Catwoman #16
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artists: Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, and Sonia Oback
Cover Artists: Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, and Sonia Oback
Publisher: DC
Catwoman battles demons, humans, and herself on her latest heist, unfortunately, none of that is enough to make this issue any good. The plot, which was convoluted enough in the first issue, gets even more confusing as this issue progresses. Too much happens in this story for a two-issue arc. New characters are introduced, mind controlling elements are introduced, and Catwoman’s intentions throughout the issue are muddled and uncharacteristic. Nocenti tries to go for too much with a limited arc, and instead of being exciting, which it might have been with more issues to space out the crazy, it was just bad. Sandoval, Tarragona, and Oback do a tremendous job making the book look great, though. The action looked nice, the characters were well developed, and it wasn’t visually confusing. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to save the issue. 1.5/5
Nightwing #16
Writers: Kyle Higgins
Artists: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Rod Reis
Cover Artists: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Rod Reis
Publisher: DC
As the “Death of the Family” crossover event comes to an end, the tie-in series have all been left trying to wrap up their story without an actual ending. What made the first issue so great was that the consequences were immediate. People died who weren’t just residents of Gotham, they were characters who had personal attachments to the title character. This issue followed in suit, where more of the title character’s close friends were directly impacted by the Joker’s appearance. However, with this issue concluding with the tagline “to be concluded in Batman #17,” don’t expect much of anything to be resolved in this issue. Batman, as great as it has been, can’t be expected to wrap up plot lines from all of its tie-ins, so it’s probable the next issue might resolve things with Haly’s Circus. That being said, the issue itself was excellent. The tension was high, the plot moved smoothly, and more than any of the other tie-ins, the hero’s life was completely upended by the Joker’s appearance. Barrows, Ferreira, and Reis continue doing a fantastic job bringing Higgins’s words to life. 4.5/5
Red Hood and the Outlaws #16
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artists: Timothy Green III and Blond
Cover Artists: Tyler Kirkham, BATT, and Alex Sinclair
Publisher: DC
When the Teen Titans meet up with Arsenal and Starfire, only good things happen. While that isn’t necessarily true, it is in this case. This issue was filled with great humor, a nice dose of action, as well as a nice bit of character driven scenes. While this should have been a meeting of the old Teen Titans and new Teen Titans (that was ruined by the New DC Universe), it was nonetheless a pleasantly fun issue with the older “Outlaws” taking the lead, not that there wasn’t resistance by the younger kids. Lobdell has proven time and again that he can readily handle a team book with a large cast, without having any characters feel superfluous. The only problems with this issue were the couple of pages where Lobdell set up the next arc. It’s not that they weren’t exciting setups, they just felt completely out of place. The art throughout the book is very strong, nothing too exciting, but at the same time nothing terrible stands out. 4/5
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Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net
