“Miss Direction”
Artist: Fernando Blanco
Color Artist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Review by Adam Ray
I’m a big fan of the Miss Noun trope that’s used to describe a dangerous lady. I’ve always been partial to Miss Fortune personally, but she’s a very similar character in a very different franchise. As for Miss Direction, we get the best out of Selina in Catwoman #31. The misdirection is at its finest here, in the way all heist narratives are built. We get all the excitement of the thief we root for bursting into an impossibly secure place, but pulling it off anyway, as soon as we get that key nugget of info, deliberately held back from the viewer.
The fawning over Catwoman is immense in this issue. We saw her make a striking entry last time, which adds to the allure and motif of the heist genre. Catwoman is the perfect character to bring this kind of story to DC, but it’s all thanks to the creative team, who have done it so well. We get the hidden information, done in such a way that we don’t feel lost, but instead rewarded when we finally discover how the caper was committed. When you pair that with the fast cuts, and close-ups, to actions and the key details of the Cat’s plan, we really feel like this issue depicts a robbery classic worthy of the big screen.
Catwoman #31 succeeds in its singular, but perfectly managed job of building tension, and we’re introduced to yet another looming threat into the Catwoman’s world. The closing scenes do wonders of presenting us with both the intrigue of “who is this?” with their lordly, overly important chatter. We get gorgeous line art, paired with the city skyline and deep blue colors, making everything feel lofty and mysterious. Seeing the creative team come together to masterfully convey their point is just delicious.
Conclusion
There’s never a dull moment, nor the time to even breathe. Catwoman #31 is the issue that shows off Selina’s mastery of everything she does. By calling together her people; the dispossessed and forgotten of Gotham, her position as the greatest thief in DC Comics is unshakeable. or it was, until now…
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment