The Good
There are some solid flashback scenes in this issue where the readers gets a closer look at the relationship between Lola and Selina Kyle. It's sweet; there's a level of compassion Lola has for her, and I hope that although Lola is dead, her presence remains prominent in the CATWOMAN book. I hope that she continues to teach and influence Selina's decisions even after her death so that her death is justifiable. Generally, I've noticed that Winick is very good about that in his stories.
The second half of this issue is fantastic. The scenes where Selina is mourning the death of her close friend, sitting over her body, and the inner turmoil she experiences as she is burning any and all evidence that ties her to Lola is exceptionally written. She is feeling all this overwhelming guilt, and you can feel that. She's sad, and you feel sad for her.
Selina loses control in this issue, and while at first I didn't quite buy it, I went back and re-read it and it makes sense. She definitely feels out of character in several scenes where she is losing control of herself, but it makes sense that she would. If someone deliberately took the only person who you ever really, truly loved you might go a little bit crazy, too; and that's what we get in this issue. Her hopelessness is evident, and she has been physically and mentally broken down.
The issue ends on a huge cliff hanger that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Winick has set up a big challenge for Selina, so it will be interesting to see how she gets out of the mess she is in this time.
The Bad
It's evident that Lola loves Selina, but if this is the case, why would she (if she loves and cares for her well being) allow her to jeopardize her life and put herself at risk at such a young age? If Lola really cared about Selina would she let her risk her life for some loot? Are diamonds really worth getting killed over? That's my problem with this issue. Although Lola reprimands Selina for her tactics (her recklessness will get someone killed) it isn't enough for Lola to A) stop working with Selina and B) if she's going to steal, try to demonstrate how to do that without getting her killed. I am hoping we will see a bit more of her influence, however, in the coming issues,, so I'm not completely writing it off just yet.
The conversation between Selina and Bone feels a little bit contrived. The typical "villain versus hero" scene where the villain explains the inner workings of why he did what he did and what his motives are happen in this issue. And it's silly. It feels a little bit forced.
The Verdict
Overall, the story is moving along rather well. It feels like Winick is breaking Selina down in order to build her back up again. Here is a girl who already has a lot of baggage, that just lost the one person she was ever able to trust. It will be interesting to see how Lola will continue to influence Selina, even after death. I've thought about how to describe Guillem March's artistic style in this series and I finally concluded that it is raw. That's actually the perfect word for it. The scenes that are supposed to be violent are more-so because they are so raw. It's an interesting artistic style, but it still makes me feel a little bit uneasy. Winick deals with a lot heavier issues in this one, so there's considerably less "sexy, sexy, sex." Ends on a crazy cliff-hanger; I'll definitely be back for issue #4.