Catwoman #15 Preview/Discussion

[chipsnopotatoes]

I was cringing at Selina's dialogue at times, but the chihuahua eating pizza off the guy's head and *incomprehensible voice of death* made me laugh. And she has catarangs and cat bolas now? :evilsmile . Like Rough and Tumble, I prefer the bizarre heists because "rob the mob" stuff gets old and boring fast. That stuff going on in the Black Room was really good. In just one panel, she injected quite a bit of personality to Long Arm Donnelly. If DC ever revives House of Mystery, Ann should write it.

Nice peek into Selina's head, but I wish we see a more satisfying ending than the Joker story.

Kind of intrigued with this Trip Winter guy (he looks like Bruce) and where he fits in all this.

[ticklefist]

I was cringing at Selina's dialogue at times, but... stuff going on in the Black Room was really good... Nice peek into Selina's head... Kind of intrigued...

I'm surprised. Thought you'd be really upset by the characterization in the opening but it looks like you've found a lot to enjoy here.

[LostinFandom]

Yup, the Black Diamond is at the center of the All-Star Western arc that started in issue #13, and issue #13 of Demon Knights also started a Black Diamond arc. Team Seven #1 started yet another Black Diamond arc, this one more related to Eclipso than the others.

Thank you.

[PsychoGoatee]

Not good, that's my review here. I want Nocenti off this book asap, for me it's a mess, just a huge failure in general.

It's continuing some of the previous ideas I like such as Selina shutting out the bad stuff and just trying to have fun, and there's potential there. But the tone of this book and the writing just doesn't support it. For one, little things, like how those two burly guys point guns at Selina at the party and say essentially that they want to rape her. This is not really fitting with the "fun" tone that scene is going for. Yikes. "Time to load the real gun". Yikes.

As for Rafa, I like some of his stuff and the look of some of the art, but as a sequential storyteller it does seem he has a lot of room to improve. It just has a very messy unfocused feel to the composition, and it doesn't connect like Guillem's art did for me. Not even close.

Anyways, Catwoman deserves much better.

[DarkKnghtJared]

Basically, this book was batcrap nuts, and tetter-tottered between strange and near incomprehensible and sugar-rush fun. The double-page spread talking about all the crazy supernatural relics in there was very delightful. I don't think I'd mind if someone else took over and found a balance between what Winnick did and what Nocenti's doing, but this is still pretty fun even if it takes a little more thinking to figure out the dialogue.

Best lines:

GWEN: But what's with that outfit? You look like a teenage Hell's Angel bondage hooker.
SELINA: Exactly! That was SO the look I was going for.

[TheCatBoy]

I'm surprised. Thought you'd be really upset by the characterization in the opening but it looks like you've found a lot to enjoy here.

Exactly what I'm thinking ChipsNo! How is ChipsNo seeming more positive about the comics Selina than I am!?

There were some fun moments in this book, I did love the caper at the beginning of the book... the CatCycle and the bolas were definitely a nice touch. I still miss her cats. I'm still not clear who Nocenti's Selina is, and it's taking a lot longer to see the direction that this book is taking... other than just being wacky...

But, I have hopes that Geoff Johns has some direction for Selina in JLA that will directly help this book (and Nocenti) a little.

[Selinafan]

Horrible - just a slip-shod mess. I don't mind weird, as long as there's a method behind the madness. But this is just weird for weird sake -- it's like bush-league Morrison with the brain cut out of it. Poorly written, unfocused and scattershot -

I hate, really hate having to drop this book, as I love Catwoman. But this is unreadable -- to call it writing is giving it too much credit.

[tonythelion]

I've only just started to get in to Catwoman really. Read the two Death of the Family issues and the 'When in Rome' trade, which I really enjoyed. Went back to the trade of #1-6 from the New 52.

However, this issue didn't really do it for me at all. Think the artwork was a little off for me too. Some of Selina's facial expressions were a bit... weird. The story was average at best, which is a little disappointing after the last couple of issues

[DarkKnghtJared]

Exactly what I'm thinking ChipsNo! How is ChipsNo seeming more positive about the comics Selina than I am!?

