Cover to Cover: Run, Batman, RUN! (from Catwoman)

Let's look at the rest of the week in comics. I wanted to get Ennis and Chaykin's War Is Hell but I thumbed through the issue, and it only has 22 pages for 4 bucks (and no cardstock cover). It sounded like a rip-off to me.

Anyways, up on the review block today is Hack/Slash #10 and Catwoman #77. If you missed this week's Birds of Prey #116, you can find it here.

Catwoman#77
by Will Pfeifer and David/Alvaro Lopez, gorgeous cover by Adam Hughes

I feel really bad, because I got some water on the cover, and I hate to ruin such a pretty cover, but don't pay attention to my neuroses. . .
An homage to Run, Lola, Run, I believe. The thing is, I wonder if Selina has to have so much rouge on her face; it makes her look younger/ more innocent than I think she should appear to be. As always, I love the whip being shown like a tail. That is so cute.

Enough about the cover, let's get to the comic itself. While this tie-in to Salvation Run isn't exactly the best of jumping-on points, it's definitely a fun read, because --

1) Batman tries apprehending Catwoman (in his very own Bat-copter!).



Fails.

2) Batman tries apprehending Catwoman again. (now with three other members of the Justice League!).



Fails.

3) Batman tries yet again, with the entire DCU behind him:

Well, I guess you can find out what happens by checking it out, hm? It has to do with Salvation Run and isn't that creative, since we're in the age of the Wachowskis, but it's still a really fun read.

Selina finds herself in a strange Earth, and makes the most of it. Here, on this Earth, she has super powers and everyone fears her, and what does she do with that? She has some coffee. --->

I like Catwoman's voice in the narration. It's very easygoing and friendly, and it's confident as well.

Good stuff, although I can't really expect any more substance from a forced tie-in.

Earlier I resolved to give the title some trial issues, and I haven't regretted it, though after this arc I'm sure we'll get to see more substance. Three out of five bruised and bandaged Batmen.


Hack/Slash #10 by Tim Seeley and Emily Stone (welcome back Emily!)

This cover is really interesting, not just because it's over-the-top gore and gratuitous T&A, but also because David Nakayama drew it. You might recognize him as one of the artists for Marvel Adventures Hulk, a kid friendly Hulk book.

Anyways, I was really, really disappointed by the last three issues, in large part due to the lazy, background-less art from Rebekah Isaacs.

Thankfully, Emily Stone returns on pencilling/inking duties! I am so glad.

This issue is a nice interlude which sets up some upcoming arcs. Cassie and Vlad travel to Montana to find out more information about Cassie's father.

There's a lot and a lot of backstory about Cassie's father's friend, but there's also a lot of exciting action. Cassie and Vlad take down some feral children, and face a moral polarization/dilemma.

The writing here, it's pretty convoluted and requires a lot of prior knowledge. My list, let me show you it:

-reference to Emily Cristy, a skin-eating zombie American Queen in the past issue (I got that one).
-reference to the government guy of past issues (ehhh, he wasn't so prominent in those issues, though, so this reference isn't exactly strong).
-Vlad's oath to Cassie that he'd stop her if she ever went too far (I got that.)
-Muffy Joworski (the lady from Tub Club?)
-revenants (are undead corpses. That's reiterated here).
-the halfway house (What is that? Did I miss something?)

A lot of this issue relies on past issues, which is a big turn-off, BUT we got some classic Hack/Slash writing here. Cassie swears every panel and she's always doing something bad-ass every other panel, while Vlad gets some hilarious hapless dialogue.

Classic.

Two out of five Muffy Joworskis. Overall, this issue isn't as good as it could be, because of the heavy reliance on past knowledge, but I'm just glad that Emily Stone's back on art. Emily Stone!

Never leave us again, Ms. Stone.