“Everything You Know About Selina Kyle”
Artists: Kyle Hotz, Fernando Blanco, Juan Ferreyra
Color Artist: David Baron
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Review by Adam Ray
The annual is always an exciting event for any ongoing title. We get a big bumper issue, sometimes the story is related to the ongoing title, sometimes it’s independent. Catwoman Annual 2021 is somehow both of those at the same time.
The wonderful presentation of the artwork and the story shown over time gives us a unique and rich story. Calling this release the Catwoman Annual is a misnomer in my opinion. That’s not a negative, so please do not see it as such.
Ram V has done wonders expanding the scope of Catwoman’s stories in recent issues, and I love that. This is a story about one of my new favourite antagonists, where we learn about this pious assassin’s history with a group closely tied to Batman’s past. We get plenty of Catwoman at the same time, picking up the pieces as the world closes in around her.
I have to talk about what the context and overall plot of the comic is, to do this I have to mention the gorgeous artwork by four masters of the craft. The styling is so clearly different between the story that’s set in the present, which matches the stylised and sharp look that the rest of this title’s run has had; and the past, which has smoother lines, and elements of hyper realism I’ve not seen in a very long time in comics.
Conclusion
Catwoman Annual 2021 delights readers with the majesty of its presentation. It presnts us with two, very different, comic book art styles and tells us a compelling and dark revenge story from a fascinating character’s past. With all this context, we can go back to the regular run with a lot more emotion invested into Catwoman… and the strange figure following her.
Image Courtesy of DC Entertainment