CatWoman #75 Review

CATWOMAN #75 REVIEW Reviewer: Terry Verticchio terryvert@hotmail.com
Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Waking Up On The Wrong Side Of The Universe—Part One
Catwoman finds herself a prisoner along with other villains on Hell Planet
Writer: Will Pfeifer
Pencils: David Lopez
Inks: Alvaro Lopez
Colours: Jeromy Cox
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Cover artist: Adam Hughes
Editor: Nachie Castro
Publisher: DC Comics
Last issue Selina was about to capture the Thief, a criminal that had nearly killed her. But she was captured by Deadshot of the Suicide Squad, who was under orders of the Government to capture all the villains of the DC Universe and send them to Hell World. Well, Selina now finds herself marooned on a planet with a large assortment of lunatics and some of them (okay most of them) have a grudge or three against her. She has to choose sides in order to survive, but which side?
Okay, I’m not a fan of Big Event Crossovers anymore and I tanked Salvation Run after the first issue, as it really didn’t grab me. But I have to hand it to Will Pfeifer, as he manages to segue right into that plot without much trouble. I have a good feeling of who is on whose side and how the overall story line is being played out. But Will also keeps a tight grip on the fact that this Catwoman and he continues to make her the focus. I also enjoy his characterisation of Luthor and the Joker and having Selina choose between a raving Mad Scientist and a raving Lunatic.
The art remains very well rendered. There isn’t much action, but the facial expressions and figures are excellent.
I like that I don’t have to keep up with Salvation Run to continue to enjoy this book. I hope this remains until that whole rigmarole plays itself out and Catwoman can get back to normal again.

http://www.comixtreme.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38770


It's amazing how this Salvation Run tie-in issue of Catwoman manages to be so much more entertaining and readable than the actual miniseries itself has been thus far. Part of the reason is because, unlike the Salvation Run writers, Will Pfeifer is free to give his story a more cohesive flow by focusing on his one main character. The other main reason this single issue shines above and beyond the mini is because Pfeifer squeezes way more mileage out of his Joker and Luthor characterizations than either Bill Willingham or Sturges managed to in their issues of Salvation Run.
That's saying a lot, really, seeing that both Willingham and Sturges hit nearly pitch-perfect marks with their handling of DC's two greatest villains. Pfiefer blows both scribes away, though, scripting a Luthor that's as amusingly egotistical as he is crafty and a Joker that cackles with the perfect mix of humor and insanity. It's also a testament to how far Selina Kyle has come as a character in recent years (since Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke re-imagined her) that she stands toe-to-toe with both iconic villains in every scene she shares with them. Her scene with the Joker in particular is brilliantly written, and it's eclipsed only by a scene in which Selina appraises her current predicament while trying to light the Joker's "Congratulations, it's a girl!" cigar.
The whole fantastic issue was enough to make me wonder whether Salvation Run might have benefited from focusing on Selina as its main character and narrator as opposed to the rather schizophrenic, multi-perspective style it employs now. Any time you throw fifty colorful, psychopathic personalities together into one story, you run the risk of pushing some fun and deserving characters to the background, and using Selina as the main character would have made it easier to give each – or at least most – of these various villains a chance to shine. Plus, Catwoman also happens to be one of the most three-dimensional, morally complex characters in the DCU, and watching her interact with the likes of Cheetah, Bane, Luthor, Joker and Deadshot is a hell of a lot of fun, as this issue proves quite convincingly.
I said it before, and I'll say it again – Will Pfeifer's and David Lopez' Catwoman is one of the best superheroes series currently being published by either Marvel or DC, and it deserves a heck of a bigger audience than it currently enjoys. Hopefully, by thoroughly outshining the very megaevent/miniseries it is supposed to compliment, this tie-in issue (and the proceeding installments of this Salvation Run arc) will attract more readers to the wonderful work being done by Pfeifer and Lopez.

http://comics.ign.com/articles/846/846102p1.html?RSSwhen2008-01-16_181900&RSSid=846102


CATWOMAN #75 Written by Will Pfeifer
Art by David Lopez & Alvaro Lopez
Well, this wasn't nearly as painful as I had expected it to be. It's a Salvation Run tie-in and I think you'd definitely need to be reading that series in order to understand this one. So, if you aren't reading that, this might be a good time to drop this book.
As this is a forced tie-in, Pfeifer spends a lot of time recapping things as best he can. After getting caught up, Catwoman spends the rest of the issue jumping from group to group, giving the reader yet another introduction to all the major players in this crossover while Catwoman manages to piss off everyone except Lex Luthor. By the end of the issue, she's back with Lex's group, where Lex has Catwoman break into a secret underground facility he found. Inside, Catwoman and Cheetah end up turning on a machine that apparently teleports Catwoman to another Earth where Batman is going to shoot her for killing Black Mask. This could also be all in her head or some kind of computer simulation or what have you.
This could have been much, much worse than it turned out. In fact, it actually ended up fairly enjoyable. It's still a significant dip in quality of story the Catwoman book, which I don't blame on Pfeifer. The book is usually a Must Read for me, but it could go either way for me right now. I don't mind reading it, but I wouldn't miss it if I dropped it either. Hopefully she gets back to Earth soon.
Verdict - Check It

http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2008/01/weekly-crisis-comic-book-quick-shot_17.html


Catwoman #75 W: Will Pfeifer
A: David Lopez
I felt that there was a lot wrong with this issue of Catwoman. Just as some serious shit was going down in Selina’s life, Catwoman gets sucked up into DC’s horrible Salvation Run series. So, now she finds herself 4,000 light years from Earth on an alien planet full of super-villains. Do I care? No, not really. Sure, it was fun to see the Joker try to convince Catwoman that they should repopulate this new planet. But that little gem wasn’t worth having to suffer through another issue where Lex Luthor proclaims how brilliant he is and how all other villains should bow before his superior intellect. And, could Cheetah being any less attractive than she is in this issue? I’m not sure if it’s Lopez’ fault or not (he’s usually pretty damned good), but the Cheetah depicted in this issue looked like a transvestite furry.
Now, the good news: Pfeifer doesn’t waste more time than he has to with this God-awful tie-in issue. By the end, not only is Selina back in Gotham, but she arrives just in time to look up and see Bats pointing a gun at her. Yeah…you heard me…Bats is packing. He says he’s come to deal with Selina’s murder of Black Mask. Is it really Batman? Has Selina managed to travel to another Earth? (A possibility, since her return to Earth was accomplished through the use of a wacky alien gizmo.)

