Catwoman has been drawn into the beginnings of a gang war.
Positive
This issue is simple. It’s a fairly simple storyline that starts at X and ends at Y. The Penguin is the natural choice for anything that involves the gangs of Gotham and his inclusion in this storyline makes sense. We also get a drop-in appearance from Bullock who outshines the normal detectives that we get in this book and comes across as a competent officer. The other interesting character we get a glimpse of in this book is Alice, who looks to be the one covering Catwoman’s tech. For the first time in a long time in this book we are introduced to a secondary character that may have some staying power. We get a small reminder of the events of Catwoman #19 and the underground labyrinth that she found herself in and I hope that this is a hint that we will be returning to that setting soon.
The art in this book is good as well as well and seems to be very consistent from month to month. I like the definition around the eyes of Hypnotic as well as the scenes with Alice.
Negative
The issue seems to lurch from scene to scene. The narrative seems forced, as does the plot. There is a lot of stuff going on here, and I just do not care about most of it. The Penguin again shows up and his amount of overuse since the New 52 started is becoming almost epic in scale. I completely understand his importance in the criminal underground of Gotham but this is starting to border on the absurd. The Black Ice is only handled in passing and one can only assume that it is going to be more important moving forward than it is here.
Verdict- 1/5Â 
The issue is a mess. An annual is supposed to be something epic, or at the very least entertaining. This issue performs neither of these functions. Penguin makes killer drones that will haunt down Catwoman and she in turn goes and gets a ray gun to take them down. This is a must-miss issue.
