Catwoman #51 // Review
Selina Kyle is in prison. It’s okay. She’s been there before. She’s been on top as the best thief in the DC Universe. Now she’s starting over in an orange jumpsuit. Everything’s nice and simple, but that doesn’t mean that it will be easy in Catwoman #51. Writer Tini Howard takes Gotham City’s best thief behind bars with artist Sami Basri. The journey into incarceration feels well-rendered, but Howard’s story fails to give Kyle a terribly captivating extended ensemble. A Gotham City prison lock-up should be populated by some far stranger figures than Howard is allowing for in a prison life that still has the potential to get intriguing in future issues.
She could get out if she wanted to. Theoretically. She’s more interested in working her way through life in prison. There’s an alpha personality that she’s forced to deal with while trying her best to get everything to come together on the inside. She still has contact with accomplices outside, though. (One of them has even taken over as a sort of Catwoman herself.) If she works the contacts on the outside just right, she might take control of her own incarceration.
Howard has the benefit of a small canvas to work with. Prison life allows for a tight close-up of Catwoman’s psyche. Howard DOES manage a few clever moments with Selina behind bars, but there isn’t enough going on to give the issue all that much insight into the inner-workings of Kyle’s mind. Howard shows a bit of the kind of resourcefulness that makes Kyle who she is, but it’s not nearly as sophisticated as it could be with a more engaging ensemble of inmates in prison. As it is, they’re all pretty homogenous. This gives Selina very little to play against.
Basri is handed a hell of a challenge. The bulk of the issue is set in a very disinteresting institutional prison. Everyone’s essentially wearing the same thing, and there isn’t much in the way of atmospheric personality. It IS a prison. Basri does a competent job of delivering the drama to the page. There isn’t a whole lot going on beyond the surface, which doesn’t give Basri a whole lot of room to move around. There’s a real possibility for dramatic tension, but it would take a truly inspired approach to be true to Howard’s vision while still making the story visually striking.
With the initial set-up out of the way, Howard and Basri could easily develop into something more sophisticated in future issues. Having hit rock bottom, Kyle has a long way to go before she can really get a handle on where her life is going. It’s an opportunity for Howard to define Catwoman from the ground up if she’s willing to try. It may be a fairly shaky start, but there’s no question that things could go in a fascinating direction in the issues to come.
