Catwoman: When in Rome (Batman) [Paperback]

Jeph Loeb (Author), Tim Sale (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 2007

The acclaimed, Eisner award-winning team of writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale return to Gotham City, home of Catwoman, for a tale that takes the Feline Fatale into a dangerous new realm.

WHEN IN ROME chronicles Catwoman's mysterious trip to Italy and her dealings with the deadly Falcone crime family. It's a colorful tale of Gotham's sexiest cat burglar at her most intriguing.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up Gotham City's sexiest cat burglar returns in a story featuring intrigue, fight scenes, and Catwoman in various stages of undress. While she spends most of the book in Italy, it seems that Gotham City is never far behind. She encounters such regulars as Cheetah, Mr. Freeze, The Scarecrow, and Batman, but questioning whether they are real or imaginary leaves her doubting her sanity. The fact that her meetings with Batman are filled with sexual tension so thick that you can cut it with a claw adds yet another dimension to her troubles. All of these events revolve around the heart of the story, which is that Catwoman goes to Italy both to settle a score with the Falcone crime family and to try to learn the identity of her mother. Bringing The Riddler with her on this trip turns out to be both an inspired choice and more trouble than it's worth. When in Rome takes places chronologically between two Batman stories by the same author/artist team: The Long Halloween (1999) and Dark Victory (2001, both DC Comics). Fans of those titles will definitely appreciate this one, but there is enough backstory included so that it isn't necessary to have read the other books. This page-turning adventure will fly off the shelves. Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Loeb and Sale, who have graphic novels about the early exploits of some of DC's and Marvel's most iconic superheroes to their collaborative credit, turn to longtime Batman nemesis Catwoman, who was a bored socialite-turned-cat-burglar before she reformed to become protector of Gotham City's downtrodden. Now she jets to Rome, where she breaks into the Vatican to steal a valuable ring and comes up against the deadly Falcone crime family. Her real mission in Italy, however, doesn't become clear until the final pages. Like the monthly Catwoman in general, When in Rome is more an adult-oriented crime story than a superhero yarn, rather reminiscent of a stylish sixties European caper film, only with spandex outfits and secret identities. Loeb's plotline is appropriately knotty, and his dialogue, including Catwoman's first-person narration, is hardboiled-cum-smartass. Sale, one of comics' most elegant illustrators, here reaches new heights of stylishness (the six issue covers for the original serial, included here, are a tribute to a French fashion artist), aided by bold, moody coloring by Dave Stewart. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (June 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401207170
• ISBN-13: 978-1401207175
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.2 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Trip Back in Catwoman's History, January 11, 2006

By 

Stephanie Crawford (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Catwoman: When in Rome (Batman) (Hardcover)

I love the projects Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale team-up together on (Superman for All Seasons being my absolute favorite) and Catwoman is my all-time favorite comic book character, so when I heard about this project in the summer of 2005 it sounded like heaven. Sadly I missed collecting the original miniseries so I snapped up this hardcover the minute I could get my claws on it.

This follows Selina Kyle after the events of The Long Halloween (probably Loeb & Sale's most popular book together.) It's very early in her Catwoman career, and she's still dealing with her attraction to Batman and even her own identity. After the grisley events of Halloween, she decides to hoof it to Rome to find out the truth of her past and maybe pick up a priceless gem and a hot local guy or two. She takes the Riddler with her, which is pretty unusual, but after explaining why he's there he becomes a nice piece of comic relief for most of the book. I loved watching Selina beating him up. A lot.

You could pick this book up and enjoy it if you haven't read Long Halloween, but Selina's contacts in Rome are all related to the Falcone family, whose exploits and various murders happen in that book. All in all this was a fun read, and while I love the current Catwoman series (don't get me started on issue #50 though, oy!) it was nice seeing Selina as a self-absorbed socialite-type for a bit. There IS a major revelation in this book about Selina's real parentage, which tweaks her entire backstory. I can only assume the abusive/suicidal parents we've been shown for so long as her backstory happened after the events shown in this book.

