Overview: Selina is loose in the Governor’s Mansion and wants revenge on her captors led by the governor’s fiendish wife. Can Selina find a way to stop the harassment from Mrs. Creel?
Synopsis (spoilers ahead): Selina is in the basement of the Governor’s mansion having just untied herself from her captor’s bonds. She overwhelms her guard and makes her way into the house. She meets other guards who she similarly engages. As she stands over one thug she asks ‘Where is Raina Creel?” He reluctantly tells her.
Upstairs, at her husband’s funeral, Mrs. Creel is informed of the incoming cat-storm. She juices up her older son with her magic strength and healing potion and sics him on our favorite cat. Before the two meet, Detective Yilmaz sneaks up behind Selina and puts a gun to her head. That goes about as well for the dirty cop as you would expect. He gets a sound beating. Selina turns out all the lights, gets up in front of the stunned and grieving throng and demands to know where Raina Creel is. The widow Creel screams “Catwoman’s here. Get her.”
There is fighting. Much fighting. Selina gives the juiced up Creel son a fair whupping. Raina appeals to Selina not to do this at the Governor’s funeral after-party. Selina isn’t inclined to agree. After Selina beats on Raina’s son some more, he asks her to stop. He says that all this mess is Raina’s doing.
Raina sneaks up behind Selina pointing a gun at her head. Mrs. Creel’s younger son tries to take the gun away from her but is mistakenly shot in the process. Detective Yilmaz, who has apparently recovered from his earlier difficulties, arrives gun drawn and demands Selina not run away. When will these people learn? Selina prances off the rooftop and escapes.
Turns out, Mama Creel disappeared after that night. Selina did too and is working on getting her sister to a higher quality, and a more convenient psychiatric hospital. Though there may be some folks now on her trail.
Analysis: Joelle Jones wrote this issue and did the art. Laura Allred did the colors and Josh Reed did the lettering.
This is the end of Joelle Jones’ first arc of her Catwoman run and, as a Catwoman fan, I think it has been a big success. The story centers around Selina’s wish to take better care of her sister after she left Bruce on the rooftop altar. She has a run in with the Governor’s crazy violent wife which is a distraction from her business at hand. Does she now intend to go back to Gotham? Somewhere else? What about Bruce? What about the whole Bane situation? And what about Naomi?
The story and situation are working for me. I like the way Selina is portrayed. She is capable, competent, caring, and vicious when crossed. She is also rendered beautifully. The new costume shows her off as the sleek black cat she is.
While the art doesn’t have the kind of style I am typically drawn to, it works for me here. The panels are balanced between detail on important plot points versus the simple backgrounds. Jones expresses detail in her main panel figures and then contrasts it with a simple, often single color, background. The background color that is chosen can tell part of the story by itself. In one panel a furious Raina has a red solid color background which expresses her anger. It works well here as a storytelling device.
There is a particularly terrific panel where Raina says “Catwoman’s here. Get her!” Creel is screaming and you can almost feel the harsh vibrations coming out of her open mouth.
Final Thoughts: My rating for this issue can’t help but be influenced by what I think has been a successful story. I am liking this run of Catwoman so far and look forward to what is coming. Joelle Jones’ first Catwoman arc comes to a satisfying conclusion as Selina shows her claws as well as her heart.