DCAU #57: Catwoman's Killer Caper!

IN THIS ONE... Batman goes to London after Catwoman apparently steals the Crown Jewels.

CREDITS: Written by Kelley Puckett; art by Ty Templeton and Rick Burchett.

REVIEW: The issue is really divided into very talky pages, and entirely silent ones, which makes me realize something else about The Batman Adventures - there are no captions. It's another conceit to make the comic match the animated series.  If we can't hear it, it's not on the page. (At the same time, one could make a case for captions/narration being the equivalent of score, but this issue's action scenes really don't need it.) But does that make the issue feel balanced? The changes in density seem more abrupt than they really need to be, and the comic is better when it lets the art breathe, quite frankly. I really like the sequence where Batman silently figures out how Catwoman did it, for example. Conversely, the Batman-Catwoman chase isn't quite eventful enough to be as interesting.

Now, it's normal that, especially early on, continuity with the TV series would be a little clunky. I don't really recognize the Selina Kyle that near-reformed on the show and who, from her second appearance, as more of an anti-hero and ally to Batman. I don't even recognize the woman who is in love with the Bat and acts upon it. Neither Isis nor Maven even make an appearance. That's not to say there aren't some excellent Catwoman moments. It's another side of her, the catty, treacherous side, but it entertains. Especially the bit where she both compliments and dismisses the delivery man. And how she doesn't really like the necklace she stole once it's out of the case. There's a pathology there that hasn't really been explored on the show since her very first episode. But having Batman reel her in by attacking her ego, that seems wrong.

I am enjoying Bruce Wayne's role in these stories, popping up at least once to use his billionaire's influence to get things rolling, whether that's out-philantroping the Penguin or getting private museum visits/info-dumps. What the Joker is playing at is still a mystery, but it's about to be solved, and I'm delighted he's getting hate mail from the criminals he's screwed over in the past. But given much of his greatness comes from Mark Hamill's performance, I hope his issue (the next) can approach it.
REREADABILITY: Medium - Catwoman isn't characterized as she is on the show, and that's a problem, though once again, we get a finely drawn issue.

Comments

JeffJedi said…
Great reviews, I had all of these but I don't remember them much. I remember stand out issues like Mad Love and the 1st Batgirl issue.