Deep Adrenaline Overtones Return
So, the previous issue really had me worried that Winick had completely dropped the intense depth after the first arc had concluded, and that was the main reason I'd held off Catwoman when budgetary concerns came up, but I feel the fool now, because this issue turns things right back around to where they began.
The first page explains the entire issue. A little flashback talking about the bits and pieces of a heist during one of Catwoman's early ones explains her entire m.o., and leads to a moment of revelation towards the end that defines her entire character along the exact lines its been all along.
ADRENALINE.
Sex and Violence and Danger are all sides of the same coin. She undergoes a nearly traumatic experience with Reach, and immediately goes to flaunt her newfound cash, despite having tons of lingering concerns about it. Then the police show up en masse, and for a few pages tension builds and you think she's being desperate, you can almost feel her shaking. And then, a double page spread, and you see the shaking was from arousal, not fear. She psychological releases her state of mind to us. The odds are stacked heavily against her, and she loves it. Her face, her dialogue, the explosive mood of the image... she's getting off on this! She was holding it in, but when things are this bad, she just lets loose and grinds the danger hard. All this seeming uncertainty WASN'T because she was in over her head, its because she WASN'T in over her head.
And sure there's some cheesecake, but its all really tasteful. I mean, when she was at the spa getting a massage, her skin was so smooth it looked like it would melt away as pure lotion, but it fit the mood. She was relaxing, pampering herself, and it forms a stark contrast to the moment where she TRULY enjoys herself.
In Conclusion: 4.5/5
Catwoman's back to the depth it began at. I'm a little iffy on her survival at the beginning, but the injuries she sustained did kind of fit. And I don't feel uncertain enough to check the facts, so it didn't hit me that hard. Catwoman's all about adrenaline, so of course a lot of it has to be about sex. It's all tied together in this whole perfectly sculpted tone. Like Catwoman's perfectly sculpted T&A WHOOPS DID I JUST GO THERE.
