REVIEW: ‘Catwoman,’ Issue #29

Catwoman #29 is published by DC Comics, written by Ram V, with art by Fernando Blanco, colors by Jordie Bellaire, and letters by Tom Napolitano. After removing some obstacles from her path, Selina Kyle is sitting pretty at the top of the Alleytown food chain.  But when a mysterious symbol catches her eye, she can’t leave well enough alone. Where her investigation takes her might be a bit more deadly than she expected.

You know that feeling you get when you return home from a vacation? The one where you had a good time, made some good memories, but you are just so happy to be back? That’s the feeling I had as I made my way through Catwoman #29. While the Future State story starring our wonderful Selena was a great ride, this is the type of story I want from my Catwoman comics.

Our issue begins with the introduction of a new mystery assassin. This first meeting with a new character is executed perfectly. Rather than anything telling you this character is a rough customer, the creative team shows it. Also, the visual design of the character’s suit is amazing. It grabs the eye instantly. And while that seems like it might be bad for an assassin, given the proficiency of their handy work, I don’t think a lot of people will be describing them to a sketch artist anytime soon.

From this impressive intro, Catwoman #29 jumps to Officer Hadley as he arrives at The Nest looking to meet with Selena. He is directed to the top floor where he finds her lounging in a rooftop pool. Writer Ram continues to deliver on Selena’s character with the style, poise, and power that has been so prevalent throughout the run to date. While Hadley is flustered by recent events, Selena is completely in control of the scene. Combine her already confident attitude with artist Blanco’s perfect choice of attire to reinforce her already dominant personality and she might as well be the only person in these panels. Seriously, they could have The Joker run buck naked through the background and I bet you would not see him.

When Hadley makes his exit, he leaves behind a dossier detailing the drug shipment Selena gift-wrapped for him. On the drugs is a symbol she recognizes but can’t quite put her finger on. And, despite what the old saying says about curiosity and the cat, Selina just has to go looking into it. And she’s pretty sure she knows who to go looking for.

The rest of Catwoman #29 delivers a great mix of action, chase, and plot twists. No spoilers, but suffice it to say these moments are delivered with the same brilliant skill as those that opened this issue. This is largely due to the fantastic artwork employed here.

As the back half of the story turns to action, Blanco gets to flex some artistic muscle and deliver some magnificent fight panels. While the characters involved with the scuffle all seem to be evenly matched, their techniques employ some fairly different twists. Blanco captures all this with equal attention to eye-catching style and crisp clear presentation.

Completing the art is new to the series colorist Bellaire. Surprising no one familiar with the colorist’s body of work, Bellaire brings a fantastic array of beautiful palettes to the pages of this book. In particular, there is a large panel where Catwoman is leaping over a city street. The panel catches her in profile, along with a fair portion of the surrounding terrain. The coloring Bellaire does in this panel is truly perfection. In all honesty, I would be tempted to get a print of this for my wall. Seriously, it’s that good.

Rounding out the presentation in Catwoman #29 is Napolitano’s letters. The letter placement throughout the book is great, and the sound effect texts chosen by Napolitano continue to vibe perfectly with the art’s look.

So to sum it all up, Catwoman #29 delivers another rousing success in the sleek, stylish run of this creative team. With Selena caught in the middle of something beyond her understanding, it will be interesting to see if she’ll be able to keep her cool demeanor intact as she faces off with her shadowy new foes.

Catwoman #29 is available now wherever comics are sold.