In Space No One Can Hear You Meow: Reviewing ‘Catwoman’ #64

Selina Kyle’s mystically gifted, literal nine lives are almost exhausted, leaving the vigilante thief with very little room for error. As those she has worked against gather to see her killed for good, she’ll have to go further than ever before.

Catwoman #64 goes up, up, and away in a space-filled story from Tini Howard, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Veronica Gandini, and Lucas Gattoni.

Sometimes, there are certain things in life that just become routine. Not necessarily things you enjoy doing, often it’s the complete opposite, yet it’s natural to keep doing them. At this point, I feel like that is the cast with my reading of this title.

It built up such goodwill in the over three years that I’ve been reading and reviewing the title, I can’t turn away. Though, if you’ve read my reviews, I clearly have not enjoyed this current arc. At all.

After numerous issues of Selina just wasting lives on missions that often seemed pointless, in part six of the arc things begin to connect. Only took that many issues for an overarching theme to really make itself known and felt beyond the whole thing with a Godly being giving her these lives.

Also, holy crap is this a talky comic.

There is nothing wrong with verbose bits in comics. Sometimes though a comic is too talky, to the point where it’s spelling everything out in massive caption boxes because otherwise the reader would not know a single thing happening. This is one of those cases. Just basically walls of caption text to lay out exactly what is happening and why Catwoman wants or needs it to happen. Even the dialogue feels clunky and heavy alongside the other words.

Gattoni is doing his best to make it all flow and fit on the page, giving it that spark and energy. There just isn’t a ton that can be done to punch up the clunkiness and mountains that roll onto the page.

Visually the story is pretty solid, as Di Giandomenico and Gandini keep hitting the marks. An edge of roughness, around the edges and beyond, creating a heaviness to the story. Which there should be since it’s about space and the ominous specter of death that Catwoman is actively chasing. Color-wise it rests in that sweet spot where some tonal bits are flashy and vibrant while others are more natural toned down. Lastly, there are the shadowy dark bits that bring more of the dense feeling.

Were this story not so tell more than show, it would be pretty sweet. Catwoman trying to reck a satellite and having to pilot a ship back to Earth as she burns up, using up more deaths. Unfortunately, the deaths stuff just feels bland and pointless. Not to mention suddenly throwing in the Viceroy as some big villain, after just introducing them halfway through the storyline, doesn’t work.

Hopefully brighter skies will be on the way soon. Those last threads of goodwill anchoring me to the title are becoming as thin as the tether that held Selina in space.

Catwoman #64 is now available from DC Comics.