Catwoman #37 // Review
Poison Ivy isn’t just Poison Ivy anymore. She’s two different entities that are now quite aware of each other. This complicates things considerably for Selina: a woman who is desperately trying to bring everything together into some kind of stability in her own little corner of the world. Fallout from the Fear State crossover continues in Catwoman #37. Writer Ram V continues a delicately chaotic return to Gotham City for Catwoman with the aid of artists Nina Vakueva, Laura Braga, and Geraldo Borges. Color once again comes to the page courtesy of talented chromatographer Jordie Bellaire. It’s far from the most satisfying run with Selina, but it’s fun to see Ram V usher her out of one big mess and into another.
Alleytown has been vacated by the aerial authority that had been plaguing the entire city. Catwoman and her strays look to try to regain some sense of stability in the wake of the totalitarian crackdown, but they’re going to have problems with a being of great power. So there’s Poison Ivy. And there’s Queen Ivy. And they’re both really, really WAY more powerful than one might think they are, which causes serious issues for Selina Kyle and her hopes to consolidate power over her own little corner of Gotham City. She’s got some really formidable allies, but Catwoman clearly has her hands full.
Ram V has a respectably solid hold on Selina, Ivy, and various other elements of the extended ensemble of characters. Still, it feels like a bit too much of a muddle in the wake of a huge multi-title event to feel all that significant. The large ensemble that Ram V is working with seems to hamper his ability to make much of any kind of sense of what’s going on. He’s simply trying to tell too much story in too small a span of time. He’s worked remarkably well with smaller ensembles in the series’ recent history. A large crossover seems to have shaken the more stylish end of his storytelling.
Vakueva, Braga, and Borges keep the action flowing admirably throughout the issue. There’s a solid kinetic flow of action from the beginning of the issue through to the end that could have easily gotten derailed numerous times throughout Ram V’s script. Still, Vakueva, Braga, and Borges keep it remarkably fresh from beginning to end. Bellaire’s colors aid them immeasurably, adding substantial atmosphere to battles taking place in a ghetto of Gotham that has collapsed under the weight of the conflict in recent issues. Bellair puts a beautiful golden orange haze over the violence.
The best issues in a massive crossover event hold their own weight as distinctive chapters. The latest issue of Catwoman lacks the kind of finesse that would make it terribly intelligible outside of the clash of events of the rest of the crossover. Even in context, there seem to be too many gaps in the course of events in the chapter to feel like anything other than a reasonably pleasant mess.
