Ah Selina Kyle, the bane of many a young fanboy's sock drawer. As Josh details in his article below, Catwoman #1 has stirred up a bit of controversy. Basically some critics and even a handful of fans are upset at the amount of gratuitous semi nudity and sexual content. Yeah, very upsetting! Having read a few reviews online and deciding that many of them haven't got a clue what the Hell they are talking about I decided to give you guys my take on this first issue by Judd Winick and Guillem March.
I understand a comic, movie, anything drawing criticism for being overly violent or sexual IF the other aspects are not up to scratch. Obviously in those cases the sex and violence is there purely to compensate for having a rubbish story etc. But I really think that is an unfair assessment of Judd Winick's Catwoman. First of all, it's Catwoman we are talking about. If you open a Catwoman comic and don't expect a bit of raunch then I don't know what to tell you. That is part of the character. But what is also a part of Catwoman is her intelligence, wit, and propensity for extreme violence bordering on insanity. Guess what? We get all that too.
This first story arc begins with a bunch of thugs torching Selina Kyle's apartment. She goes to her friend (also her "fence") Lola's where she picks up a new place to crash and a job while she's at it. This takes her to a local nightclub to spy on some Russian mobsters. She poses at the bargirl and listens in on their conversations (she speaks Russian unbeknownst to them). Then she recognizes one of them as a man she believed to be locked away for a brutal crime committed right in from of her eyes as a child. Needless to say justice is dealt. But when Catwoman returns to her digs a familiar face is waiting.
As I'm sure you are aware that familiar face is Batman and they screw each other's brains out. Not in any kind of graphic detail of course, it's merely implied. But we do get a few T n A shots..indeed we do right through the issue. Is there too much? Maybe a bit, I suppose it does get a little over the top and the last couple of panels really are just there to titillate but so what? If you are reading through this issue and those panels make you put down the comic in disgust I think you flat out just need to lighten up and stop taking things so seriously. Obviously if the next issue is just more of the same then that is one thing but I'm at least willing to see where it goes. The fact that Winick also gives Catwoman some great dialog and we are always invested in the story means that it's all part and parcel of Catwomam using her ample charms to her own advantage. Also the art by Guillem March is top notch, at times even stunning.
This isn't a GREAT issue by any means but it is a lot better than many reviewers have given it credit for simply because they were turned off by it's more graphic content. When there is substance there too, albeit not a lot of it, that has to be taken into consideration. If you are looking for a fun, decently written, good looking, funny, sexy comic then pick it up. It's Catwoman. It does exactly what it says on the tin.
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