And Then… Nothing Happened…
Written By: Tom King
Art By: Clay Mann, Tomeu Morey
Letters By: Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: March 30, 2021
*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
The time has come once again for Tom King to return with another issue of Batman and Catwoman. For the most part, I realize that I’ve actually been pretty high on this series. Granted, I’m not blown away by it or anything, but looking back on my recent reviews, and reflecting on the series as a whole, I’m not too disappointed by it. I know many people aren’t the biggest fan of Tom King and others actually are the biggest fans of his, but I’m in the middle of the road. I’m enjoying the series, but even I can ignore the blatant flaws that it has. Despite those though, I think I’m looking forward to the newest issue to see where it takes us. So, without further ado, let’s jump into it.
We begin our issue with ice skaters enjoying their time at the Gotham ice rink. They seem to be enjoying themselves and the festivities but we see a small blip underneath the ice and a bomb counter is counting down. We cut to the Phantasm who is walking through the city in almost a dream sequence. Phantasm speaks about the future of Gotham and the dreams we hold for it. As the sequence ends, we cut to the future where Helena has dawned her new Batsuit and is facing off with The Penguin. He sends his goons after her, but they are easily defeated and after they have been dealt with, she demands to know what he can tell her about The Joker and her mother.
We cut to the past where Bruce is getting ready for a local party to be held in his manor. He tells Selina that he actually enjoys these parties when she is there with him. She interrupts him at the last minute to tell him that The Joker has placed a bomb at the Gotham Ice Rink. Without saying much, Bruce removes his formal wear and proceeds to jump into action to stop the attack. In the present, Selina wakes up in a room and follows the open door down a set of winding stairs. She eventually reaches the bottom where Phantasm has multiple monitors set up. Phantasm tells her that she is holding Selina hostage to set up a prisoner exchange with Batman for the Joker. We return to the future where Helena makes her way through Batman’s rogue’s gallery finding more and more information about Joker and Catwoman. According to almost everyone, they were very close.
We catch up to Batman in the past where he evacuates the ice rink and uses his power to break the ice and retrieve the bomb which mocks him and doesn’t explode. Back in the present, Phantasm tells Selina that Bruce is most likely looking for another way to save her instead. Selina pleads with her, telling her that they are looking into her son’s murder and they don’t know for sure it was The Joker. We cut to the future where Selina is meeting with Penguing as well and asks him what he told her daughter. Penguin taunts her but Selina is clearly more vicious nowadays. We see her place her cat down which immediately goes and attacks the pet penguin. The scene between Selina and Penguin is mirrored by the two animals as the cat eventually stands above the dead penguin’s body. We cut to the past where Batman catches up with Selina on the rooftops and asks her where Joker is. She throws the question back in his face and then leaves. Batman does not go after her this time and this is where the issue ends.
Okay so… this issue is weird. First off, mostly nothing happens. Most of the story is about Selina avoiding the main story in the past, talking to her captor in the past, and actually doing some stuff in the future. This issue is BORING! I don’t need constant action or anything but at least give me something that is going to keep my interest. There is only one interesting scene in the whole book and it all is diminished because we have already seen Selina kill a major villain in this very book. Also… can we talk about the elephant in the room? It’s never quite clear exactly the relationship between Catwoman and Joker. However, the other villains all say they were quite close and many others hint at something more. I swear to God, if Tom King makes it so Catwoman and Joker were romantically or intimately involved, it will be the stupidest plot twist of all time. I’m not interested by that. I’m not intrigued by that. That makes me want to throw this entire issue out the window. I’m holding on to hope that I am wrong…. please God, let me be wrong this time.
Bits and Pieces
This issue is a drag and almost completely pointless. Most of the issue involves scenes that do very little if anything to move the plot along and the one scene that does has been done before in this very series (we’re only on issue 4 to be clear). In addition, there are some hints of a storyline that could go extremely badly in almost every scenario and I really hope that Tom King doesn’t do what I think he is going to do. I know in a series like this, you can’t skip an issue, but if you could, this one would be a prime candidate.
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