Catwoman #3 and #4

Cover by Guillem March, Tomeu Morey

Catwoman #3 (November 16, 2011) Catwoman  #4 (December 21, 2011)

Writer: Judd Winick

Penciller: Guillem March

Colorist: Tomeu Morey

Letterer: Sal Cipriano

I was prepared to give up wholeheartedly on this Catwoman series after the debilitating awfulness of the previous two issues. Winick had managed to totally embarrass me and make me dislike one of my absolute favorite comic book characters. Perhaps because of my profound love for Selina Kyle, I found myself reluctantly picking up Catwoman #3 and Catwoman #4.

Now, these are still in no way really well written or even particularly gripping issues. The art is still rather slapdash and March’s Selina Kyle is becoming more and more cartoony. Nonetheless, they were improvements from the first two issues. By improvements, of course, I mean there weren’t any unnecessary nudity and no Batman-Catwoman sex. Other than that, the plot is thin and barely interesting.

Catwoman #2

Cover by Guillem March

Catwoman #2 (October 19, 2011)

Writer: Judd Winick

Penciller: Guillem March

Colorist: Tomeu Morey

Letterer: Sal Cipriano

Even after reading the offensive, insulting, embarrassing and just plain poorly done Catwoman #1, I was willing to give this series another shot. I am always reluctant to give up on a series after one issue (I’m willing to be painfully disappointed after at least five issues) so when I saw the cover for Catwoman #2, I took a deep breath, tried not to cringe and picked it up.

Then I read it.

I am just so, so very disappointed in this re-launch. It’s everything I could possibly hate in a comic book wrapped up in issues starring one of my absolute favorite characters. It hurts; it honestly hurts.

Catwoman #1

Cover by Guillem March

Catwoman #1 (September 21, 2011)

Writer: Judd Winick

Penciller: Guillem March

Colorist: Tomeu Morey

Letterer: Sal Cipriano

Yikes.

At this point, I’m not even sure what I can say about this comic without A) echoing what others have said before me or B) ranting and ranting until I pull out all my hair in frustration and collapse in a fit of well-placed anger.

Before I got a hold of Catwoman #1, I had already heard negative things about it from co-workers, friends and Laura Hudson’s fabulous article over at Comics Alliance. Even Comic Book Resources, which I have clashed with in the past, gave it a scathing review.

But, I knew that it was unfair of me to simply take the word of other people without reading Catwoman #1 myself. I knew I had to give it a shot and try not to let the opinions of others color my reaction to it. Now, you can probably argue that this was an impossible feat and I walked into Catwoman #1 totally biased. As a feminist and a Catwoman fan, however, I know my reaction to this comic would have been exceedingly similar even if I had read it blindly.

Regardless, it would always be: