Catwoman #69 – Torunn Gronbekk, Writer; Fabiana Mascolo, Artist; Patricio Delpeche, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: Like cats have nine lives, Selina Kyle’s title seems to shift radically with every creative team. Tini Howard’s run was a big superhero adventure with supernatural overtones, seeing Selina gain and lose nine lives. Torunn Gronbekk dials it back, a lot, and her first issue feels much more like a noir run in the vein of Ed Brubaker and Genvieve Valentine – both seen as high-water marks for the character. But there’s another inspiration here, and that’s the high-octane action thrillers of the 1990s that often found an innocent main character with the world against them. Selina isn’t exactly innocent, but the vibe is definitely there when she wakes up with a bullet in her shoulder and discovers that she’s the most wanted woman in Gotham for the murder of a socialite in a mass shooting at a gala. There’s just one issue – the victim everyone is trying to avenge is one of her alter egos.
This points to a pretty elaborate frame job, and from there it becomes a race against time for Selina to get out of Gotham and find out who’s framing her. However, the mysterious team targeting her – including a hacker who seems to have a huge advantage – is one step ahead, and soon she’s being targeted by assassins. The tone here is very down to earth and brutal, without many supernatural or superhero elements at all in this first issue. There is also very little sign of other superheroes, making this an intriguing divergence from Gronbekk’s usual work at the competition, which included Norse Gods and alien goo monsters. There isn’t enough in this first issue to get a firm view of how this run is going to play out, but it seems the creative team has a solid grasp on Selina Kyle as a character and is bringing her back to her roots as Gotham’s grittiest antihero.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