http://thefaust.wordpress.com/2008/01/18/weekly-comic-review-for-11608/


Catwoman #75: Oh, hey, this is what Salvation Run was supposed to be! It’s LOST, except with Kirbytech hatches and everyone is a complete asshole! And it’s awesome! Too bad they gave Will Pfeifer Amazons Attack instead of Salvation Run, since judging from this issue I’d really enjoy reading that. Too bad I never will. Sigh.

http://www.funnybookbabylon.com/2008/01/16/pull-list-reviews-for-january-16-2008/


Catwoman #75 - Selina’s on the Hell Planet…and apparently the Joker wants to “do” her and Luthor wants her expertise as a thief. This issue is …alright…I am just not overly into it, the Salvation Run series I really dig but…having Catwoman’s whole series be uprooted by it….eh…maybe not a good idea. Pfeifer works with what he is given though I can imagine he isn’t exactly thrilled having his series kinda hijacked like it has been all for the sake of a crossover of sorts. I like both Lopezs’ work, except for Luthor…the penciling of Luthor just feels off…you be the judge:

http://comicoverload.com/?cat=5


Catwoman 75 Writer: Wil Pfeifer
Artist: David Lopez
Erase any ideas of Michelle Pfeiffer or worse, Halle Berry, and start reading this strong contender for most consistently well-written book in DC today. The newly unreformed Catwoman finds herself (and a bunch of other DC villains) being taken to another planet, to let themselves kill each other off. Still heartbroken over recent events regarding her daughter, Selena Kyle needs to make some unlikely allies if she ever hopes to escape the space prison. The author’s characterization of Catwoman is top notch as always, but what is really surprising is how well he writes other classic DC villains, such as Lex Luthor, Joker, and Cheetah.

http://allhiphop.com/stories/editorial/archive/2008/01/20/19163352.aspx


Catwoman #75 — Writer: Will Pfeifer; Penciller: David Lopez; Inker: Alvaro Lopez
Crossing over with Salvation Run, at least for an issue (although I’m not sure Selina is back on her own Earth-1 by the end of it). One thing that bugs me: this is supposed to be the Planet of Death, right? Monsters and danger lurking behind every leaf and rock? Then why, throughout this entire issue, does everybody debate and argue and interact, and nothing ever attacks them? It’s like the creators were ordered to take part in the crossover, but considered it so stupid that they blew off the whole concept: “Yeah, Didio, I got your crossover right here. Now let us get back to our own story…”.

http://www.allaboutcomics.com/blog/?p=172


Catwoman 75 motteditor
01-17-2008, 11:04 AM
I hate to be negative about this title, but I thought this was the worst issue since I started collecting the title with One Year Later, though I don't blame Pfeiffer. I think he did the best he could with bad circumstances.
Maybe it's just because I don't have as much experience with DC's crossovers, but this felt very much like a Marvel issue to me. You've got a great story and genre going in a book, and suddenly it's pulled out into a completely different thing because of some crossover. I'm not following Secret Wars III -- er, I mean Salvation Run -- so suddenly having it intrude into this title wasn't really all that pleasant and for me at least it really overshadowed the book's usual quality.
We did get some good fights, but taken out of Gotham, I don't think we had the usual fun heist-style action sets. And with most of the characterization, I felt like it relied on a previous investment in the characters. I know who most of the bad guys in this are, but have no close affinity to them, so Selina's interactions with them lost something for me. I don't know how she screwed the characters over, so while I had the information that something happened, there was no basic emotional connection to it with me.
Anyway, hopefully we'll finish up this tie-in soon and get back to what makes this book great.

http://forum.newsarama.com/archive/index.php/t-143473.html


Catwoman #75 - Will Pfeifer (W) has Selina going places, she's doing it in a
hurry and they're far flung places too. The bulk of this issue has her on
the "Salvation Run" prison planet but then she gets zapped to one of the 52
universes where Batman's more like the Punisher.

https://www.silversnail.com/about/reviews/kinsreviews.htm


CATWOMAN #75: Y'know, you have to give it up for Will Pfiefer. Editorial can hand him the biggest piles of crap imaginable and thanks to his solid dialogue style and sharp plotting sense, he can make it readable almost every time. Case in point, someone's decision to shoehorn Catwoman into the Sci-Fi Spandex Lord of the Flies wannabe opus Salvation Run, which may be a masterpiece of sequential fiction for all I know but I ain't gonna read it on general principles so there- but damned if this doesn't go down smoothly thanks to Will's deft characterization hand not only in regards to Selina but Luthor as well, making the interaction work very efficiently. If you've got to stick this character on an alien planet ferchrissakes, at least let it read like this. Los companeros Lopez are doing their usual solid job on art; while sometimes I wish their figures were a bit more graceful there's nothing wrong with their layouts and pacing. A-

http://johnnybacardi.blogspot.com/


Catwoman 75 I'm not reading Salvation Run, but I do know the gist of it, so I wasn't lost reading this, but this still felt like a sidebar to the real story, which looks like it'll pick up again next issue. Yes, it was fun to see Selina interact with the other baddies and see Deadshot screwed over, but until the last page, nothing much happened. This issue wasn't up to Catwoman's usual excellent standards.

