to walk back on what was a very important moment for Bruce early on in the Zdarsky run, where before he refused to see Tim and a soldier, calling him his son; but here he's referring to his family as being his soldiers. It's a shame to see a lack of consistency on this point.

Elsewhere in the issue, Catwoman's gang continue with their plan, having simply moved their base of operations to a new location after Batman wrecked the place. It also seems like Red Hood is taking a more active role now, taking part in training Selina's group in car thefts and joining them on a job. This leads to the perfect opportunity to show Batman fight a member of his family once again, as he and Jason clash across the city. One silver lining for this is that Batman at least seems a bit less vicious in this fight, thinking things through rather than jumping in and attacking his entire family without even trying to talk them down first. Here, he and Jason actually talk about stuff before it comes to blows, and Bruce gives him the chance to walk away.

The only other big thing that really happens this issue is a quite surprising reveal in the final pages. Skip ahead to the next paragraph to avoid spoilers. Earlier in the Catwoman run Selina made a bunch of friends in prison. Some of these were returning characters, like Lady Clayface, whilst most were new creations for the series. One of these, Marquise, is less new than we were first led to believe. This issue reveals that she is, in fact, Scandal Savage, daughter of Vandal Savage. As a fan of Secret Six I ended up leaving this issue with a huge smile on my face because her return has me genuinely excited to see what might be coming up next.

Aside from that reveal, and the personal excitement it brought for me, there's not a huge amount in this issue that's hugely exciting. It feels very similar to what came in the last part of the story, and right now it feels like this event might just be the same kind of confrontations over and over again until some kind of conclusion happens. Perhaps not though, maybe something a bit more interesting will happen over coming issues that will make this story feel worth it. Right now though, this issue feels like it's spinning its wheels somewhat.

The art on the book, by Nico Leon and Veronica Gandini is nicely done, with the action between Bruce and Jason feeling cool and dynamic, and the quieter moments such as Bruce visiting his parents grave in the rain feeling suitibly gloomy and dakly beautiful. Selina's outfit for the ballet is also a nice look, and the way that the gold o the page almost seems to glow is a neat affect that makes her pop on the page.

Gotham War is one of those events that feels like its not really going to be doing much, and that it will be little remembered in years to come. This might just be an early sages stumbling step, and maybe things will get better as it goes on, but right now this feels like an odd crossover for most of these characters, and it's turned the Catwoman title into a book where she doesn't feel like the focus at all. 

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