This is a valentine to Selina Kyle and her prior jet-setting lifestyle, and also to the stylish Rome- and they fit together like a glove. The art is, as usual, unique and gorgeous. Here Ms. Kyle is drawn as a curvy, buxom strong sex kitten with long curly hair. I always thought she looked a bit odd in Long Halloween, but I'm happy to say she looks great in here. This colorful hardcover has a great story inside with a French and Italian couture/film noir look and feel to it, and it'll look great on your shelf. 'When In Rome' is a vacation from current comics that take themselves too seriously while wrapped in ridiculous looking spandex. It's sexy, fun, engaging and highly recommended.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A winner ... with questionable continuity, July 12, 2006

By 

Tom Knapp "Rambles.NET editor" (Lancaster, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Catwoman: When in Rome (Batman) (Hardcover)

Selina "Catwoman" Kyle is seeking for her roots -- and how better to do so than to fly to Rome in the company of a diminutive Edward "The Riddler" Nigma? Convinced that a deceased Gotham City mob boss is her real father, Selina -- still at an early stage of her career -- recruits Nigma to help her solve her personal riddle. (In the meantime, he might also help her figure out where her missing luggage went.)

Let's forget for the moment that this would mean Selina isn't really related to her sister, with whom she shares a remarkable resemblance, and focus on this story alone.

Let's ponder instead why Selina is haunted by visions of Batman. Why members of the Mafia in Italy are so eager to take Selina's life, and why one of their pre-eminent hitmen is willing to put his on the line to save her. And why the Riddler is suddenly a criminal of dwarfish stature.

"When in Rome" is a sleek and sexy Catwoman as envisioned by the hit team of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, the writer and artist responsible for several bestselling titles for both DC ("The Long Halloween," "Dark Victory," "Superman for All Seasons") and Marvel ("Daredevil: Yellow," "Hulk: Gray," "Spider-Man: Blue") in recent years. Loeb's writing is more noirish and character-driven than the average superhero comic; he doesn't shy away from a little mayhem here and there, but it's not the central motivation of his work. He quite obviously finds layers of personality much more interesting, and often a meaty source of conflict. Nigma is a perfect example, providing both the comic relief and genuine menace. Sale's art, on the other hand, is not my favorite style: the faces of his characters are often uniformly sallow and drawn, and there's a certain awkwardness in their movements. Still, it works well with this story, perhaps because he excels at drawing Catwoman just as sleek and sexy as you'd imagine her to be, and his detailed backgrounds are well-suited to the Italian cityscape.

"When in Rome" tweaks Selina's personal history quite a bit, and by the end it's not at all clear how new revelations fit into the accepted storyline. It's a little disappointing, actually, that her rather unique origins have been muddied with a new thread too similar by far to that of another Bat-satellite character, the Huntress.

But that's for the continuity experts, if they exist, to debate. As a stand-alone story, "When in Rome" is another winner from team Loeb and Sale.

By Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Catwoman gets the Loeb/Sale treatment, August 31, 2007

By 

Steven Scott "LeChuck" (L.A., CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Catwoman: When in Rome (Batman) (Paperback)

So being the Batman fan that I am as well as a Loeb/Sale fan, I devoured everything I could of theirs. Knowing that this story of Catwoman, trying to discover her roots in Italy, took place in between The Long Halloween and Dark Victory just made it that much more enticing. Unfortunately I can't say that the magic they were able to pull off with Batman and other heroes was put to good use with Catwoman's solo story.

Not to say that their talents were put to complete waste. The artwork was terrific as always. I just couldn't get into it the same way I got into their work previously. Maybe it's because I'm not as big a fan of Catwoman as I should be to enjoy this. There are plenty of characters from the Bat universe thrown in there for good measure (Batman never makes an official appearance, just in Selina's dreamlike hallucinations), but still that wasn't enough to satisfy.

The Riddler plays a big supporting role in this and while he is one of my favorite Bat villains, the fact that he was there couldn't elevate it for me. I actually much prefer the way other writers handle Riddler better. I would love it if these guys would collaborate on another Batman project at some point in the future because Catwoman just wasn't a good enough substitute. No offense to Catwoman or her fans intended! I still love these guys' work and if they were to write another Catwoman tale set in Gotham I would be all over it.