Comic Review: Catwoman: Lonely City #1 (DC Comics)

Catwoman appears in another of her own titles this month: Lonely City #1.

Seline Kyle is being set free from prison. It’s been ten years since Fool’s Night killed Batman, The Joker, Nightwing, and Commissioner Gordon. Harvey Dent is now mayor of Gotham, and Catwoman is free. Free to try to get her cat-bearings, older and wiser.

Cliff Chiang (Human Target, Zatanna, etc) writes and draws the issue, which appears under the Black Label imprint.

Chiang employs a familiar technique in setting the scene for us: a dramatic situation occurs ‘today’, and then we are whisked back to three days earlier to observe her release from prison. As Catwoman orients herself to her surroundings after her ten years behind bars, she makes contact with people from her past. She is rusty at her game, an older and less agile Catwoman.

It’s well played, both thematically and visually. Chiang’s drawings allow him control of pacing; there are many pages containing many small panels, many small cat prints of dialogue, and many steps of atonement. It’s full of story beats and dramatic moments, alternating with moments of action and dynamic movement. The colouring is wonderfully rich, as Chiang uses colour as a design element.

A bit heavy on character development and dialogue, but an entertaining and well constructed first issue!

DC Comics, Catwoman: Lonely City #1, $6.99 for 43 pages of content.