Review: FUTURE STATE: CATWOMAN #2
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Ram V
Artist: Otto Schmidt
Colours: Otto Schmidt
Letters: Tom Napolitano
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
Future State: Catwoman #2: Catwoman has clawed her way through half of the Magistrate’s bullet train, but her fight has only just begun! Now, with Onomatopoeia in tow, Selina makes her way toward the car carrying a ghost of her past, and Gotham’s as well. It’s Bruce Wayne…but is it really him? And with Talia Al Ghul on board as well, will this be a long-awaited reunion between the Bat and the Cat, or will Selina’s mission to rescue the Magistrate’s prisoners go off the rails?
Positives
During the first month of the Future State event, it was hard to see exactly the Bat-Family stories fit together. They all were clearly happening in the same future Gotham City and appeared to be happening around the same time. However, the status quo of certain characters didn’t quite match up. In particular, I Dark Detective seemed to contradict the Catwoman title. How was it that Bruce Wayne was at large in the former, but a prisoner of the Magistrate in the later?
In the second month of the event, we are now seeing how the various stories fit together. Dark Detective ends with a confrontation between Bruce and Peacekeeper-01. While Bruce manages to strike a major blow against the Magistrate, he ends up captured. He is put in stasis and shipped to a Magistrate detention facility on the same train that is Catwoman’s target in this title.
Future State: Catwoman #2 shows us their reunion after Selina has spent an extended period believing Bruce had been killed.. Ram V’s depiction of their meeting is powerful and note-perfect. Selina slapping then kissing Bruce is a delightful inversion of the common trope.
Positives Cont.
But their reunion is short-lived, as they must separate again. Batman goes off with Talia to join the resistance against the Magistrate, while Catwoman has to resume her protection of the citizens of Alleytown. But Batman tells Catwoman how to find him again: “Just steal something important, Cat”.
Future State appears to be a separate future timeline from the future timeline in King’s run on Batman and his Batman/Catwoman maxiseries. But Ram V’s story shows that their love will always survive – even in the dystopian Gotham of Future State. And that love is a shining ray of hope in that depressing future timeline.
I was quite impressed with Otto Schmidt’s artwork once again in Future State: Catwoman #2. While it’s unfortunate that we don’t get to see his rendition of Bruce Wayne in costume as Batman, but his visual interpretation of Catwoman is gorgeous. And his choice of colours perfectly captures the mood of each scene.
Negatives
I have no complaints at all about Future State: Catwoman. Ram V and Otto Schmidt have provided an exciting chapter in the Future State Batman story. I had expected that this particular mini to be a fairly minor part of the overall event, but it has proven to be one of the highlights instead.
Verdict
After reading Ram V’s Future State: Catwoman story, I feel the need to catch up on the regular series. If Future State: Catwoman #2 is any indication, then I look forward to reading his work in the regular Catwoman ongoing series.
