Catwoman by Jim Balent Book One Paperback – 12 Sept. 2017

Throughout her 82-year history, Catwoman has always been one of the most legendary villains in Batman's rogues-gallery, but Selina Kyle has also long proven to be an iconic anti-heroine in her own right. She steals for the thrill, the challenge, for survival and also to help those in need. One of the most complex & rich characters in all of comics, Catwoman has starred in several of her own series throughout the decades.And it was the success of her first ongoing title in 1993 that really showcased Selina as an individual and not just a love-interest/fierce rival to Batman. Of course, Jim Balent's design for Catwoman was arguably the biggest reason for the character's resurgence in popularity throughout the nineties. Being such a versatile character, Catwoman's costume has been reinvented time again throughout comics, tv & film with great success, and the look for Catwoman here - sexy purple attire with black gloves/boots, retractable claws, complete with trademark whip and wild black hair flowing out of her mask - is just as iconic as any other interpretation you can name. The design still looks great for Selina Kyle after all these years.Jim Balent was to Catwoman what Mark Bagley was to Spider-Man. So aside from drawing a great look for Selina, there're also tremendous action sequences and expressions that Jim has penciled for all the tales collected here. Selina Kyle fights like the devil here, robs like a master-thief...all the while, her soul and heart (buried deep within!) manage to shine through. There's so much dynamic storytelling and bags of emotion that makes this graphic novel so great to read. Of course, there's the writing to match Jim's work, and we have the likes of Jo Duffy and Chuck Dixon to write some fantastic tales.Collecting Catwoman #1-13, this first volume takes place during the legendary Batman: Knightfall saga. Bane has broken the Bat, conquered Gotham City and now rules its criminal underworld. And Catwoman has now begrudgingly fallen under Bane's employ, all the while aided by her stooge Leopold, tending to her pet cats and adopted daughter Arizona. Of course, all hell soon breaks loose and Catwoman is forced to fend for herself...and others too. All the while, robbing a few rich people here and there.Story-wise, Book One has a lot of great stuff to offer Catwoman fans. "Life Lines" is a great four-parter to kick the collection off which takes Selina out of Gotham City and around the world as she tries to find her way out of Bane's employ before her world comes crashing down. Catwoman also bumps into Jean Paul Valley's Batman along the way, as well as Bruce Wayne (after being broken by Bane and when he finally returns as Batman). Jo Duffy writes virtually all the stories here, and has such a handle on the complexities of Selina. From her selfish, superior nature, her ferocity and cunning, to her genuine desire to help those who truly need it and of course, her infatuation with both Bruce Wayne & Batman (Selina was unaware of Bruce's secret at this time).It's a great batch of stories overall, with the only dud being a two-parter involving loathsome, thieving teenage runaways and some villainess called 'Zephyr', who was so lame that she literally only appeared in these two issues and was NEVER seen again. Apart from that, Catwoman By Jim Balent: Book One is a classic 90s read that reminds us what a great time it was. This is truly Catwoman at her peak. Roll on Book Two!

The item came really fast, in perfect condition.Everything is as described.The art is great - from first page to the last one, this stories are perfect.100 % Entertainment.The price is cheap - buy it now !

Great illustrations and stories.

The most best and most fun Catwoman issues there ever was and if it wasn't great they wouldn't had made over 90 issues of this Catwoman...she was a great success, The stories are just so good and packed with awesome stories and the art work is amazing and not the lazy type of art work like most other comics which are mostly done by digital these days which to me is just lazy and the purple colored design of Catwoman is so much more eye catching than the black version...the design is beautiful. I hope they will one day do more continuation comics based on this version of Catwoman which is now the perfect time to do so as it's been since 2001 since the last time we saw this version if I remember correctly...simply make more issues that takes place between issue 94 and the special issue 10000...it's really that simple and DC comic fans including me are still haunted by the ending of issue 94 because it shouldn't had just ended like that...I mean it was a decent ending but it could had been so much more better but we all know that there can be more stories for Catwoman...so please make that happen.

Unsatisfactory artwork, weak stories..