http://shellyscomics.blogspot.com/2008/01/more-reviews.html


Catwoman #75 I don't read "Catwoman". However, in perusing my LCS new comics rack I saw that "Catwoman" #75 was a "Salvation Run" tie-in. Having seen Catwoman fighting alongside the Outsiders in "Batman & the Outsiders", I was wondering how she ended up being sent off planet. After a recap of the events of "Salvation Run" #2, we catch up with Catwoman and Lex Luthor on the jail planet. The question that I have to address is
Is this comic required reading for "Salvation Run"? The answer is No. It provides a good side story involving Catwoman and some of the major players but it isn't critical reading for the miniseries.
It is a decent read and does provide some good character moments. I liked David Lopez's art and thought he did a good job of capturing all of the villains present here. Will Pfeifer's story serves as a connect-the-dots story to explain Catwoman's absence from the main miniseries after her arrival with Lex Luthor. He does a good job of getting Catwoman from A-to-B. The final splash page make me want to get Part 2 of this to see where Catwoman landed and what was going on.
For the long term, this issue didn't impress me enough to put this on my pull list.

http://comicadventures.blogspot.com/2008/01/catwoman-75.html


CATWOMAN #75 But… she’s not a villain anymore is she? Either way Selina has ended up on the Salvation Run and things don’t look good for the East End’s vigilante queen as many of the people she’s managed to cross over the past few years have all set up shop in this strange new land. Can a reformed cat burglar survive on a planet infested by hostile monsters, killer environments and the worst of the worst of the DCU’s evil plotters union (#547)?

http://www.wtfentertainment.com/newspress/2008/01/17/this-weeks-comics/


Catwoman #75: Oh, hey, this is what Salvation Run was supposed to be! It's LOST, except with Kirbytech hatches and everyone is a complete rear end in a top hat! And it's awesome! Too bad they gave Will Pfeifer Amazons Attack instead of Salvation Run, since judging from this issue I'd really enjoy reading that. Too bad I never will. Sigh.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2743432


CATWOMAN #75 Writer: Will Pfeifer
Art: David Lopez & Alvaro Lopez
DC $2.99
Matt C: I was a bit disappointed to see this title was going to get drawn into the whole Countdown/Salvation Run storyline as I think it always works better without much tampering from the rest of the DC Universe (bar the occasional, necessary, appearance of Batman). I’m pleased to find that Pfeifer makes it a thoroughly accessible read for those with little-to-no familiarity to the criminal-snatching shenanigans going on in other books. The final page is a winner but would have been far more effective if we hadn’t seen something similar in the last issue of Countdown. 8/10

http://paradoxcomicsgroup.blogspot.com/


Catwoman #75: Waking Up On The Wrong Side Of The Universe, Part 1
--Contains some Spoilers--
Since this is the first part to an arch it pretty much tells you what's going on so far. But, even though that's the main point to this issue the writers have still managed to pull off some interesting scenes and background information on characters that Catwoman comes in contact with. Addressing the great scenes again, I'll tell you my personal favourite. The Joker, even on "the Hell Planet" is finding comedy in what he does. So as Catwoman is spying on what she called the "I hate Flash club" Croc grabs her from behind and the Joker starts in s sense hitting on her. Then comes up with a 'brilliant' punch line.--He's done better. But, in all this was an entertaining issue.

http://www.comicvine.com/reviews/


Catwoman #75 by Will Pfeifer (writer) David López (penciller), Álvaro López (inker), Jeromy Cox (colorist), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.
You know, I’m just not interested in “Selina-on-another-planet” Catwoman. Pfeifer makes the best of it, I guess, and at the end, it appears that she’s back in Gotham, but I’m sure she’s not. It’s just kind of boring. This is pretty antithetical to what Pfeifer and his predecessors have done with the book, and if I wanted to read Salvation Run, I would. But I don’t. Back in the day, when Marvel sent a bunch of superpeople off to fight each other and give Spider-Man a new costume, their regular books weren’t impacted that much, were they? I wasn’t buying comics back in the mid-1980s, but when I read back issues, they just skip over Secret Wars in the regular books and explain in a footnote that “it happened in Secret Wars - pick it up!” So if DC wanted to send Selina off to Weirdo Planet, couldn’t they do it in the mini-series and then have Pfeifer just obliquely refer to it in her own title? It’s not like anything serious is going to happen to her, because although her series doesn’t sell terribly well, she’s still a relatively major player in the DCU, and we all know this situation of sending super-villains to another planet isn’t going to last. So why can’t Pfeifer just ignore it? It’s vexing.

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/01/20/what-i-bought-16-january-2008/


Catwoman #75 How is it that this title just gets better? I honestly think that Phieffer does a better job with the Salvation Run plot than that title is doing itself. This is just a damned good comic. I don’t know how else to describe it. It has upset me and it has made me happy…the only thing that it hasn’t done is fail to deliver in quality. This has been one of DC’s strongest titles since One Year Later, and even tho I still miss Helena I am committed to this for the long haul. This truly feels like Selena versus the world…and indeed it is. Boy, she sure has pissed a lot of people off in the past couple years!

http://tinfoilhats.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/short-shorts-comic-book-briefs-for-the-week-of-1162008/


Catwoman #75 – I’m not real happy with Catwoman being dragged into the “Salvation Run” series. I like her being in our own separate little corner of the DCU, but I’m guessing an editorial mandate forced her into this series. Still if anyone can pull it off and make it work it will be Will Pfeifer (writer) and David and Alvaro Lopez (artists).

http://comicsand.blogspot.com/2008/01/what-im-getting-wednesday_14.html


Catwoman #75 Two observations I made about this issue right off the bat:
1. I hate Salvation Run
2. If it has to exist, I wish Will Pfeifer was writing Salvation Run
I don't think I have reviewed an issue of Salvation Run yet, mostly because I'm really not feeling it and I am trying not to review stuff that I hate so much anymore. It's not totally awful, I just don't think it's being done well. I like elements of it. For instance, I like comics with Amanda Waller. I also like that she double crosses the Suicide Squad. I like the Flash Rogues all being there together. I like Martian Manhunter being undercover there. But that's about it. The Super Villain Survivor competition between the two camps is pretty ridiculous. This is not where I want to see The Joker. At all.
And it DEFINITELY isn't where I want to see Catwoman. But, as usual, Will Pfeifer takes lemons and makes a great comic. I really liked the way he wrote Lex Luthor in this issue.

http://livingbetweenwednesdays.blogspot.com/2008/01/this-weeks-haul-ted.html


Catwoman #75 - Catwoman is on the prison world and while the story itself is an okay adventure, interrupting the normal flow of her comic for this just doesn’t work 100%.

http://comicsand.blogspot.com/


Catwoman 75 So, Selina would rather align herself with Luthor than with the always honorable Flash Rogues?
Oh, Selina, you make Geoff Johns cry.
I'd like to talk about the plot, but since it was mostly Selina wandering around aimlessly on the prison planet, I really can't.
Overall Score: 1/5
Doormat Score: 2/5

http://norprostitute.blogspot.com/

Una tacita de insomnio

El insomnio me tiene preso. Maldito hijo de puta...

