Catwoman #16 Review

The Beat Goes On

Writer: Joelle Jones
Artist: Joelle Jones, Laura Allred, and Saida Temofonte
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 9, 2019

Ram V popped in and out of this book and now it's time for Joelle Jones to get back to work.  Yea, this book has been running in place for a long time now, but maybe this last break is just what the doctor ordered for Jones to kickstart her story...and my heart!  There are some interesting things going on here, they just end up being pushed to the back burner over and over.  Does that end this month?  Let's find out...


The issue starts out with a cold (and bloody) open with the words "Defeat at the Lazarus Pit..."  Okay, that got my attention as we see a battered Selina literally clawing away from a pack of zombies who turn out to be yet another Creel Family Reunion of sorts.  Of course, Raina is there looking awful...and then they leave.  Yep, the scene ends without seeing any of the good parts and while we jump back and forth in time throughout this issue, we won't see them in this issue.

Speaking of time jumps, Jones (and Ram V as well) are so into this disjointed storytelling device and I am confused each and every time it happens.  In a book with so little going on storywise each issue, I wish Jones would put the gimmicks aside and give us some real character moments and story progression.  

The issue picks up a couple weeks later with Selina doing a little birthday party shakedown with some characters we barely know and some hit and miss humor that is mainly the later.  Again, the gimmick here is the juxtaposition of the fun of a children's party with the bite of Selina's whip but it really falls flat and takes way to long to get to the minor payoff.

This is a Year of the Villain issue and we get a Lex offer that is the only thing intriguing in the entire issue and plays well with what we see by the end of the issue and it's cliffhanger that isn't so crazy if you've been reading any of the other Year of the Villain issues out there.

I am a huge fan of Joelle Jones' art and that is not going to change here.  I wish she could draw every single panel of this series.  I don't feel the same about the writing.  There is not much story here and even less progression as this book just feels like it's stalling for something else to happen in some other book (Batman I would easily guess).  That or maybe Jones was told she has a certain amount of issues left and is stuck in that weird holding pattern of not enough to start something new, but too many to finish this one story.  All I know is this book has major issues and while I love Catwoman, I'm finding it harder and harder to keep it in my pull list.

Bits and Pieces:

Joelle Jones is back, but besides some awesome art, there isn't much here to write home about.  Selina gets an offer, listens to some Neil Diamond and has both a wardrobe malfunction (or destruction) and a costume change.  Nothing you couldn't see at a standard Cher concert and sadly, all we got this week in Catwoman.

5.0/10