“Nine Lives” – Part Seven
Artist: Ivan Shavrin
Letterer: Lucas Gattoni
Catwoman #65 is a release that gives readers a wonderfully strong mix of the fantastical, with a changing heist narrative that’s very welcome in the stories featuring DC’s greatest thief.
The feeling behind this month’s action keeps the title feeling fresh, but also delivers a welcome spin with some unlikely, highly unexpected supernatural elements… plus the build-up of all the people that Catwoman’s wronged over time, all coming back to get her.
Tini Howard has shown her creative prowess with the title over this seven-part arc and beyond. We’re treated to theft narratives that have had different structures and tones over each issue; be it the team-up with the Suicide Squad or the tense chase in space in last month.
It takes a strong writing imagination paired with a deep love and understanding for Selina Kyle to fling her consistently into wildly different stories, yet completely fitting, tales and always have them all gel together into one story and feel cohesive. This could be the definitive Catwoman.
The artwork by Ivan Shavrin is a wild departure from Carmine Giandomenico’s realism and heavy linework, from the run’s previous issues. Somehow, this new hyper-stylized artwork fits better, as it’s got a more vivid palate of colors, as Shavrin has handled all the visuals and delivered them with the sharp angles and polygon style of figure building, akin to Eastern or video-game artwork.
This is all further emphasized with arrows in the panels, showing how Selina moves. That makes it feel like a storyboard which may be off-putting to some but is right up my proverbial street. Those wild and stylistic moments all work for an issue where Catwoman starts with a trip that involves taking her to an ancient Egyptian deity.
Conclusion
Catwoman #65 was a delight to this reader’s sensibilities. We get the continued appreciation for her heisting constantly but set to a style of artwork that feels like all your favorite animations came together for a Catwoman classic. It’s all added up to being an issue that will really stay in my mind for a long time to come.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment