Batman Arkham: Catwoman (Batman

Batman Arkham Collections #16

by Bill Finger, Dick Giordano (Inker), Ed Hannigan (Cover Art)

Selina Kyle is a dangerous criminal whose claws aren’t to be crossed, but she’s also Gotham City’s Robin Hood, using her unlawful talents to help those in need. Thisrich contradiction has made Catwoman one of the most complex and compelling antiheroes in comics, and one of the most enduring villains in the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery. This volume collects Selina Kyle’s greatest tales from Batman #1, #355; Catwoman (1989) #1-4; Catwoman (1993) #54; Catwoman (2002) #25; Catwoman Secret Files and Origins #1; and Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #70-71.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Batman, Comic Book

243 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 18, 2023

About the author

William "Bill" Finger was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the uncredited co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, as well as the co-architect of the series' development. In later years, Kane acknowledged Finger as "a contributing force" in the character's creation. Comics historian Ron Goulart, in Comic Book Encyclopedia, refers to Batman as the "creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger", and a DC Comics press release in 2007 about colleague Jerry Robinson states that in 1939, "Kane, along with writer Bill Finger, had just created Batman for [DC predecessor] National Comics".

Film and television credits include scripting The Green Slime (1969), Track of the Moon Beast (1976), and three episodes of 77 Sunset Strip.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Benjamin]

How? Found on the new shelf & someone recently recommended the Tini Howard Catwoman (which my library only has in ereader and I wanted something not-on-a-screen).

What? A wide, but somewhat random selection of Catwoman stories:

* Her first appearance in Batman #1, 1940, as a woman thief, with a long interlude of Boy Wonder Robin beating up some crooks for no reason other than to prove that crime doesn't pay
* Batman #3, 1940, now she wears a cat mask
* 1947, Detective #122, she wears purple and is into cat-pun crimes
* #210, 1969, a very zany 60's tv show style
* #266, 1975, she's in purple, with sort of a miniskirt and cape thing (or is it merely a long skirt in the back
* #332, 1981, she's fighting Talia, maybe she's good now?
* #355, 1983, she's jealous of Vicki Vale, her and Bruce fight and then cry together
* Catwoman #2, 1989, her backstory with a nun sister and a mean pimp
* #57, 1993, she fights Poison Ivy in a ruined Gotham
* #10, 2002, she rescues a woman in jail because of their past (they were friends as kids, and the girl saved Selina from being attacked by some boys)
* When in Rome #4, 2005, Selina fights the Cheetah
* #1, 2018, Selina tries to go straight but a bunch of copycats are out there, strings pulled by a scary old woman.

Yeah, so? I cannot recommend this book as entertainment. As might be obvious from the list above, the stories are all over the place, with very little reason why they chose X over Y. (The #4 of the Rome mini-series is particularly odd to me, and the last being #1 feels like an attempt to get you to go out and buy the collected.)

But as an educational/historical artifact, it's got some interest. It is interesting to me, for instance, to see how bad the first issues of Batman is, with sort of clumsy and unclear drawing at times, and plot beats that have no reason to be other than boyhood power fantasy mixed with a pre-Seduction of the Innocent (1954) attempt to make Batman into an anti-crime scree. (He all but turns to the audience and says "crime doesn't pay." This isn't for the readers, I think, so much as their parents: see, ma, this is good stuff!)

It's also interesting to see from the beginning how Catwoman is posed as a femme fatale, someone who is on the wrong side of the law, but who Batman is drawn to, nevertheless. (As she says when her disguise is dropped, "Haven't you ever seen a pretty girl before?" -- which is helpful, since the drawing is a smudged and half-finished face to my eyes.)

So you could probably write a decent paper on the changing outfits of Catwoman over time (that cat mask in #3 is very odd, but you can see them trying to go for big costume swings; and it's either a wild ride or a straight line -- depends what you think -- to get from "woman with cat mask" to "skintight fetish gear"). And heck, you could also write a paper on how they deploy sexual violence and exploitation as backstory here (about which: feh, it's almost as if it's the only story they can come up with for women characters), but that would be a grim paper.

All in all, I wish I'd just gone for the Tini Howard books.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Quiet or papa spank” and actual line I had to read with my own eyes within the first 20 pages

[Kevin Dumcum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t understand this book. I’m a big Catwoman fan, but this is like they closed their eyes and picked stories out of a hat. Appropriately, her first two appearances in Batman Comics are chronicled, but then it is just a random meandering through her career. Absent are any stories from the early 80s when she teamed up with Batman, much to Robin’s chagrin. There is one random story from late in the Jim Balent era. Oddly, and out of context, this includes issue 2 of the four part mini-series, issue 4 of the six paper “When in Rome” series, and issue one of Joelle Jones’ ongoing storyline.

The whole thing feels incomplete.

3 stars because the stories themselves are interesting.

[Kaylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I'm almost done with this series; only a few more to go. I will admit, while Catwoman is iconic, I don't consider her one of my favorite characters in Batman. The will-they-won't--they between Catwoman/Selina Kyle and Batman/Bruce Wayne can get old. There are also better rogues to focus on. And I also have to admit, in my opinion, the first Catwoman costumes (especially with the realistic cat-head!) were silly and/or stupid. That said, I don't hate the character or the stories in this collection. I liked "Reap What You Sow" (Catwoman #57 from 1993) and "Joyride" (Catwoman #10 from 2002). I also was upset that I don't know what happens in "Downtown Babylon" (Catwoman #2 from 1989) and want to know what happens next in "Copycats" (Catwoman #1 from 2018). P.S. That is Batman #1? That is how our heroes Batman and Robin are introduced? Really?

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly skimmed. I had read most of these prior. Decent collection. May revisit again.

[Mike Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best of the Arkham series, but I've never been the biggest Catwoman fan to begin with.

I feel like there definitely have to be better Catwoman stories than the ones included here though.

[Cryssie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fun to walk through the timeline of Catwoman’s history. Would highly recommend to comic book readers.

[Chris W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Random grab bag or Catwoman stories but none of them are the good ones

[Lizzy DeMarco · Rating 5 out of 5]

REally enjoyed this collection. There were a couple of comics I hadn't read before.