Absolute Catwoman #1 // Review
Selina Kyle is fighting Catwomen. (Lots of them.) They’ve all broken-in to her apartment. And she would like to know why. Of course...before she can figure out why she’s going to have to fight them. All of them. And given the nature of her tech, her training and her upbringing, the army of similarly dressed intruders doesn’t stand a chance in Absolute Catwoman #1. The writing team of Scott Snyder and Che Grayson opens a particularly appealing and stylish corner of the absolute universe with the cleverly sharp art of Bengal and the coloring work of Giovanna Niro.
The first one she spotted was trying to get into her safe. She didn’t have much trouble stopping that one. But then there are a few that appear with semiautomatic weapons and big smiles and well...it turns out to be a mess. What’s worse: there’s a huge explosive that’s there to detonate the whole place. What’s going on? Selina is going to have to figure that out on the run from whoever it is who might be trying to kill her. The whole mess might have something to do with Holly: an old friend and accomplice she met a long time ago when they were both still kids.
Snyder and Grayson play with all of the traditional trappings of a Catwoman story and a way that feels fresh and original. Selina is introduced for the series on her 25th birthday. The narrative shoots back-and-forth across her life. From a scrappy, a little girl forced to fend for herself to a very successful woman in her mid-20s with really advanced technology who is going to have enough money to retire from everything. It's quite a sweeping introduction to the character. There's a very dense amount of information being presented in the narrative. The fact that they're able to make a really dense character. Sketch also seemed very sweeping and exhilarating is quite an accomplishment.
Bengal keeps the action moving while maintaining a stylish element to the atmosphere. And then just about everybody in the book looks totally gorgeous. There aren't actually very many men in the first issue. And that's really a good thing. Everyone seems to be brought to the page with some level of dramatic and emotional complexity that the artist is able to capture with subtle hues and shades that are caught perfectly for the page by Grayson’s colors.
As fun as it is, the first issue of this new series is still working with tropes that have been echoing through Catwoman comics for a long time. So there's nothing terribly new here. It's the way the creative team brings it to the page that makes it really appealing. And it makes this particular version of Selena seemed that much more interesting than anything. That's been done with the character in the past couple of years. For the most part, anyway. Once again, it really appears as though the Absolute Universe has the kind of momentum that could really build into a compelling and enjoyable companion universe for the central DC comics line.