Y no es la primera vez que me pasa, termino un número (el 77 ya de la Catwoman!), y no puedo dormir con la tranquilidad del trabajo bien hecho... De normal, si tengo trabajo que hacer y no puedo dormir, me levanto y eso que salgo ganando, pero de golpe me he puesto al día de mis lecturas y tengo mis mails más o menos controlados... es un momento de una extraña paz.

No me preocuparía si no hubiera quedado mañana para desayunar con una gente, desayunar, hacer unas compras, ir al banco...

Pero qué más da, mañana sólo tengo que escanear unas cosas y mandarlas... y todo el fin de semana por delante...

Al llegar a casa hoy del gimnasio, llámalo gimnasio, llámalo casa de un colega, he llamado a un amigo de Barcelona, me lo ha cogido su compañera de piso, una chica súper maja, y la pobre estaba de bajoncete, yo tenía ganas de hablar, y me he liado a darle un auténtico chapazo telefónico, no era de esos que pego a posta a quien se lo merece, no, la chica estaba un poco triste, está en la soltería de los treinta.

Es como un virus, no afecta a todos, pero sí a los suficientes, a los treinta se rompen parejas que no veas... no sé la razón, supongo que son los que se divorciaban hace años, ahora, por suerte, nos lo sabemos mejor, somos más precavidos, nos fiamos menos, y por eso mejor no firmar papeles, un contrato verbal ya vale. El caso es que los problemas que acarrea, aunque se minimicen mucho al no meter a nadie de fuera de la pareja en la disolución del trato, no desaparecen del todo. Están todos los problemas logísticos, quién se queda con el piso, los muebles, los deuvedeses, los cereles... todo eso es molesto en un primer momento, pero la buena fe lo soluciona. Son más graves los problemas emocionales, lidiar con la dependencia, los amigos (que también acaban por repartirse) y sobre todo, adaptarse a la nueva situación; los días se hacen muy largos, y hay que crearse nuevas rutinas, conocer gente nueva, hacer cosas...

No, no tengo ninguna reflexión al respecto, es sólo la constatación de un hecho, creo que estas cosas tan universales no necesitan explicarse... es como la muerte, es un hecho, reflexionar sobre ella es como no asumirla.

Yo, que soy un poco fenicio, he decidido hacer de mis tribulaciones negocio, y ya tengo mi cuaderno anecdotario preparado para ir apuntando todas esas anecdotillas que tanto me gustan a mí y tanto divierten a la muchachada, cuando tenga las suficientes, las ajustaré a un hilo argumental que tramé aquí, y dibujaré "Amarillo 2.0", la continuación de "Amarillo Enamorado", una historia de amore contada a base de anécdotas reales como la vida misma.

En otro orden de cosas, sigo preparando mi viaje a Barcelona, iré a ver a Àlex de Norma para hacer negocios, y después me pegaré el fin de semana disfrutando de la ciudad de mis amores...

Barcelona, qué hermosa eres... no es una gala de verano del bueno de José Luis Moreno (tranquilo, Daniel, que no te suba el azúcar).

He vivido allí algo más de cuatro años, y me pasaron como si nada. Desde la primera vez que la vi me enamoré perdidamente, la conocí a base de salones del cómic, pero el amor de verdad llegó gracias a una chica, cómo no

Estudiaba arquitectura y fue mi primer pecado, la primera vez que fui egoísta a sabiendas, que antepuse mis deseos a lo que debía hacer... lo repetiría mil veces... La cosa fue que pasé de la boda de mi tía por ir a pasar el fin de semana con esta chica, había sido un verano muy intenso y en dos semanas me iba a ir a Londres a pasar una larga temporada (que luego no lo fue tanto), la chica ésta fue mi primera relación rollo amantes, nos vemos unos días, nos lo pasamos guay, y luego tan amigos. Ella me enseñó la ciudad, me explicó sus detalles y sus códigos, los porqués de todo... Aún lo recuerdo con una sonrisa.

Volví el lunes por la tarde, dormí todo el viaje en el bus (nueve horas), y llegué a casa, aquel lunes empezó espiral, y empezó mi idilio con Barcelona.

Desde entonces, cada vez la he ido conociendo más, tengo mis sitios favoritos, me oriento bien, ya sé qué ropa hay que ponerse, hablo la lengua indígena, he hecho amigos, bueno, no, AMIGOS...

Lo que pasa es que prefiero vivir en Zaragoza... Barcelona es como la amante a la que regresas, porque te entiende, no te pide nada y siempre está con la sonrisa perfecta para ti... No es para todos los días, pierde parte de su magia. Me pasa parecido con mi pueblo, es un sitio estupendo, me lo paso bien cuando voy, pero no puedo vivir allí, eso sí, cuando paso mucho tiempo que no voy, lo hecho de menos.

Ahora hecho de menos Barcelona, un fin de semana largo, ver a la gente, otro ambiente... lo pasaré bien.

Pero hasta entonces, tengo un fin de semana por delante, la ciudad a mis pies y unos cuantos tiestecitos que regar...

Realmente no es un mal plan.

Review CatWoman #74

CATWOMAN #74 REVIEW
Reviewer: Terry Verticchio terryvert@hotmail.com
Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Crime Pays—Part 3

Can life get any worse for Selina? Well, unfortunately yes, they can.

