Comic Review: Catwoman- When in Rome

    In the Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale Batman stories, The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, Catwoman serves as a classic femme fatale, sexy, dangerous, and always skirting the line between hero and villain, always half in shadow.  As a lifelong Film Noir fan, I do love the femme fatale archetype.  And I have to admit, the outfit ramps up the look a few notches.

    Throughout both volumes, Catwoman plays a key role, but she is also oddly absent for a large block of time, with a kind of tacked on ‘Oh, I was in Italy’ explanation.  I found that odd and awkward.  I assume I wasn’t the only one, as the team came back together to create the story of her time in Italy.  And while the book is enjoyable, it adds little.

    Catwoman’s narration feels less Noir, and more like Buffy.  Her reference to her shoes and shopping at incongruous moments felt like Whedon at his worst.  And at the end of the day, the only character development is pretty much just a reestablishment of Catwoman being hung up on Batman.  Which we already know.  They’re the perfect match, but can never be together.  The Blondie character could have been interesting, but that storyline goes nowhere.

    If you really enjoyed The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, this is an OK companion.  Otherwise, I don’t know that it would mean a whole lot.  It’s almost like a deleted scene from a movie, that you can totally understand having been cut, but that is still fun to watch once.

Catwoman: When in Rome
Author: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Tim Sale
Publisher: DC Comics
ISBN: 978-1-401-20717-5

-Matt

Comic Review: Batman Dark Victory

    Continuing the story they started in The Long Halloween, writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale tell of another year of fear and murder.  Holliday has been arrested, but there are more dangerous folks still haunting the streets.  And when cops start showing up dead, it appears someone is picking up where Holiday left off.  And the battle between the mob and the freaks, for the control of the city’s underworld is on. 

    There are a few new players, but many of the survivors of The Long Halloween are back.  There are still deeper truths to be learned, deeper horrors to be exposed.  And blood vengeance to spare.  Arkham’s array of nutters are on the loose, and play a larger role in this story.  And we have the introduction of young Dick Grayson.  Plus, by the end of it, there’s finally some explanation of Catwoman’s connection to the Falcone family, a frustrating loose end from the first story. 

    It feels like The Long Halloween and Dark Victory serve as a sort of definitive early career story for Batman and his place in Gotham.  It kind of explains why the city’s criminal element is what it is, and why some of the people are in the place they’re in.  The origin of Two-Face.  The reason so many crazies are out on the street.  Where Robin came from.  Lots of set up.  And it’s all handled in a semi-realistic way (I stress semi), with a strong Noir aesthetic

    Not having read much Batman before, I think these made for a fine primer and synopsis.  There’s also a compelling story, which felt incomplete at the end of The Long Halloween.  But reading them both makes for a good, epic tale.  And you can totally see the Nolan era Batman films growing out of these volumes.

Batman: Dark Victory
Author: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Tim Sale
Publisher: DC Comics
ISBN: 978-1-56389-868-6

-Matt