There were some fun moments in this book, I did love the caper at the beginning of the book... the CatCycle and the bolas were definitely a nice touch. I still miss her cats. I'm still not clear who Nocenti's Selina is, and it's taking a lot longer to see the direction that this book is taking... other than just being wacky...

But, I have hopes that Geoff Johns has some direction for Selina in JLA that will directly help this book (and Nocenti) a little.

I never thought I would think to myself, "Well, I guess we'll probably get a more traditional Selina in Justice League of America," but...there it is.

[FHIZ]

I don't mind weird, as long as there's a method behind the madness.

Exactly. There are certain books that are weird/goofy in a totally endearing way. Fraction's Hawkeye, and all the "Bro, you dead now bro" goofiness totally works... the weirdness in here is just incomprehensible.

[DarkKnghtJared]

Exactly. There are certain books that are weird/goofy in a totally endearing way. Fraction's Hawkeye, and all the "Bro, you dead now bro" goofiness totally works... the weirdness in here is just incomprehensible.

I don't know about incomprehensible, but it does take a minute to figure out some of the dialogue. I mean, the plot is really kinda simple--Catwoman's given a job to steal a diamond from a military base, she sneaks in disguised as a researcher, she finds out that the diamond has powers and is messing with people, and as she's stealing it, she's slowly being possessed by it.

[BatWatch]

After the abomination that was Catwoman #14, I decided I would just expect nothing from this series except chaos, and you know what? If you expect nothing but insanity from it, you actually get a semi-entertaining read. It's not good by any stretch of the imagination, but it reminds me a pre-COIE book that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Exactly. There are certain books that are weird/goofy in a totally endearing way. Fraction's Hawkeye, and all the "Bro, you dead now bro" goofiness totally works... the weirdness in here is just incomprehensible.

I actually found this issue to be much easier to follow than Catwoman #14 though that is a low standard.
For more news, reviews, and commentary for the entire Bat Family, check out BatWatch.net.

[FHIZ]

I don't know about incomprehensible, but it does take a minute to figure out some of the dialogue. I mean, the plot is really kinda simple--Catwoman's given a job to steal a diamond from a military base, she sneaks in disguised as a researcher, she finds out that the diamond has powers and is messing with people, and as she's stealing it, she's slowly being possessed by it.

I don't mean incomprehensible in the sense of the point a to b narrative, but incomprehensible in the big picture in terms of characterization, logic, dialogue, etc etc. The decisions Nocenti has made in terms of how she feels the character should be written, what she should say, and how she should act is what is incomprehensible to me.

Anyways, a comment was just left on my blog about the contrast in how she was written under Winick and now. Under Winick, she was that sly master thief, who stole all sorts of things, art, drug money, cars, it didn't matter, she was in it for the rush. I completely agree with that, it's how she should be portrayed. Given, some people didn't like how she had seemed to be brought down a notch in how well she'd be able to pull things off, but whatever. Nocenti on the other hand, it's pretty much a crazed obsession over jewels that is border line psychotic. Through out the few issues in Nocenti's run, it's all about jewels jewels jewels. All she needed to hear in this issue was the word "diamond" nevermind the fact that it's locked in a room with possibly world destroying magical crap she should go in knowing and be cautious about. Remember that scene in Catwoman #0 where some guy sees through her high class act, and she runs out of a bar to go steal some pearls while crying her damn eyes out? That bat%&$# crazy, severely emotionally unstable lady is not Selina Kyle, and to think that Nocenti believes that is who Selina Kyle should be is exactly what's incomprehensible to me.

[teddyeatsyourface]

Given, some people didn't like how she had seemed to be brought down a notch in how well she'd be able to pull things off

You know I never understood why a lot of people didn't comprehend that Winick's Catwoman is supposed to be right inbetween her rookie stage and her professional (the one we all know) stage.

It was said over and over and over and over and over and over again in almost every single interview for the new 52 cat-book before, after, and during the release. Yet a ton of people still nagged about how she wasn't as good a thief or well put together like she used to be, wasn't that the entire point?

[chipsnopotatoes]

Winick's Catwoman was not only inexperienced, she was inherently stupid. I'm so glad he's off this book.