Writer: Will Pfeifer
Pencils: David Lopez
Inks: Alvaro Lopez
Colours: Jeromy Cox
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Cover artist: Adam Hughes
Editor: Nachie Castro
Publisher: DC Comics

Selina went to the Calculator to find out just who was destroying her life, little did she know that he had set her up to be captured by that same person. The man is known only as the Thief and he’s trying to make a name for himself and what better way to do that than by taking out Gotham’s number one burglar. Naturally, Selina won’t take this lying down, but she is unaware of something else. A new set of eyes have been firmly set on taking her out and this crew may just succeed.

Okay this is another crisp and fun outing, but the one thing I enjoy the most is how during every clichéd moment that the villain uses to pontificate or just start jabbering once he has Selina down, Selina uses that moment to kick him in the face. I wish all heroes were so practical.

The art is very good. The action scenes are well done. Same old. Same old.

Well now the world is moving a mile a minute for Catwoman and I’m having fun trying to keep up.

http://www.comixtreme.com/forums/showthread.php?p=548855


Will Pfeifer's Catwoman is like an unstoppable locomotive –no matter how many obstacles DC throws on the tracks by forcing it to tie into their latest silly crossover, the title keeps chugging onwards with quality issue after quality issue. As we learned in the pages of Salvation Run #2, Selina has once again been shoehorned into DC's latest event. However, unlike in the case of Amazons Attack, where Pfeifer and artist David Lopez were able to somehow turn lead into gold by squeezing a compelling story out of that whole mess (to be fair, it was Pfeifer's mess to begin with), Pfeifer doesn't do much with this Salvation Run tie-in and merely sets up Selina's arrival on the prison planet.

What's most frustrating about this unwelcome Salvation Run tangent is its timing – Pfeifer was in the midst of telling a compelling character-driven story that pitted a grief-stricken Catwoman against Gotham's latest criminal mastermind, the Thief, a cat burglar hell-bent on disposing Selina as the city's greatest, well, thief. The first two-thirds of this recent installment plays out like previous issues of this immensely enjoyable series, with Selina struggling to get a grip on her life as the Calculator does his best to tear it to pieces. For that reason, the sudden arrival of the Suicide Squad in the book's last third left me moaning in disapproval.

Hopefully, Pfeifer and writer Bill Willingham will find a way to get Selina off of the prison planet and out of the pages of Salvation Run in a timely manner, because I'd hate to see this story shelved until after Final Crisis is over. I should say, however, that I am somewhat interested in seeing how both writers handle Selina's involvement in Salvation Run, and it'll be at the very least fun to see Pfiefer in particular get a shot at writing the large cast of colorful villains. That doesn't change the fact that I'd prefer to see Selina remain in the confines of Gotham City.

http://comics.ign.com/articles/842/842728p1.html


Catwoman #74
W: Will Pfeifer
A: David Lopez
I: Alvaro Lopez
Ed: Nachie Castro

Without a doubt Catwoman #74 was the best title that I read all week. Written by Will Pfeiffer and illustrated by David Lopez's beautifully expressive pencils, this title continues to provide high-caliber action sequences while grounding these within a relevant and affective emotional foreground. It is good to see the title this good again.

When the 2001 revamp of Catwoman first came out, I was initially nonplussed. In order to make Catwoman palatable as a protagonist, writer Ed Brubaker stripped her of her status of a thief and made her the reluctant protector of Gotham City's particularly seedy East End district. Although there's nothing wrong with this as a premise, the story took awhile to get going as Brubaker and collaborator Darwyn Cooke spent the first story arc having Catwoman (Selina Kyle) taking on a fairly disposable serial killer who preyed on prostitutes. However, the series progressed and I eventually became a devoted follower. Brubaker made Selina's connection to her side of Gotham palpable and I became generally interested in the bond Selina had with her sidekick Holly and her emotionally troubled connection with the down-on-his-luck PI Slam Bradley.

Ultimately, all the problems that faced Brubaker's tenure can be traced to a problem of momentum; he simply ran out of gas. It was good to see Catwoman rid the East End of its crime lord and heart-wrenching to see her relationship with Slam Bradley sizzle and then fizzle. But this can only happen once or twice. Catwoman can only break a man's heart so many times and introducing Bradley's son for her to have an affair with instead of Slam only feels icky as opposed to morally complicated.

Similarly, Catwoman can only free the East End so many times and new crime lords can only
try to fill the power vacuum before Catwoman really just looks inefficient. Really, all of this should happen once. After all, it's not like people are being under served in their need for crime. Are they? No, the real missed opportunity of Brubaker's tenure on Catwoman is that he did not show the problems that would have come with a successful limited crusade on crime. The logical outcome of cleaning up a small area of town is not a limitless waves of crime, but in fact gentrification. How would Catwoman have felt when the rents went up in her small part of town and the down-and-outers that she identified with and swore to protect got driven out of town because yuppies and Bruce Wayne's dinner guests started to move in? But perhaps this is too much to ask of any DC Comics's writer outside of James Robinson, and only then when he was writing Starman. No one has developed a "contexutalizing city" (to borrow Scipio's terms) to the degree that Robinson did when he wrote Starman, although Brubaker tried with some success when he had Selina and Holly go on a road trip through the various burgs of the DCU.

While the return to greatness that I mentioned at the beginning of my review has been building for quite some time, I think this issue in particular manages to serve as the highpoint for Pfeifer and Lopez's run, just as the title character is at her lowest. The depths of Selina's situation is nearly summed up at the beginning of this issue with the following recap: "Apartment? Robbed. Building? Burned. Me? Desperate. Calculator? Weasel. Coffee? Drugged? Trap? You Bet. Oh, and I almost forgot. Gun? Loaded. Definitely loaded."

Issue #74 finds Selina just after she has faked her own death, given up her baby for adoption (there are of course major safety concerns for any tot who's mother is a super-villain), and has been sold-out by a villain known as the Calculator, who has been hired by a hot-shot new talent in town known simply as "The Thief." The Thief wants to establish his cred in town by taking down Catwoman. Selina, finding herself trapped, manages to escape, get her gear, and convinces (re: threatens his death) the Calculator that he should tell her how to wage her revenge on the Thief.

