Catwoman 3: Death of the Family

Comic Info

Catwoman (3) #13

Reprints Catwoman (3) #0, 13-18 and Young Romance:  The New 52 Valentine’s Day Special #1 (November 2012-May 2013).  The Joker is back and Catwoman finds herself caught up in his plans to eliminate Batman and his clan.  Plus, Catwoman goes after a mysterious Black Diamond that could warp reality.  Catwoman recalls a secret of her past and a mystery surrounding her childhood.

Written by AnnNocenti with illustrations by Rafa Sandoval, Adriana Melo and Emanuela Lupacchino, Catwoman 3:  Death of the Family ties into the larger Bat-Family series Death of the Family (which was also reprinted in its own collection The Joker:  Death of the Family).  The volume contains a flashback #0 (November 2012) issue and a short story from Young Romance:  The New 52 Valentine’s Day Special #1 (April 2013).

Catwoman started out as a rather loose and controversial comic by pushing the Catwoman/Batman relationship.  Here Catwoman is a little more mainstream, but as a result it loses some of the goofy fun that made the first collections fun.

Catwoman (3) #18

The collection is rather fragmented.  Catwoman’s entry in the Death of the Family is kind of fun due to her off-and-on allegiance to the Joker.  It sets up an interesting “love triangle” between Joker, Batman, and Catwoman that deserves more exploration.  With the Joker rather shoehorned into the story due to the massive Batman Family crossover, a return visit by the Joker as part of a solo appearance would help the series immensely…I like the dynamic between the two characters and since Catwoman is generally a “hero” now, an exploration of their past would also be the basis for a great story.  You just do not get enough of it here.

The volume also sets up an interesting story with the Catwoman (3) #0 issue.  Catwoman might not be who she thought she was in the New 52.  The story (though badly written), does have good potential storylines springing from it.  Whether they’ll develop is unknown, but it is good to see that something new can be done with the old character.

Catwoman loses some fun here but does add some plot.  I don’t know if the plot is the best idea, but it is a different idea.  I am interested to see where Catwoman goes, but I do wish the actual writing was better.  Catwoman 3:  Death of the Family was followed by Catwoman 4:  Gotham Underground.

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Related Links:

Catwoman 1:  The Game

Catwoman 2:  Dollhouse