It was my Birthday this week so I was off doing Birthday things and not a lot of comic booky things. When I finally did sit down I thought ‘Well, for my Birthday I want to read the best comic I have from my recent stash that I just picked up. I rifled through them and came upon the one that was clearly above and beyond the rest: Catwoman Lonely City. My goodness, what a triumph this comic has been. Cliff Chiang you are God amongst mere mortal comic creators.
I believe this may be Cliff’s first major book where he’s not only drawn it but written it was well. If that’s the case, more. Not even pretty please just more. Like foot stomping, arms folding, lips pouting, whiny sounding gimme what I want now or else, more. The last Chiang experience I dove into was the greatest Wonder Woman run ever which was back in 2011 when he teamed up with Brian Azzarello to reboot WW for DCs New 52. It was stupendous. I never even really read Wonder Woman before so I don’t have any context for previous runs but suffice it to say no WW creative team has come close at all to replicating the grandeur of those arcs and Chiang’s artwork was beyond stellar.
Hell, I never even read a solo Catwoman book before this one. Black Label has me reading Catwoman and Aquaman, holy frikkin moley, and they’re probably both the best books of the year. This is like someone getting me, a Jew, to eat pork. I only eat kosher Bats and maybe a little shellfish Wonder Chick but definitely no swiny cats or fish people. It had been a minute since the last Lonely City so I had to reread issue three and I was immediately brought back to how great this mini series was.
The whole idea of middle aged villains trying to pull off a caper in the shadow of the death of the greatest superhero ever is pure genius, especially when those villains are DC Icons. Catwoman’s got creaky knees and a butch haircut with grey streaks, Riddler has a paunch and a daughter, Croc is tubby and farts quite often and Poison Ivy looks like she could be running a Tattoo shop and a taco truck while doing roller derby matches on the weekend. They’re all mortal, they all have their flaws and their flaws rear their ugly head in situation after situation. It feels real and human. These off the wall characters really come to life. Croc was probably the best, a loudmouth fatso in a bar with a Mets shirt on who gets ribbed for his current failures while he boasts of a majestic past.
Chiang also has Two Face as an out of control New York City Mayor dealing with a fiery election against Babs Gordon. Gotta say, Harvey gives off major Gavin Newsom vibes. I wouldn’t be surprised if you dipped Newsom in a pool that half of his face falls off. Maybe that was him going after Paul Pelosi with a hammer while he was flipping a coin in his off hand,
Nancy: Gavin’s back with a hammer, Paul, run!
Paul: Where?!? Shit, I forgot to text him back.
Gavin: When I send you dick pix you’re supposed to send some back Paul!
Paul: Nancy! I’m stuck in the Sex Swing, help!
The conclusion of this book is perfectly executed. There are consequences for actions taken. There are sacrifices made. There are reconciliations. The final battleground of the Batcave is grounded. It’s not some out of control goofy bam pow wham. I can’t say enough about these four issues. Find them. Buy them. Revere them. Cliff, you have a tough act to follow but I’ll be following no matter what. Thanks for the great Birthday present.
Rating: 10.0
Verdict: Pull. Put in a Glass Case with a Light shining on it.
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