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Sep 27, 2011 Web Exclusive By Mark Redfern

Catwoman #1 gets the series off to a solid start, mainly due to the dynamic art by Guillem March, rather than the breezy and not overly complex story by Judd Winick.

On the opening pages Selina Kyle is frantically trying to put on her Catwoman costume and grab a basketful of her pet felines before some skeleton-masked heavies armed with machine guns burst through the door. Most of the action on the first two pages is effectively shown in close-up, you don’t get a good look at Selina until page three, where she crashes out her window, only three-fourths dressed, for a kinetic splash page. Her apartment is then blown up. She doesn’t know who’s after her or why and that’s the main mystery set up in this issue. But the climax, of sorts, between Catwoman and Batman on the last pages will most get fans and critics talking about this issue. (Spoiler alert: they have sex.)

Some critics and fans are already complaining that this issue over-sexualizes Catwoman. It was admittedly wholly unnecessary to draw Selina with one bra-covered breast hanging out of her costume in the first four pages. But it’s nowhere near as bad as the way Starfire is portrayed as a sex-craved slut in Red Hood and the Outlaws. Batman and Catwoman have had an on-again/off-again relationship for decades, so there should be nothing wrong with them getting it on, except that there’s a chance that some kids may pick up this book. Granted, the characters keep their costumes on for the most part and most of the audience for comics these days seems to be adult males. But maybe some sort of mature warning on the cover of this one wouldn’t have been a terrible idea.

Beyond those discussion points, it remains to be seen what Winick has up his sleeves in terms of a story arc. But I’m in for at least one more issue. (www.dccomics.com)

Author rating: 6/10