Graphic Novel Review - 'Catwoman: Lonely City' by Cliff Chiang

A brilliant standalone 'Catwoman' comic. You don't need to have any prior knowledge of Catwoman/Selina Kyle in other comics in order to read, understand and enjoy this, it is that good. It is like an 'Elseworlds', "What if?" type of DC (Black Label) comic.

Stylish, sophisticated, sombre, sexy, hard-hitting, relevant and political, 'Catwoman: Lonely City' is the type of story Selina Kyle would be proud of. Here, she is fifty-five years old, and not quite out of her prime (and certainly not her pride) yet. She has just been released from prison for supposedly murdering Batman ten years previously.

Batman/Bruce Wayne is dead, and so are Joker, Commissioner Gordon, and Dick Grayson (Tim Drake and Harley Quinn, too, assumably, though it's never outright stated), from the worst night in Gotham's history, Fool's Night.

Now, Harvey Dent/Two-Face is the mayor of Gotham, and he has outlawed masked vigilantes and is enforcing a brutal, militarised police force- the Batcops - and even a fucking tank, to "keep peace and order" in Gotham for the first time ever. The wheelchair-bound Councilwoman Barbara Gordon is running against him for the election in a few weeks.

With tensions with everyone remaining tight with nerves already, Selina, forever a master of thievery and heists, is determined to find out one last secret of Bruce's, begun with his literal dying breath. What is "Orpheus"? The answer is in his Batcave, which nobody has been able to locate, access and penetrate since his death.

Along the way in helping Selina achieve her goal of infiltrating the Batcave are a number of Batman rogues gallery cameos, including the Penguin, and predominantly Killer Croc, Ogbeast/Rowena and her family, the Riddler, his daughter Edie (an admirer of Catwoman and potentially her protegee), Poison Ivy (who is a plus-size woman here, and a beans and plants entrepreneur, awesome), and Etrigan. At some point, Klarion the Witch Boy appears, and even Zatanna makes a funny but relevant two-panel cameo.

Oh, another cameo, for one page: Dr. Leslie Thompkins.

Green Lantern's ring is in this, as well. Selina uses it once.

It is a very all-encompassing comic.

It's high stakes - and high heists - all around.

'Catwoman: Lonely City' was created by Cliff Chiang, who did almost every aspect of it himself. Imagine all the hard work that went into making it, by a single person. What amazing art, writing, editing, and pacing. You deserve all the awards, Cliff.

The comic has been likened by many to Catwoman's version of 'The Dark Knight Returns', and I can definitely see it. There are similarities, but this book makes it own mark, its own identity. For one, it has a far stronger female presence, female companionship, compassion, and humanity than in Frank Miller's works. Good work in the POC rep and acknowledging that Selina is half-Hispanic, too. Speaking of female bonding, Selina's strained yet growing relationship with Barbara is very well written. Her interactions and development with Ivy needed a little more work, and panel time, though; as is the case with her relationship with young Edie.

Also, before 'Lonely City', has anyone ever shipped Catwoman and Riddler? That seemed strange and arbitrary.

And is Barbara now in a relationship with a woman, Josie Mac, and has a young son, Wayne, with her? I'm a bit confused about that. She is a staunch LBGTQ rights political candidate, too.

(Poison Ivy also makes out with a woman in one panel.)

'Catwoman: Lonely City' does have a bit of everything. It is a serious, dramatic, heartbreaking story, but it doesn't take itself too seriously, for there are moments of levity in a lot of pages. Ultimately, it is about Catwoman moving on from her grief - learning "Don't look back" (the Orpheus metaphor is apt) when it comes to her lost love Bruce - and leaning to trust others, and not be alone anymore. Like she was in her harsh prison environment for ten years. She'll learn to love and work with others again. To see beauty and sparkles in life again, like jewels, like city lights at night.

It's still far from perfect, but I recommend it all the same. For Catwoman fans, DC fans and readers, comics fans, superhero fans, and superheroine fans.

Yes, it may be a bit political, and it may have a bit of an agenda, but so what? So it should. What's 'The Dark Knight Returns' to you, then? Just because the protagonist is female - and most rare, an older, POC female protagonist - that doesn't automatically make it "political", like that's a bad thing anyway, for some reason. It's 2023: Stop this "I see only two genders - male and political" bullshit mindset right now. Just have fun reading a fun comic book, and get over yourself.

'Catwoman: Lonely City' - the best 'Catwoman' comic ever made, hands down.

(I feel I should win a prize for managing not to make any cat puns throughout this review.)

Final Score: 4/5