The wealthy mill about a lavish party while zombies lurk outside. Things are about. Selina Kyle will be crashing the party but she’ll have to get through the zombies first in Catwoman #20. Writer Joelle Jones ushers Kyle through a prelude to a showdown drawn by Fernando Blanco. It’s a smooth and easy prelude the moves along briskly. Jones and Blanco work well together in an issue that allows both plenty of freedom to bring Catwoman’s life to the page at a crucial moment for her and her adoptive home of Villa Hermosa. 

Raina Creel is hosting a party for the wealthy. There’s a large gathering of zombies just beyond the Gates. Creel’s enjoying the party from a safe distance in a command center filled with screens feeding from surveillance cameras positioned all over her mansion. She’s about to give her guests a rather nasty, little cocktail that will give all of her guests inside the party a little more in common with the guests at the gates outside. Meanwhile, Selina Kyle is in desperate need of a little party crashing. is given a gift from a few friends which will allow her to be dressed appropriately.

A talented artist herself, Jones knows how to write a script that will allow the artist plenty of room to dance with the story. There’s a grand sense of space and movement that she allows into the story, providing just enough dialogue to deliver the story and allowing the visuals to do much of the work of delivering the story’s impact. Jones paces the story well, introducing first the zombies, then the party, then the sinister hostess before introducing Catwoman to everything she had established at the beginning of the issue on her way to meet Creel next issue for the big climax of the story.

Blanco’s art lacks the delicate stylishness of Jones’ unique ink work. What the art lacks in personality it more than makes up for in sheer action. There ARE moments of clever drama, but Jones has Taylor’s script to an artist who works well with big bursts of action the punch across the page. Blanco takes to the delivery with enjoyably brutal energy that serves the lead-up to next month’s climax quite well.

As entertaining as it is, there isn’t a whole lot of story this issue. The simple plot structure keeps the story firmly grounded in action heroism that maintains an even flow of action from beginning to end. The ending of this issue is suitably dramatic, but it sets up a bit of a challenge for the next installment what with it being the case the final showdown between Catwoman and Creel does appear to be starting on the very first panel of issue 21. An issue-length physical conflict is unlikely. It’ll be interesting to see how Kyle and Blanco wrap-up this part of Catwoman’s life in March. 

Grade: B