This review contains spoilers.

Catwoman #50 is written by Frank Tieri with art by Inaki Miranda and Geraldo Borges and colors by Eva De La Cruz and Blond. There are also two backup stories both of which are written by Tieri. The first of the backup stories features pencils by Dan Panosian and Alex Konat, inks by Panosian and Jay Leisten and colors by Blond. The second story features art by Steve Pugh and colors by Blond.

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Previously

Selina Kyle was hired by her friend Louie to steal the Frost Diamond. Their private employer offered to pay them a million dollars for it. Catwoman stole the diamond but Louie was killed by a corrupt cop, Scagnetti, and Selina was framed for the murder. It turned out the diamond belonged to Penguin who put a bounty on Catwoman’s head. Selina and her friend, Tesla, discovered that the diamond contained a flash drive with blackmail material on a lot of important people. The man who hired her, Mr. Blonde, wanted the diamond to get rid of Penguin’s evidence. Selina went to Bruce Wayne with this but he was still suffering from amnesia and didn’t remember her so he turned Catwoman over to the police.

Recap

Selina Kyle is in jail thanks to Bruce Wayne. Penguin has sent in Scagnetti with Clayface, Firefly and Victor Vsazs in order to bring her in to him. They confront Selina and set Blackgate on fire. However, Mr. Blonde sent in Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn to save Selina who is able to escape.

Selina and Tesla hack Penguin’s drive and discover that Mr. Blonde is Lex Luthor. Lex threatens to have Tesla killed if Selina doesn’t give him the drive. She complies and Lex agrees to clear her name of the murder charge but he won’t pay her the million dollars. Scagnetti is sent to Blackgate for Louie’s murder and Killer Croc attacks Penguin for Catwoman. However, Selina planned on giving Lex the drive. Tesla had put a virus on it that shut down Lexcorp and allowed Selina to steal her million dollars. She gives half of the money to Louie’s family and the story ends with Selina and Tesla taking a vacation in Hawaii.

The first backup story shows a teenage Selina learning about a mask in a museum. This mask has been passed down through the ages and is supposedly cursed. Naturally, Selina plans to steal it.

The second backup story shows Catwoman making her way through a series of defenses and being confronted by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Dick Grayson’s Robin. Batman hired her test the Watchtower’s defenses which obviously need work. The story, and the issue, ends with Catwoman stealing Robin’s grappling gun.

Positives

In the main story, I love how many Batman characters are featured. While Gotham is a big place, there are so many costumed characters that they would constantly interact. It’s also just fun to see all these characters. If Penguin wanted someone dead or captured, he would call Vsasz. Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn were a wonderful surprise and both had terrific dialogue. Tieri’s writing is especially good in this issue because of all of the various characters he has to use.

The reveal of Lex as Mr. Blonde was a genuine surprise. My guess was Oliver Queen and it’s cool to be wrong about these things. It makes sense and works perfectly but I never even thought about it. That’s good writing in my opinion.

As was the case in the previous issues with this team, the art is fantastic. The particular highlight for me in this issue is Blackgate on fire. That scene looks incredible.

In the second backup story, it is fun to see a younger version of the Justice League with Dick Grayson. It’s nothing great but it is a cute story. I like that Batman would use Catwoman to test the defenses and I find Robin’s reactions to that pretty funny.

I like that the cover actually depicts a scene from the issue. It’s not my favorite cover especially in comparison to the last couple of ones but at least it represents the story.

Negatives

The first backup story is pretty dull. While I like the idea of maybe seeing Selina’s early days as a thief, the mask itself is a pretty dull story. Additionally, the museum is full of artifacts from Batman villains. There is a Joker card and a Poison Ivy costume on display just to name a few. So, Batman has already been active for a while but I got the sense that this was somewhat of an origin for Catwoman. She looks about 15 so how old is Bruce? They should be about the same age. It just confuses the New 52 timeline even more. Granted, maybe I just interpreted it wrong and assumed this story took place before Selina became Catwoman. Maybe she isn’t a teenager in the story. But she can’t be over 35 in the main story. She’s 40 at the oldest which I don’t buy. I was just bored and confused by this story.

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Verdict

The conclusion to this story is satisfying. I like the twist and everything wraps up in a believable way. It’s not mind blowing or action packed but it is cool and immensely helped by the art. The backup stories take it down a bit for me. The Justice League one is cute but the I think the first one is incredibly tedious. Overall, this is a good issue and I recommend picking it up.

 

4outof5

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