Fetal. Feral. Fatal.
HOLY CRAP that cover is a mess. It looks awkward at a glance, and if you turn it over you see some ATROCIOUS anatomy problems. Batman's thigh is about the size of his chest. His stomach is sunken in like a Liefeld woman. His right hand is TINY and his left hand is more normal sized. It's just... a HUGE mess.
Which thankfully DOESN'T reflect the issue, though it does reflect Catwoman's life.
Catwoman has been arrested. This is a pretty big deal for her, especially since its by dirty cops. So you can see how far out of her element she is WHEN SHE RETURNS TO THE FETAL POSITION. Seriously, take a look at all the times she's done that in the series. It's always when she's unsure of herself. The second page is such a powerful reflection of Catwoman retreating emotionally to a more animalistic state inside herself. Toes curled, eyes wide with shrunken pupils, knees up; she's in a rough place.
And so when Reach returns to be her interrogator, Catwoman is pushed further back. Reach also shows some shades of an added depth, which makes me hope for a return down the line. Something has put her in this position. She works for dirty cops, but apparently doesn't like what she's been reduced to. Unfortunately for her, her rage comes at the wrong time. Catwoman is pushed past the breaking point, and her animalistic instinct rage returns, though out of desperation and defense instead of the offense violence of her original letting loose back in the first issue. She leaps around on all fours for a second, still crouched and fetal, bares her 'fangs,' and bites like a beast. This is what happens when Catwoman breaks, her animal instincts rise up, because she spends all the rest of the time teetering on the edge of them. Adrenaline fuels everything here, but not in the traditional shallow sense. Adrenaline isn't the external mood, adrenaline is the underlying emotional soul for the character's personality. Everything she does is about controlling adrenaline, letting adrenaline loose, channeling adrenaline into sex, violence, and danger. And this series sticks to that undertone so strongly without pointing it out, and that's where the depth that I love lies.
Batman's repeated cameos in Batwing annoy me, but that's because they are without cause. Catwoman's Batman cameos aren't cameos, they're a core part of her character development here. Because when Batman shows up, it's to address her recent escapades, and he's coming down on her, hard. But she's really not in a mood for that, and she takes it out on him any way she can. She doesn't want a parental figure, she knows she's self destructive and she doesn't want to be told it. She doesn't want to accept that she can't be independent right now. So she pushes him away with lies. She tries to paint herself as a tease. To suggest that what they had was merely her manipulations. Catwoman suggests the sex is only to keep him off her tail (So to speak) because she can't admit to HERSELF that she needs it, much less BATMAN of all people. Fighting back tears, she finally puts her problem front and center, and it stuns Batman more than any of her lies, whips, or claws. And she's alone.
And in the end, she goes to repeat the cycle. I could almost hear my own heart breaking for her, muttering "Oh no no no no no" to myself as I watched with beautiful agony, Catwoman starting the cycle over again, having learned everything, and still choosing to ignore it; returned to her safe fetal position.
In Conclusion: 5/5
After the triumphant return of the depth last issue in an explosive 'climax' of unleashed adrenaline firing on all cylinders, this issue deals with the heavy emotional toll that took, without losing the action. Guillem March's art is at its best, and Catwoman's emotional state is fantastically written. The issue beginning and ending with a fetal Catwoman on different causes really helped emphasize all the deep stuff, and it was just so emotionally devastating to see her go down the self destructive path again, even after learning what she did. But the fact that I felt so heartbroken for her instead of questioning her judgement or the writer's says a lot for the writing itself. Catwoman's a VERY underrated book because too many people are only seeing what's on the surface.
