Forsaking Love For War: Reviewing ‘Catwoman’ #57

Mom and Dad are at war, and everyone, including the citizens of Gotham City, is now stuck in the middle. Seems like a perfect time for Catwoman and company to keep their plans in motion, with Batman having reached his breaking point.

Catwoman #57 begins the third chapter of the Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War event showcasing just how uneven this war that isn’t a war has become. A weaving web of emotions and twists from Tini Howard, Nico Leon, Veronica Gandini, and Lucas Gattoni.

There is a wide swerve in this issue compared to the previous chapter, over in Batman #137. In that space we saw an unhinged Batman that was just destroying everyone. After a confrontation with Vandal Savage (who bought Wayne Manor), he shifts focus and is all about wanting to save Jason. This is a Batman that is mentally shattered but it’s still a bit of whiplash.

With that going on Howard focuses on Catwoman pulling another training theft for her crew. It goes sideways with Savage and Riddler and others butting in.

Overall, the stuff in here is solid, as Howard keeps up the same characterization and focus at the core of the series. So far, the Gotham War as a concept isn’t quite working for me. One side is far more defined than the other. In the end, Batman will likely be the one that was ‘right,’ because he’s DC’s biggest character and isn’t going to stop punching people anytime soon. Maybe he won’t and this will surprise me, I hope so, but I am not certain right now.

Tini does squeeze in a surprise, though. A formerly quite popular character appears, after hiding in plain sight this whole time. They were one of my favorites so I’m curious to see where they’ll end up through this.

Leon and Gandini are always a dynamic duo. Plenty of life can be felt, as the slick and vivid characters move dance (quite literally at one point) through this world. All the emotion that is being unleashed here needs to be seen as well as felt and we get that. This is less of the noirish sort of sexy feel that Leon’s artwork had when this run began.

It’s still quite slick and sexy, don’t get me wrong. But it’s a bit lighter and brighter as this story is much different tonally. Character developing grudge match as opposed to darker gang war-type stuff. Shadowy heavy dark colors fill the pages, but Gandini finds room to make sure that flashes of the more vibrant stuff still have a place.

All the lettering has the same energy as the rest of the issue, as Gattoni continues to pull out all the tricks. Grunts/groans that are colorful bursting out of bubbles, the font that shifts changing the tone, and big bold SFX among other fun elements. I especially love the way that the SFX is incorporated into the story. Following the items in motion or playfully becoming part of the scene (like the THOK that is tangled in Batman’s zipline).

Each of these pieces just makes the world deeper and more solid for the reader. Alongside the efforts to make sure a large amount of dialogue flows through the pages in the most efficient and pleasing ways.

Catwoman #57 is now available from DC Comics.