The Phantasm is on her warpath against the Joker, but do Batman and Catwoman really want to find her? Spoilers for Batman/Catwoman #2 follow.
After an incredibly long wait for the series come out, Batman/Catwoman first issue debuted in a fantastic manner, especially for fans of Tom King’s initial run on Batman. It brought fan-favorite character Andrea Beaumont into the DC universe proper, set up an intriguing tale of love and revenge, and featured truly astounding art. So, does this second issue carry on the momentum from the first issue? For the most part, it does. There are a couple of missteps, but this issue mostly pushes the story forward very well.
For better or worse though, there’s a lot going on in this issue. Three timelines, stories, and characters that all connect to one another in ways that we don’t fully comprehend yet is a lot for the audience to juggle. Realistically though, these first two, probably three, issues of the series are the first act of the whole story. It’s all purely set-up for what’s to come. That’s not to say that nothing happens in this issue. In fact, a lot happens.
We get to see The Phantasm in action for the first time here and it feels like she’s ripped straight from Mask of the Phantasm and has been given the ability to truly rip people apart. Although she doesn’t actually appear all that much in this issue, her presence looms heavy across the entirety of it. And when Phantasm does show up in this issue, she’s terrifying and arguably the best part of the entire issue. The Phantasm is captured utterly perfect in this issue. If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now. Batman/Catwoman is just as much about Andrea Beaumont as it is about Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle.
There’s a lot of interesting work done with Selina in this issue as well. She’s depicted very differently across each of the different timelines, but none of them feel like a different character. Each depiction simply feels like a different woman at very different points in her life. If any comic character deserves this depiction, it’s Selina Kyle. And hey, we get to see her presumably kill the Joker, even if it is when they’re both senior citizens. It’s still incredibly satisfying. Not saying it was the right thing for her to do, but still satisfying nonetheless.
The problems in this issue stem from the actual transitioning from the timelines. In the first issue, just from how the art was laid out and dialogue structure, the timeline transitions were pretty easy to follow. However, that falters a bit in this issue. There’s often not dialogue that can properly transition between the timelines or the art doesn’t do a good job in specifying the change, especially for the past and present. Once you see costumes and the like, it’s very easy to tell which timeline each story is being set in, but the lack of good transitions is frustrating.
Ignoring the transitions though, the art in this issue by Clay Mann and Tomeu Morey is phenomenal, for the most part. That seems to be a theme with this issue. Mann’s line work is utterly fantastic and his depiction of each of these characters throughout different points in their lives while managing to make them still feel consistent should be commended. Plus, his Phantasm is perfect in every way, shape, and form.
Morey’s colors are once again fantastic as well. The colors truly bring Mann’s line work and inks to life in a way that simple black and white would never be able to manage. However, it feels like he could differentiate the timelines a bit more with his coloring.