“Nine Lives” – Part Eight
Writer: Tini Howard
Artists: Ivan Shavrin, Carmine Di Giandomenico
Color Artist: Veronica Gandini
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Review by Adam Ray
We’ve seen Catwoman pull many heists over the decades, but I can say that this time, with her presenting herself as the treasure in Catwoman #66, this is a welcome new take on her ongoing story.
The creative team’s at its strongest, and able to stay consistent with the story between sudden but subtle art style changes. I truly believe this is some of the strongest storytelling in the character’s history.
There’s something about Ivan Shavrin’s artwork that draws me in. Married with Veronica Gandini’s terrific matte colors and the way Shavrin illustrates motion using claustrophobic panels, just gets me. There’s clearly a strong level of understanding of the conventions that he applies, then utterly breaks, that I find delightful.
When there’s an art change in the middle of an issue, it can sometimes be pretty stark and off-putting. Thankfully, there was something very effortless about how the visuals changed between Shavrin and Carmine Di Giandomenico in the middle of the issue.
Of course, this may be because the overall color palette remained very consistent and there was a clear transition between the high motion in the action toward more matte, but well-paced movement in the second half. It’s hard to get this change, mid-issue, to go smoothly but it did.
The tension’s handled very well. We have different moments where Catwoman has to abscond to carry out her mission and we also have the criminal elements in the story wondering what Brad Pitt wonders… what’s in the box?
As readers, we have to wonder just how good her stealth skills are, but also know that we should have a lot more faith in her.
Conclusion
Catwoman #66 leaves us with a wealth of dramatic tension. We finally get the reveal of what caused all the strangeness that’s been happening to her, so now we’re going into this storyline’s final arc with a lot of excitement.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment
