‘Catwoman Annual #1’
Writer: Joëlle Jones
Artists: Elena Casagrande, Le Beau Underwood, Hugo Petrus, Scott Godlewski
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Saida Temofonte
The annual is always a unique story experience. Jones has flexed her talents in Catwoman Annual #1 to great effect here. We get a semi-vignette story. One part found source documentary, one part Blair Witch Project. This annual does the great thing any annual should. It follows the established arcs being written in the main title, yet is open enough that anyone can dip in. A noir treat is what a fresh reader would find here.
The cuts between interview and events are very well handled. This kind of story has been seen on TV and film frequently. The past season of Arrow did this to great effect. Here we get the authentic feeling of us being part of a slice of journalism. It’s rare to get hard hitting realism in our comics, and I love the ambition.
The quality of facial expressions in this issue are some of the best I’ve seen in some time. The anger on Selina at the fate of those artifacts. The confidence of Amanda, giving her testimony. The disinterest of the police officers giving their statements. Faces, and the subtext they give, really pieces together this story.
Conclusion
Catwoman Annual #1 is a story driven treat to really pull us away from the high stakes of the current storyline. The unique nature of the story combined with its non-spoilery relevance to the current arc successfully gives us a dip into the character. It touches all the bases of hype and compelling. Stand-alone, but relevant. There’s something blissfully cinematic about this one off. Stories like this give me hope. If a single issue would make a compelling film in their own right, then comics have the scope to do anything.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment
