“Nine Lives” – Part Three
Artist: Stefano Raffaele
Color Artist: Veronica Gandini
Letterer: Lucas Gattoni
Catwoman #61 finally answers a question that’s been on my mind for quite a while, as well as presenting us with many new ones. This creative team continues to stay strong by bringing us consistently engaging Catwoman stories featuring her engaging in truly dangerous situations because she’s the only one who can.
This tense storyline is set up with constant action, striking visuals, and the swirling vistas of other places that remind us of the travel and escape that can only be achieved in comics.
It hadn’t occurred to me that, just because Selina’s left Gotham, Catwoman wouldn’t necessarily have had to as well. Eiko did a fine job filling in for Seline while she was in prison, and she continues to do so here as Ms. Kyle goes international on her quest to understand the mystical new set of lives she seems to have gained since the “Gotham War.”
This issue gives us a wonderful palette of creature designs. In what feels like a place similar to but legally distinct from Chernobyl, we get the chance to see all-new, freakish, mutant creatures. As a fan of monster movies, I’m all for it.
Raffaele and Gandini perfectly set the tone for the disgusting mutations of these creatures perfectly contrasting and balanced with the placid, endless alpine landscape and the bright colors of the issue’s key characters. It’s a wonderful thing when the elements of a comic delight the eyes while also adding richness and depth to the story.
Conclusion
Catwoman #61 delights us all but also leaves us wondering and worrying about Catwoman’s well-being. Just because she’s functionally immortal that doesn’t mean she should be so cavalier. This does however give us a great deal of interesting drama wrapped up in unknowable magic that leaves us readers clamouring for answers.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment