In this review of Absolute Catwoman #3, Selina Kyle reluctantly teams back up with her estranged crew, the Calicos, to track down a dangerous high-tech target. It gets worse when Cassandra Cain and the League of Shadows step in to shut the operation down.
Absolute Catwoman #3 main cover by Bengal (DC Comics)
ABSOLUTE CATWOMAN #3
Written by SCOTT SNYDER and CHE GRAYSON
Art and Main Cover: BENGAL
Variant Covers: CHUMA HILL, MAHMUD ASRAR, KYUYONG EOM, TIRSO CONS
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 8/26/26
This review contains spoilers
Helena and Victoria are scolding Catwoman for not keeping in touch. Catwoman says that if they weren’t around she would be able to find Holly. They are then attacked by some ninja looking people. Catwoman is able to analyze the fight pattern like she’s Iron Man in Civil War and defeats one of their attackers. The girls notice that the mask they are wearing gives the illusion that they are shadows.
Flashback to several years ago and the girls are dreaming about their future. Helena is going to be a pilot, Victoria will run the Gotham Gazette (oh its Absolute Vicki Vale. This is the first time I’ve read this. Sue me), and Selina will be a photographer. That’s when Holly bursts in saying one of the richest men in Gotham wants them to work for him. It’ll be their “last job”. Ahhhh the dreaded last job. Selina thinks back to how they should have seen the warning signs back then.
The girls reconvene at Selina’s Cat Cave and Victoria tells Selina that Holly is after some form of artificial intelligence that rewrites the world in the user’s image. Victoria never took it seriously but now does because Holly is missing.
In the flashback, the Cat girls break into an apartment of a man named Cain and find a list of names who Holly says is their ticket out of Gotham.
In the present, Victoria uses Selina’s helmet to get the location of this AI called the Yarn. Selina remarks that she will have the girls ready the next time they face one of these Shadows. The girls suit up. Selina in her Catwoman get up, Helena in a variation of the Huntress outfit and Victoria in a costume that looks like mainline Cassandra Cain Batgirl.
As the girls are on their way, Vicki sees a symbol that is the same one she saw in David Cain’s apartment all those years ago.
In the flashback, Selina sees a young girl in the apartment who I assume is Cassandra Cain and then an explosion. The four girls escape but Selina is the only one who sees the girl.
In the present, the girl is all grown up and has Holly captured.
To be continued.
Analysis
This is my first dive back into the Absolute universe. I haven’t read the first two issues of Absolute Catwoman so I was lost at the start but I quickly picked up what was going on and I think that is a testament to Snyder and Grayson as the writers.
When I last saw Absolute Catwoman it was in the Batman title and drawn by Nick Dragotta and his art makes 80s action movie stars look small but Bengal’s art was sweet and cute. I dont know if it’s an insult to say it was like Archie Comics art but that is what it reminded me of. This art is perfect for Absolute Catwoman but wouldn’t work for Batman or Big Bane or Monster Joker. I wonder if Batman will make an appearance in this series because I would like to see Bengal try to draw him.
Like I said, being thrown into this issue I didn’t really feel lost and it was easy to pick up what was going on. Is this Yarn machine that everyone is after pretty goofy? The machine that rewrites someone’s past and future? Yes it is. It makes the clean slate protocol from The Dark Knight Rises look as obsolete as a VCR but it is what it is with the Absolute Universe at this point so I guess I’ll go along for the ride.
