cyclonus_the_warrior's Catwoman #2 - Volume 2: Dollhouse review

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    This is not where little girls should play.

    Catwoman's reckless life style led to the disturbing death of her friend Lola, whom she later avenged by beating down her killer, the gangster Bone. She moves in with another old friend named Gwen, whom not only takes up the responsibility of a guardian type, but also works as her information handler for grand theft. Catwoman still enjoys the fast life and things get better for her as she meets a new friend with a passion for stealing. -summary

    I'm one of those "odd" few whom enjoyed the first volume Catwoman: The Game because I was able to see pass the things that annoyed people. I had a feeling that Judd Winick was on to something, if you're familiar with his work then you understand where I'm coming from. His heart seems to be in the right place, yet his work can sometimes feel uneven. This was the issue with volume one, this is the issue here as well, but again, the good seems to outweigh the bad for me. Catwoman Volume Two: The Dollhouse delivers a solid enough story delivering some decent action and good character development, and an interesting villain as well. Unfortunately it's the secondary cast that holds this back in a way. This volume collects Catwoman 7 - 12.

    Judd Winick carries over story elements from the first volume, such as top ranking crooked cops in Gotham after her for stealing a large sum of money from them. They get even angrier learning she just gave it away to Batman. One cop, a good one actually by the name of Detective Alvarez is on to their secret, at the same time he wants to bring Catwoman in for her history of thefts. Catwoman meets another man named Spark whom shares her passion for stealing, and the two take off on many jobs.

    The character Spark is actually some of the problem. He's not an annoying character at all, he's actually pretty cool and there's this possibility that these two may fall in love, but this goes out the window simply because he just doesn't have that same connection Batman has with her. Even the dramatic portions between them feel forced and out of nowhere, and you can just tell this guy has an agenda. The rest of the secondary such as Alvarez and Gwen aren't bad people; despite the potential for further development, they both feel like plot devices leading up to something larger and the ending more than supports this. To me, potential and future story arcs is the name of the game here, because even the villain, Dollhouse, is someone capable of becoming much better than this.

    The story has a few plot lines going on. Catwoman and Spark encounter the mysterious Dollhouse, as this person is going around kidnapping hookers for some reason. This part of the story overshadows everything to the point where all other plot threads just feel non existent. For one, Dollhouse isn't that great of a villain, but they are very creepy, twisted, and sadistic; they fit perfectly in the city of Gotham. I also like that this character found their roots in Batman - Detective Comics: Faces of Death, with some type of relation to the Dollmaker. I guess that storyline was actually good for something else. Another reason why this plot thread shines is that it adds a bit more to Catwoman's painful past, and reveals that she does have a heart of gold underneath that bad girl.

    In the last volume there were times I didn't really care if Catwoman survived the next page, but I didn't feel like that this time. Winick continues to reveal more of her three dimensional personality that Ed Brubaker was hitting on during his run before the reboot. This story also crosses over into Batman: Night of the Owls. The story helps develop Catwoman more, but unless you're familiar with Batman: Court of Owls and Night of Owls, this story is going to feel too out of nowhere. Fortunately, thanks to the appearance of Penguin and Catwoman's selfless service, Winick attempts to salvage something out of this unnecessary crossover into Catwoman's territory.

    Guillem March returns for the artwork with Adriana Melo getting in on it, and this is a very pretty looking, well detailed book. I love how everything looks here, I don't even know where to start. Well one thing there's an improvement with Catwoman's design. There is far less emphasis on her curves this time. She still looks sexy but I'm glad the obnoxious fan service took a back seat. The designs are very consistent with the females looking great, some handsome facial designs for the men, and even the crack whores, male and female both resemble the look of junkies on the street. The Dollhouse's lair is pretty creepy, and the style of the story works great with the character designs and backgrounds there. I also noticed that for a female character's book, the colors have more in line with Batman's muted color style; it's nowhere near as vivid as the color work in Batgirl by Vicente Cifuentes. It's kind of dark and atmospheric, just not on the level of Batman: Court of Owls where the artwork in that book actually turned the city itself into a character. I can't think of anything bad to say in this area.

    Catwoman Volume 2: Dollhouse is a fun book for sure and the sexual references are a bit toned down from the last volume. This story arc could have been better, but it's clear that Winick had to piggyback Night of the Owls, and it's too obvious that this was mainly build up for future story arcs. I enjoyed this stuff, unfortunately my hopes in seeing these story elements properly developed are low since Winick was pulled off the title and replaced with Ann Nocenti. She has a pretty good resume and the fact she created Typhoid Mary in the pages of Daredevil proves that she can make female characters awesome. The problem is that different writers can have a different vision, therefore, I see a 50/50 chance whatever Winick was gunning for may crash and burn. In any case, this is a solid follow up to the first volume. If you enjoyed that book you will probably like this one.

    Pros: Very solid artwork and story has its good moments

    Cons: Everything feels like a set up, and it drags things down

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