DCU Comic Book Reviews

CATWOMAN #71

Mother's Day, Part 1

November 2007

Written by Will Pfeifer

Pencils by David Lopez

Inks by Alvaro Lopez

Cover by Adam Hughes

Synopsis

After having a nightmare in which various villains from her past threaten the life of her daughter Helena, Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman) contacts Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) for help.  Selina asks him to fake her death and her baby’s death in an effort to protect her from the crazies connected to Catwoman’s life.  The next day, “Irena Dubrovna” is violently killed in front of dozens of witnesses.  Later, Selina realizes that no matter what, Helena, is still Catwoman’s daughter.  There is one more thing that she needs to do... 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Brilliant stuff.  Normally if I were to tell anyone that a particular issue was standard for a given title, it would be an indication of just average stuff, but over the past year or Pfeifer’s material has always been above average, so the standards for this book have been high for me.  And this issue easily matched that standard. 

I would be lying if I was not disappointed that Pfeifer seems to be heading towards the inevitable solution to the “baby problem”:  to protect her daughter, Selina will give her up.  I would like to see a super hero title in which a baby is a part of her life.  Having children is a natural part of life, but it is the one aspect that is often given short shrift in the super hero universe.  So, yes, I would like to see Helena remain with her mother.  However, I do have to give judos to Pfeifer for making this decision occur from a natural extension of the stories since she was “born” in the One Year Later leap.  With all of the times that Helena has been in danger, it makes perfect sense for Selina to find a better life for her.  This is not a situation born out of a writer’s (or editor’s) need to not deal with the baby, but a writer finding ways to show just how difficult it would be to be a vigilante with a young daughter.  Think about it.  Originally, Selina gave up being Catwoman to become a mother.  But over the past year or two, Pfeifer has come up with ingenious, and believable, ways to get her back into costume and in most cases it was to protect her daughter. 

Of course, all of this is just an assumption based on the ending to this issue. I really hope Pfeifer has some better idea in store.  As for this issue, well, I love the way Pfeifer writes Batman (and I would love to see him given the chance to write one of the main Batman titles).  The interaction between Bruce and Selina is well written, showing affection and friendship between them.  And I can’t resist scenes in which Batman holds Helena in his arms.

 

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