Dream A Little Dream Of Bats– Reviewing ‘Knight Terrors: Catwoman’ #1
by Scott Redmond
Overview
Insomnia’s nightmares come calling for Gotham City’s resident anti-hero thief as Catwoman is pulled into the ongoing ‘Knight Terrors’ event. A solid issue mixes rough horror and crime elements alongside bits and pieces of the main ongoing to create the right kind of tie-in comic issue.
Overall
9/10All the nightmares unleashed by the Knight Terror event have come to Gotham City, finding a new target in Catwoman. Selina Kyle’s criminal past and closest relationships find themselves twisted under the spotlight of the villainous Insomnia.
A crime story seems like the type to be perfectly blended with a horror tint. Visually we can feel that thanks to the work of Leila Leiz and Marissa Louise.
Leiz’ style is slightly rough and very heavy, creating a version of Gotham that is grim and weighted. It feels real and grimy and somewhat scary. At the same time, the characters all move through it in very fluid and kinetic ways. It has great action energy which fits many of the aspects of the story.
All the colors are pretty toned down, heavy in their own way, as Louise plays into what Leiz is putting down. There are splashes of more vivid and prominent colors here or there. It’s an almost neon or heightened aesthetic. Truly Gotham looks at its best when it’s just wildly artistically unique. Lots of bright colors, shadows, big bold city elements, and great depth and weight.
Adding to that overall vibe are the letters that Becca Carey provides. The captions really nail the noir sort of tone of Catwoman stories. With personality and some unique elements added to the boxes to make them stand out. All the dialogue and SFX have personality, energy, and distinctiveness as they flow smoothly around the pages.
Regular Catwoman series writer Tini Howard writes this tie-in two-parter as well. It carries over a lot of the emotional and story beats from the main story. Exploring a nightmare situation where Selina is at odds with her sister Maggie and encounters a young Batman/Bruce is interesting. It’s not fully a nightmare situation like others but it does have enough horror off-putting elements to make sure it fits that niche.
Selina in a ‘world’ where she was a crime boss and there was no Batman till now is a solid hook. Especially adding in the aspect that she knows who Bruce/Batman is and now wants to train him. I love seeing their relationship explored in new ways. Especially since the main books will have them actually as foes very soon.
Knight Terrors: Catwoman #1 is now available from DC Comics.
