“Shiny”
Writer: Ivan Cohen
Artist: Dario Brizuela
Color Artist: Franco Riesco
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Review by Lauren Fiske
Back at it again! The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries #3.3 introduces a long-awaited Batman villain and poses some fun puzzles along the way. This issue really picked up in quality compared to the last couple, especially with the inclusion of Catwoman!
As always, there are some mild spoilers ahead, so return to the review later if you haven’t read this month’s issue yet!
Purrrrrfect Choice
If you’re a frequent reader of my reviews, you’ll know that I always want to see female characters flood the pages of the issues I read. Tying in Catwoman, one of my favorite Batman antiheroes (villain seems a strong word), was the perfect treat for the latest issue.
Catwoman’s always been very cool to me. She’s very similar to Bruce Wayne, in that she’s a regular person with a special set of skills, cool technology, and enough intelligence to skirt the edges of moral and immoral behavior. Catwoman knows that what she’s doing isn’t right, but she tests the balance between right and wrong in a similar vein that Batman does (depending on how you look at it).
Catwoman isn’t perfect, but she was a great choice to have for this issue’s mystery. I’ve noticed that I have a problem when reading this series, though. While I believe that I’m a pretty good amateur sleuth, reading simpler mysteries such as the ones we get in this title, usually doesn’t challenge my deduction skills.
However, I have a big gap in knowledge of Batman villains, so I always have to find out later that the clues of the issue’s perpetrator were blatantly obvious (note: half of the time, the villains seem made up out of nowhere, and then my research leads me to a little known villain from the 1960s or something… at least I’m learning!) Catwoman’s impersonator in this month’s issue is glaringly obvious… if you know enough about Batman villains!
I almost always love Dario Brizuela’s art style, and his work paired with Franco Riesco’s coloring is a great combination every time. Ivan Cohen owns the writer’s helm for this series and Saida Temofonte delivered as ever.
Conclusion
The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries #3.3 is a comforting issue that hits everything I’ve come to expect from this series. It was enjoyable and brought a good amount of fun. Overall, this issue was just solid entertainment and an interesting read.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment
