Caramuru
04-30-2004, 12:36 AM
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Pencils: Paul Gulacy
Inks: Jimmy Palmiotti
In this issue, Catwoman faces Zeiss, the super-fast-reflexes killer with weird goggles. The fight lasts the whole issue with a couple of pages devoted to explain Zeiss' "origin," or how he became the great fighter he is today.
Now, let me start by saying that this is one of the best hand-to-hand fight issues I've seen in comics recently. Not only the art was amazing and very dynamic, but it was a fight that mattered from beginning to end.
Zeiss ambushes Selina at the end of a day when everything seems to be going wrong for her. Her closest friends, Holly and Slam Bradley both had ugly fights with her, questioning her motivations and even her friendship. Zeiss had been lurking around for a while, and while Selina was preparing herself to fight him (training with Wildcat), she was completely unprepared for the ambush. When the rumble starts, she has no back-up plan and no cards up her sleeve. It's a confrontaion against a killer who's obviously a superior fighter. Wildcat says she's faster than ever while Batman feels like she should ask for help.
It's a great fight because everything that's been going on for the last few issues - the self-doubts, the need to prove herself, the improvements through training, the need to protect her friends from a cold-blooded killer - all come out in-between kicks and blows. And the best part of it for me was that she actually can't best Zeiss in hand-to-hand combat. Selina becomes a punching bag, always getting up before the count, fighting for her life. She makes a brave stand, but in the end, she's actually stabbed in the stomach and the only reason Zeiss doesn't kill her is because she's saved at the last minute by her past enemies, the Beti-Ma Cult, which has been stalking her for the last couple of issues.
While the end might have felt a bit like Deus ex machina, it was a much better conclusion than having Selina actually win the fight. This gave a realistic emphasis to the action, coupled with a noirish anti-hero aproach to Catwoman.
This is one of the best super-hero books around as far as writing and characterization goes. I think it deserves an A+
Pencils: Paul Gulacy
Inks: Jimmy Palmiotti
In this issue, Catwoman faces Zeiss, the super-fast-reflexes killer with weird goggles. The fight lasts the whole issue with a couple of pages devoted to explain Zeiss' "origin," or how he became the great fighter he is today.
Now, let me start by saying that this is one of the best hand-to-hand fight issues I've seen in comics recently. Not only the art was amazing and very dynamic, but it was a fight that mattered from beginning to end.
Zeiss ambushes Selina at the end of a day when everything seems to be going wrong for her. Her closest friends, Holly and Slam Bradley both had ugly fights with her, questioning her motivations and even her friendship. Zeiss had been lurking around for a while, and while Selina was preparing herself to fight him (training with Wildcat), she was completely unprepared for the ambush. When the rumble starts, she has no back-up plan and no cards up her sleeve. It's a confrontaion against a killer who's obviously a superior fighter. Wildcat says she's faster than ever while Batman feels like she should ask for help.
It's a great fight because everything that's been going on for the last few issues - the self-doubts, the need to prove herself, the improvements through training, the need to protect her friends from a cold-blooded killer - all come out in-between kicks and blows. And the best part of it for me was that she actually can't best Zeiss in hand-to-hand combat. Selina becomes a punching bag, always getting up before the count, fighting for her life. She makes a brave stand, but in the end, she's actually stabbed in the stomach and the only reason Zeiss doesn't kill her is because she's saved at the last minute by her past enemies, the Beti-Ma Cult, which has been stalking her for the last couple of issues.
While the end might have felt a bit like Deus ex machina, it was a much better conclusion than having Selina actually win the fight. This gave a realistic emphasis to the action, coupled with a noirish anti-hero aproach to Catwoman.
This is one of the best super-hero books around as far as writing and characterization goes. I think it deserves an A+