However, all of this is just plot, and in the wrong hands could read as just another mechanical exercise in super hero storytelling. Where this issue manages to succeed is in marshaling the emotional forces that Brubaker had set up as a title standard in the 2001 relaunch. The first of these two scenes that really sells the issue is in when Selina cuts her hair (featured above). This act recalls the title's relaunch when Selina remakes herself as an anti-hero and defender of the East End. Here, Selina in an emotionally touching scene, remakes herself not into a hero, but into a woman without a daughter. She murders a little bit of herself, so that she can keep on living with her decision to give up Helena for adoption.

This type of pathos rises again when Selina has planned her revenge on the Thief and is about to strike. Her plan is perfectly laid out, but she is attacked by a trio of "reformed" government-sponsored super-villains before she can strike. What could read as a straightforward action scene is given weight because this comes as a particularly ignominious end to Selina's plan. Just as she's about to strike her revenge on a practicing burglar, she's arrested by fellow rogues. When told of the arrest (which involves her being drugged) she mumbles "Arrest. . .? But I'm not the one you. . ." implying that they should be going after the Thief. However, Selina and we find that neither justice nor vengeance will be fully executed that night. Selina will not have her revenge on the Thief and the Thief will not be harmed as he hastily retreats from a botched job. Instead, the already suffering Selina will pay for improprieties committed long ago.

http://needletotheeye.blogspot.com/2007/12/this-week-in-comics-3-catwoman-74.html


Catwoman #74 (Will Pfeifer-writer, David Lopez-artist)

Well, we finally find out who that weird-o leather dude at the end of the last issue is. He’s some dude calling himself “The Thief.” He’s taking advantage of the sudden vacuum in Gotham’s criminal landscape to try and make a name for himself (but, to be honest, isn’t everyone these days?). He’s fairly low-key and low-tech. He’s not as flashy as some of the crazier denizens of Gotham’s underworld. And, he wants Catwoman off the streets.

After everything that “The Thief” and Calculator did to Selina, our girl has absolutely nothing left to lose, so she goes old School Catwoman on their asses. She reverts back to her shorter hairstyle. She finds a spare cat-suit in one of the safe-houses that Holly was using during her year as Catwoman. I’m not sure how I feel about sending Selina down a darker road.

Catwoman’s always been an interesting character, especially in the Bat-books. She wasn’t insanely evil, nor was she super-noble. She was the quintessential rogue, always out for herself. That’s what made her, and her relationship with Bruce, so interesting. One month, they’re working side-by-side on a case, practically choking on the sexual tension; the next month, they’re at each other’s throats, actually choking on the sexual tension. What happens if they make Selina a real criminal again? (This seems a real possibility, since the Suicide Squad shows up at the end of this issue to haul Selina off to Salvation Run.)

http://thefaust.wordpress.com/2007/12/22/weekly-comic-review-for-121907/


CATWOMAN #74: That cover hurts my neck just to look at it. Seriously, Adam Hughes, if you're going to put Audrey Hepburn's head on Pamela Anderson's body, at least pretend there's a spine connecting them. Inside, the action scenes alternated between dynamic and a bit confusing, the plot has a few bits I can't buy, and Calculator's whole "if I'm not back at my computers in an hour, the city will lose power!" scheme for protecting himself is pretty lame (and plot-convenient). I wasn't crazy about the ending either, so I think I'm going with a high EH on this one. It had its moments, though.

http://savagecritic.com/2007/12/oy-to-world-jeff-looks-at-1219-books.html


CATWOMAN #74 -- To prove herself to the new crime lords of Gotham, Catwoman must pull off an impossible heist! Something she used to be able to do in her sleep...

http://www.richmondcomix.com/newcomix/week_in_comics.htm


Catwoman 74
Current mood: exanimate
Category: Art and Photography

Will Pfeifer's Catwoman is like an unstoppable locomotive –no matter how many obstacles DC throws on the tracks by forcing it to tie into their latest silly crossover, the title keeps chugging onwards with quality issue after quality issue. As we learned in the pages of Salvation Run 2, Selina has once again been shoehorned into DC's latest event. However, unlike in the case of Amazons Attack, where Pfeifer and artist David Lopez were able to somehow turn lead into gold by squeezing a compelling story out of that whole mess (to be fair, it was Pfeifer's mess to begin with), Pfeifer doesn't do much with this Salvation Run tie-in and merely sets up Selina's arrival on the prison planet.

What's most frustrating about this unwelcome Salvation Run tangent is its timing – Pfeifer was in the midst of telling a compelling character-driven story that pitted a grief-stricken Catwoman against Gotham's latest criminal mastermind, the Thief, a cat burglar hell-bent on disposing Selina as the city's greatest, well, thief. The first two-thirds of this recent installment plays out like previous issues of this immensely enjoyable series, with Selina struggling to get a grip on her life as the Calculator does his best to tear it to pieces. For that reason, the sudden arrival of the Suicide Squad in the book's last third left me moaning in disapproval.

Hopefully, Pfeifer and writer Bill Willingham will find a way to get Selina off of the prison planet and out of the pages of Salvation Run in a timely manner, because I'd hate to see this story shelved until after Final Crisis is over. I should say, however, that I am somewhat interested in seeing how both writers handle Selina's involvement in Salvation Run, and it'll be at the very least fun to see Pfiefer in particular get a shot at writing the large cast of colorful villains. That doesn't change the fact that I'd prefer to see Selina remain in the confines of Gotham City.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=42031622

Review CatWoman #73

Good review of Catwoman #73
John N
Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:01 pm Reply with quote
Friend of ol' Lurid Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 153 Location: Close, but not TOO close to Jambi
AICN likes the latest Catwoman:

Quote:
This book has gone unheralded for some time, and it should get some recognition. Selina Kyle has had to give up her baby (it was either that, or let it be raised in some hell dimension by her greatest enemy, only to return as a teenager a short time later…or has that already been done?) So now, Catwoman is trying to reclaim her old life, only someone who has intimate knowledge of her many identities is gunning for her, and she just can’t seem to stay ahead of him. On a side note (sorry, Thalya) Calculator proves once again that his favorite drink is a vinegar and water. The villain is finally revealed at the end of this issue, and I have no idea who he is, so I’ll stay tuned for some more. Maybe you should too. Story by Pfeifer and art by David Lopez. Definitely worth checking out.

