Ann Nocenti seems to have her ducks in a row about how to approach Catwoman. Click the jump to see more.
For a while since Catwoman #0, Ann Noncenti has not be able to impress fans with her work on Catwoman. Most of the problem was editorial and the use of Catwoman in other DC books such as Justice League of America and the late tie-in of Batman: Death of a Family. The character struggled under the writing in the aftermath of all this and now that Batman: Zero Year is going off into its own origin of Batman. The rest of the characters in the Batman universe have room to develop more and to bring fans back to reading them. It seems that Catwoman has her chance at last to have better storytelling and Nocenti has room to create a bit of a noir feel to Catwoman. Here’s a bit of what’s to come:
- Catwoman Annual #1 will be coming out on May 29th.
- Annual will tie into Catwoman #20-21.
- Penguin will be in Catwoman #20-21 + Annual.
- New villains, Dr. Phosphorus and Joker’s daughter will be appearing after #21.
Penguin has been very popular in The New 52 and he has made his way over to Catwoman. It’s best to say that the two characters work well together in a story, so kudos to Nocenti for utilizing the pair. It seems that Nocenti will also be expanding into Penguin’s character and using Gregg Hurwitz’s Pain & Prejudice as a foundation. Nocenti states this about her use of Penguin:
Let’s see all the sides that we love about the Penguin. It’s so politically incorrect, I didn’t really play with that! [Laughs] But it’s a balance. You see him tinkering, coming up with new Penguin-esque weapons, but at the same time he’s trying to be this sophisticated, elegant guy who can mix with society and play with the big boys.
She has the passion to write character, let’s hope the audience will accept her interpretation of Penguin. As far as the other villains are concerned, those characters are making their first appearance in The New 52. Here’s what Nocenti has to say about Dr. Phosphorus and Joker’s daughter:
Catwoman begins exploring the Underground, and meets Dr.
Phosphorus. I see him as a man who has burned for too long. He burns for eternity, and his endless pain gives him a sadistic streak that is unquenchable. What I like to do when “re-inventing” an existing character is to first think about them just based on the visual. What kind of feeling do I get from this character as drawn? Phosphorus, to me, looks like he’s in agony and wants to share that agony with others. A terrifying character. A burning man.
Joker’s Daughter, to me, looked like a funhouse inversion of beauty. But she’s smiling. Is that the Joker’s false smile, or does she enjoy her strange beauty? I started thinking about girls that have anorexia, of the fashion perfect templates of Twiggy, Kate Moss, where unhealthy skinny is seen as beautiful. The design of Joker’s daughter is so sassy, so ornery, you just know that even though you might see her as ugly, she doesn’t care a whit how you see her. She likes what she sees in the mirror. She seems to be reveling in a feeling that ugly is beautiful. I think she’s got terrific sass. Twisted, yes, but sassy. And just what is that cane for? I decided it had to be for something very, very special.
Nocenti has all her ducks in a row with new characters, and creative freedom to delve more into Catwoman so let’s hope that will give her time to interest fans to get back into reading Catwoman. The art for Catwoman Annual #1 is done by Christian Duce and will be available May 29th.
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Source- CBR