Catwoman faces down with… french maids? It’s a battle for the ages: Leather versus Lace! Your Major Spoilers review of Catwoman #22 from DC Comics awaits!
CATWOMAN #22
Writer: Paula Sevenbergen
Artist: Aneke
Colorist: Laura Allred
Letterer: Gabriela Downie
Editor: Jessica Chen & Jamie S. Rich
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 3, 2020
Previously in Catwoman: Ever seen those hot-pink vans stationed around town advertising sexy maids who’ll come clean your house? Little did you know those sexy maids are actually part of a secret underground sting operation that only Catwoman can claw her way through to find the artifact they’ve stolen. It’s leather versus lingerie in this epic cat chase!
JEWEL THIEVES IN RUFFLES
In response to a request from her police contact, Hadley, Catwoman is on the trail of the Dust Bunnies, women posing as sexy maids to take the rich folk of Villa Hermosa, California for all they’re worth. She is foiled in her first attempt to catch them by a literal oil slick, right out of a cartoon, after which Hadley tells her to call it off and let the professionals handle it. Naturally, she doesn’t, and she quickly finds herself at the mercy of two Dust Bunnies who spray her with Mind Sanitizer and throw her in their van, hoping to force her to crack safes for them. It’s… a bad plan, a fact made clear when she awakens and uses her bullwhip to immobilize both Bunnies, forcing them to crash their vehicle. The Dust Bunnies then make the mistake of pulling guns on her, arguing that they and she are alike, doing anything they can to survive. It’s a fair point, but one that is undermined by the realization that one of them is wearing Hadley’s serpent ring…
THIS TAKES PLACE BEFORE CATWOMAN #21
I have to admit, that plot point eluded me not once, but in TWO successive reads of the issue, making it feel like the clues to that point were entirely too subtle. There are also a LOT of puns in these pages, from Selina dubbing her foes “The Bust Dummies” to endless bits to play on how “dirty” these supposed cleaners play. The final page is a really pretty shot of Catwoman leaping up using her bullwhip, which is undermined by yet another play on words, and while it’s fun to see Catwoman with the upper hand on the police, it feels almost cruel the way she taunts him. Then again, judging from their interactions early in the issue, that may be their whole schtick? Either way, I enjoy the art more than the story this time around, especially the action shot of Catwoman leaping off the top of the van, but there are still a few moments where the figure work is quite stiff and awkward, especially when it comes to the lingerie-clad villains. It’s successful much of the time, and I really appreciate how much of the Michelle Pfeifer movie costume is in this issue’s designs.
BOTTOM LINE: RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE
All in all, Catwoman #22 does a respectable job crafting a story and making it interesting, though the punny dialogue combined with a lack of tension in Catwoman’s situation and occasionally stiff art makes for an entirely average (but not unpleasant) 2.5 out of 5 stars overall. I appreciate this take on Selina as a solo act, though, and look forward to seeing more from these creators.
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CATWOMAN #22
It’s an okay done-in-one issue with an interesting conflict for Catwoman, but the dialogue fell flat for me repeatedly, and one important plot point took three reads before it was clear…
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Writing5
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Art6
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Coloring5
Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.