http://lurid.com/viewtopic.php?p=1144&sid=9a8f78784061e0064857de7a0a39cdaf


Catwoman #73
When it seemed that the new direction for Catwoman was going to regress her to her old ways, I was somewhat dismayed. Happily, though, my fears have not yet been brought to bear. Though I still dread the supposed "new" direction, Catwoman is currently just struggling to stay alive. After giving up Helena, because really, what else could she do? Helena kept getting abducted and threatened by murderous psychos! and breaking all ties to her old life, Selina returned home last issue, passed out, and awoke to an empty apartment. Empty, that is, save for a bomb. Her mask was gone, her whip was gone, her goggles were gone...and then in this issue, when she goes to attempt recovery of her reserve stash, that's gone too! Somebody is gunning for our heroine, and I don't know why. Altogether too many people know her identity. And she relies on Calculator much more than she should. I mean, come on! Oracle would definitely take her calls! I suppose I can understand Selina's actions psychologically. She's just lost her baby and all last vestiges of her former life. To call upon the allies of the Bat - yet again - would just be too much for her psyche to take. So she's protecting herself by distancing herself. But it's backfiring. And I look forward to her figuring out that she has true friends in this world, and not merely acquaintances who don't want to kill her all of the time. Another VERY GOOD job by Messrs. Pfeifer and Lopez. Exactly why I return to this title every month.

http://acespot1.blogspot.com/2007/11/catwoman-73.html


CATWOMAN #73
Written by Will Pfeifer
Art by David Lopez and Alvaro Lopez
Catwoman continues to be one of the best titles coming out of DC. If you aren't reading this, shame on you. Aside from the Amazon Attacks tie-ins, which weren't as bad as most, this series has been top notch for as long as I can remember. The only real complaint I have is with the art and it's only a minor gripe, as it's serviceable, but not great.
As for the contents of this issue, it picks up after last issue's cliffhanger, where Catwoman's apartment was gutted and blown up, nearly killing Selina. Selina quickly pulls herself together and seeks to find out who's doing this to her. She immediately finds out that whoever it is, is thorough, as even her secret stashes and extra costumes have been annexed.
By the end of the issue, Selina is confronted by her mystery antagonist and I have no idea who it is, but he knows everything about Selina, including how she recently gave up Helena. Regardless, I can't wait for next issue to find out. For some reason, though, he reminds me of an old 90's Balent era Catwoman villain, but with the new threads, it's hard to tell, to be honest.
Verdict - Must Read

http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2007/11/weekly-crisis-comic-book-quick-shot_22.html


Catwoman #73 (Will Pfeifer-writer, David Lopez-artist)
What’s a reformed criminal to do? Selina’s tried to go straight. She’s tried to be a good mom to her little daughter. But, no one seems to want her to succeed. After faking their deaths and secretly giving her daughter up for adoption, someone decides to blow up Selina’s apartment. Now, she has nothing. Not even the stash she hid away in a locker at the bus station is safe, someone’s managed to break into the locker and clean it out.
So, Selina does what any of us would: she breaks into a store, nabs a new set of threads and some spending money, and goes to find out who’s been messing with her. Maybe it’s just me, but I found Selina’s Converse and ski-mask get-up positively adorable, plus it added a bit of realism to everything that happened after. With info gathered by Calculator (the evil version of super-hacker Oracle), Selina heads out to the mansion of Conrad Krupp to retrieve a spare mask. It seems this guy Krupp has a major hard-on for super-villain memorabilia, including a Catwoman mask. Once Selina gets her mask, Calculator sends her to a seedy bar where she should find the people responsible for blowing up her apartment. Of course, it’s a trap, and Selina comes face-to-face with some dude I’ve never seen before. He’s all decked out in black leather and straps, like Wildstorm’s Midniter, and he’s wearing some kind of groovy multi-lensed goggles.
I liked what Pfeifer did here. He took a very basic plot–they took my money and I want it back–and grafted it into the tights-and-capes world of DC Comics. This issue was, essentially, no different than Point Blank or Payback, and that’s what makes it so much damn fun.

http://thefaust.wordpress.com/2007/11/22/weekly-comic-review-for-112107/


Catwoman #73 - The Calculator proves that there's no honour among thieves.

https://www.silversnail.com/about/reviews/kinsreviews.htm


CATWOMAN 73 -- I lost interest in this title about sixty issues ago, as Ed Brubaker turned Catwoman into DC's version of Daredevil. For the last several months Wil Pfeifer has been winding up and closing those and all the intervening storylines. By the end of last issue Selina was about where she had been at the end of Ostrander's run in the previous version of this book. Then someone firebombed her apartment and she lost everything she had left. This issue finds her back to Square One: penniless thief, somebody's target, bouncing back and out to even accounts. Now, that is Catwoman!
Thumbs up, an welcome back, Selina Kyle.

http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=&nav=messages&webtag=ws-comics&tid=180483&redirCnt=1


Catwoman - #73 - And now we're back to Catwoman on the run >.> This is familiar XD This was an okay issue, but nothing rly grabbed me. :| But nothing was rly bad either :] 2.5/5

http://ami-angelwings.blogspot.com/


Catwoman #73
When it seemed that the new direction for Catwoman was going to regress her to her old ways, I was somewhat dismayed. Happily, though, my fears have not yet been brought to bear. Though I still dread the supposed "new" direction, Catwoman is currently just struggling to stay alive. After giving up Helena, because really, what else could she do? Helena kept getting abducted and threatened by murderous psychos! and breaking all ties to her old life, Selina returned home last issue, passed out, and awoke to an empty apartment. Empty, that is, save for a bomb. Her mask was gone, her whip was gone, her goggles were gone...and then in this issue, when she goes to attempt recovery of her reserve stash, that's gone too! Somebody is gunning for our heroine, and I don't know why. Altogether too many people know her identity. And she relies on Calculator much more than she should. I mean, come on! Oracle would definitely take her calls! I suppose I can understand Selina's actions psychologically. She's just lost her baby and all last vestiges of her former life. To call upon the allies of the Bat - yet again - would just be too much for her psyche to take. So she's protecting herself by distancing herself. But it's backfiring. And I look forward to her figuring out that she has true friends in this world, and not merely acquaintances who don't want to kill her all of the time. Another VERY GOOD job by Messrs. Pfeifer and Lopez. Exactly why I return to this title every month.

