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Catwoman #14
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artists: Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, and Sonia Oback
Cover Artists: Guillem March and Tomeu Morey
Publisher: DC

If Joker is the King of Gotham’s Rogues, Catwoman can certainly be considered the Queen, even if they hate each other. When Joker’s in town, no one is safe, including the rest of Gotham’s illustrious rogues; and in this case, Catwoman is fairly high on his list of people whose lives he wants to destroy. The strange thing about Joker going after Catwoman because she’s close to Batman, is that in the new DC she’s not that close to Batman. She used to know that Batman was Bruce Wayne, she used to visit Wayne Manor, she was part of his inner circle of friends, and all that changed when DC screwed with the Bat-Universe. That being said, this was actually a good tie-in to the main event. The art was gorgeous, the story was solid (even if Joker spoke too much), and in the end it did what all tie-ins should do – it connected the series to the “Death of the Family” event, and it opened up Catwoman to be used by Snyder in Batman. 4/5

Nightwing #14
Writers: Tom DeFalco
Artists: Andre Guinaldo, Mark Irwin, and Rod Reis
Cover Artists: Eddy Barrows and Rod Reis
Publisher: DC

Lady Shiva is in town and anyone can be her next target. Unfortunately, that means Nightwing not only has to watch out for Joker, but the expert assassin Shiva. The issue has a very “Day in the Life of Nightwing” feel to it, and as can be expected it is a very fast paced issue. Nightwing lives a very busy life, juggling crime-fighting and a business, and the issue did a solid job portraying that. This issue almost fell into the same problem as Batman and Robin #13 from last week, in its attempt to tie in an unrelated story with “Death of the Family.” In this case, however, the result did not feel as forced or awkward. Lady Shiva’s appearance feels a little out of place, however, it is very likely that she will be having a larger role sometime in the future. The art in this issue largely compliments the fast paced tone of the story and looks particularly great during the action sequences. 4/5

Red Hood and the Outlaws #14
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artists: Timothy Green III and Blond
Cover Artists: Kenneth Rocafort and Blond
Publisher: DC

Superman is supposedly cooler in the new DC, and while judgment on that is up for grabs, this issue demonstrates that he’s certainly different. His appearance in this book, which is most likely due to Lobdell taking over Superman, hints towards a possible crossover between these two books sometime in the future. With Superman’s appearance, the team’s knee jerk reactions to attack Superman, and Kori’s story about being approached by an alien, the issue felt a tad bit forced and the story felt like an out of place filler issue. The art in the issue was strong, however, as long as Kenneth Rocafort is still doing covers it’s hard not to compare the two and imagine what could have been, had Rocafort not moved on to Superman. 3.5/5

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Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net