Customer Reviews

Catwoman: The Catfile

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is another great Catwoman graphic novel! It is about Catwoman being kidnapped by the government. Her mission is to steal for them, but if she refuses she will be killed.

She goes around the world battling crazed princes, nazis and more!

Although this doesn't speak much of the duality in Selina Kyle and Catwoman (she is only referred to as Selina once, and by herself), die hard Catwoman fans will still love this action-packed, James Bond-like thriller with beautiful animation.

Chuck Dixon and Jim Balent is at their collaborative best in this volume, "Catwoman: The Catfile". Overall, the story is pretty thin but somehow the charm, pacing, breathless action and fantastic art draws you in. The whole thing reads like a summer blockbuster on paper and Balent's drawing of a super-sexy, super-spy-with-an-attitude feels almost like a guilty pleasure.

Recommended for all Hong Kong action movie buffs, Catwoman fans who hate the Halle Berry movie and everyone who loves a fast-moving, entertaining comicbook. In recent years, comicbooks seem to be struggling for "recognition" by the "real world". It tries to appear "literary", "complex" and "mature". Even the movie-adaptations try to do that by amplifying themes such as parent-child trauma (e.g. Ang Lee's "Hulk" and Sam Raimi's "Spiderman"). In actual fact, a comicbook is primarily about fun. And if, like me, you miss the honest-to-goodness FUN of reading a comicbook, well, this book has it in spades!

Just to clarify, I'm a regular reader of Catwoman's monthly title, and have nearly all of them. As such, I see this story in a different context than many, which I'll explain here to the uninitiated.

Chuck Dixon, this story's writer, was the book's second regular writer, and not my favorite one, personally. He never seemed to think very highly of her, and nearly all his stories revolved around Catwoman's being captured, unable to make ends meet, or bungling major robberies. This, alas, is more of the same, being about Selina being caught and ensleved by the US government.

Having said that, though, it's the best work Dixon did for the book. The story is actually well-done, a competent re-work of the "La Femme Nikita" concept into a Catwoman story. In and of itself, it's a good, solid Cat-Tale, but she's had even better, in her time. She has been stronger, smarter, and more competent in other stories.

CATFILE is a respectable read, but be advised that better stories are out there to be found.

The Catfile collects Catwoman issues 15 thru 19. If you don't have those this may be a good buy. Notice I said "may". The story is not particularly good and Jim Balent's art, which is eye candy, suffers from the overuse of some facial expressions. Nothing worse than eye candy that gets boring. How many scowls, scowling grins or attack with the mouth open as if the person is yelling drawings does one need? If the last description is supposed to indicate fighr or flight heavy breathing the eyes are wrong. The originals were done in 1994 - 1995. I don't recall when DC went to the more glossy paper but this book is standard comic book (non-glossy) paper. As I said, this may be a good buy. Can I endorse it? No.

I READ THIS STORY IN THE COMIC BOOKS AND LOVED IT THE ART WORK WAS THE BEST AND THE STORY WAS GREAT GOES TO SHOW, DOM'T MESS WITH CATWOMAN!