http://acespot1.blogspot.com/


CATWOMAN #73 $2.99 (You really, really, really need to be reading this)

http://www.ifanboy.com/archive/weblog/november_21st_2.html


Catwoman #73 - Pfeifer writes another fantastic issue. Someone’s out to get Selina but who? Well…this issue doesn’t really answer that question but, it DOES take you on a nice action packed ride. Pfeifer brings an understanding to the character of Catwoman, few have. If you have not started picking up this great series yet, do so now!

http://comicoverload.com/?m=200711


CATWOMAN #73 REVIEW
Reviewer: Terry Verticchio terryvert@hotmail.com
Quick Rating: Very good
Title: Crime Pays—Part Two

Catwoman’s life is literally in flames and she’ll do anything to find out who did it.

Writer: Will Pfeifer
Pencils: David Lopez
Inks: Alvaro Lopez
Colours: Jeromy Cox
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Cover artist: Adam Hughes
Editor: Nachie Castro
Publisher: DC Comics

After putting her daughter up for adoption and making sure that for all intents and purposes Selina Kyle is ‘dead’, it seems someone wants to make that a reality. Her apartment and all of her belongings go up in smoke. Selina is on the run now. No money, no costume, but she’s not without options. The first takes her to the Calculator and from there she learns that some of her old equipment, which she desperately needs, is in the hands of an eccentric billionaire named Conrad Krupp. Selina also acquires some evidence that may just lead her to the person or persons that destroyed her life.

There’s nothing like crazy rich people with bizarre fetishes to spice up a story line. Has anyone seen the old Avengers series with Emma Peel? That show was wall to wall weirdos with too much money. This particular weirdo has a thing for super villains. For a story that is really a glorified stand-alone, this issue is pretty fun. But then Will Pfeifer has Selina’s voice down so cold that the story moves along effortlessly.

I just can’t get enough of Selina’s face. The Lopez’s just render her so well and they do a good job of showing her leaping through an open window too. Very nice.

Sigh. Here is yet another quality issue of Catwoman. If you’re not buying this title then you’re really missing out on some great fun and excitement.

Why is nobody reading this book? Do people just not think Catwoman is an interesting character? (Can't imagine how...) Are they turned off by the stunningly beautiful covers Adam Hughes has been delivering? (I have two of them as posters on my walls.) Why would you not pick up this book?

If I was going to buy one Bat-related, street-level, gritty, crime comic in a month, it would be Catwoman. This issue is a perfect example of how good it is. Consistently even and clear art, not too flashy, but definitely easy on the eyes, and a complex, compelling story about one of the most complex and compelling villain/heroes in the DCU, and how she uses nothing more than ingenuity, athletic prowess and sheer guts to do things other non-metas (not named Bruce, Dick, or Tim) could dream of.

Oh well. Sometimes you can't sell water to people dying of thirst.

Yeah, it's strange isn't it? I mean Selina even told off Superman and he backed off! Loved that scene.

So what posters do you have, fourmyle?

I've actually got 5 Adam Hughes posters at the moment, just two of them are Catwoman covers, one is Catwoman, standing in shadow, smiling slyly, and lifting her goggles, the other is the Zatanna/Wheel of Fate cover. (Non-Catwoman, I have the Supergirl on Asteroid variant from Supergirl and the Legion, the Powergirl flying variant from JSA Classified #1, and the Black Canary "Next?" variant from Justice League of America.)

Eh...I've caught the occasional issue here or there. But the tenor just isn't the same with Selina going to Bruce so much. And the baby was done just about as gimmicky as you can get.

Interestingly enough, Selina mentions in this issue how she's been relying too much on Bruce lately. So she uses her own methods to find out who is trying to kill her.

Año Nuevo

Como ya es tradición, el Cuento de Navidad de Espiral. El año pasado me equivoqué con la numeración y le puse el 13, le tocaba el 11; en cualquier caso, doce años haciendo la bobada le da para ser algo casi institucionalizado.

Mi último propósito del año pasado no llegó a finalizarse, me había propuesto salir once días seguidos, pero un catarro y la falta de comparsa me impidió pasar de nueve días, tampoco es una mala cifra.

Pues sí, hacía un par de años que no me resfriaba, y me ha agarrado con ganas, poco a poco voy saliendo, pero no deja de ser una incomodidad, a ver si para el viernes ya estamos mejor. El tiempo no acompaña, tres grados bajo cero, niebla lluvia y viento... En principio con viento no hay niebla, pues mira, sí la hay; anoche según volvía a casa veía caer la niebla con furia contra el suelo, mantita y a comer sobrás de la cena de fin de año.

La cena y posterior fiestaca fueron bien; el índice de pegajosidad del suelo y la resaca daban fe de que la cosa había sido potente. Como siempre, grandes ausencias y apariciones inesperadas, a modo de pista, cuando empezamos a cenar ya iba a caer la segunda botella de vino, a la hora de las uvas yo iba indecente, cuando llegué a casa a eso de las (vete tú a saber a qué hora llegué), guiado por Chus a modo de lazarillo... me metí en la cama con ropa y todo.

La de ayer fue una de esas resacas que marcan un hito, demasiados días de salir, el catarro, el cansancio... demasiado. No hay que preocuparse por mi salud, ya he hecho la tontería, ya estoy desbravado, no tengo nada que demostrar... ahora ya a hacer vida más o menos normal... qué agotamiento...

Así pues, sólo deciros que feliz año, que seáis buenos, que no os dejéis llevar por los malos sentimientos, que tengáis mucha felicidad, salud y amor, y que el dinero venga a su ritmo... Y que se cumplen vuestros propósitos para el año.