Member Reviews

#BatmanOneBadDayCatwoman #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-Arc copy of this novel.

Was this review helpful?

I loved this little Catwoman story!

Selina Kyle is a long time love of mine. I love her understanding of injustice, and how she makes no case about being a hero, but rather a person with principles who is trying to survive. In this one, we got some poignant rhetoric on inequality that was neither subtle nor over the top, and rather served as fuel for understanding Selina’s motivations. We got romantic Batman cameos, which sometimes land as kitschy but this one felt very well handled to me. The art was beautiful and the story was fun & action packed while also being a very quick read.

Thank you to DC comics & Netgalley for the opportunity to read & review this before publishing!

Was this review helpful?

Batman: One Bad Day: Catwoman is less than a hundred pages of pure Catwoman fun. Catwoman is at an auction trying to steal back something of meaning from her childhood. Sticky fingers might get Selena what she wants but the answers are different than expected as Selena discovers some new competition. Cameo appearances from Batman give the story a little extra humph in an easy to read and pleasing to the eye Catwoman tale. G. Willow Wilson writes an enjoyable story and Jamie McKelvie’s art rocks for a fun dose of Selina Kyle. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

Was this review helpful?

For some reason I thought that this was a full graphic novel. Instead it seems more like a Special issue?

It's a short story about Catwoman and her past. There is something from Selina's past that she needs back, but, not everything works out in a perfect way. Oh, and there's even some Bruce and Bats in it too.

Was this review helpful?

Stylish and fun! I always appreciate G. Willow Wilson's female-centered stories. Seeing a more relaxed, even funny, depiction of Batman as a supporting character was refreshing. I think our teen patrons will love this title!

Was this review helpful?

Great story! Good setup for the following issues. Great background story. Great story development. Artwork and coloring is amazing! Can’t wait for the next issue.

Was this review helpful?

The storyline is compelling at its basis, but moved along slowly to finally get to the catch. Is a family story real or not. That’s the crux of this graphic novel. A good place to start but needed more to make it worth the effort to read. It’s a mystery sure enough but less the hero/villain genre from which Catwoman proceeds.
Then Batman shows up out of nowhere and sparks of all kind fly. The Catwoman trying to outsmart another criminal in her own cadre of burgling is played out again. Of course Batman is somewhere around if things get out of hand. He’s forever Catwoman’s knight in shining armor. The trope is not new but maybe it is for a generation a new young readers

Was this review helpful?

ARC provided by NetGalley!

I didn’t realize this was a part of a series - I am interested in seeing if this all gets collected into a bound copy. If so, definitely will buy for the library.
I loved this short story - it was short and sweet and really not much going for it in way of plot but something about it had me wanting so much more. My favorite part was revealing Selina in her disguise (a beautiful dress) and instead of highlighting her boobs or butt in the tight dress (as is normally shown in the older comics), you see her arm muscles, her chest and her muscular thighs. THAT is the female gaze and it made me so happy to see this gorgeous character actually showing the muscles catwoman so obviously has (you can’t jump from building to building, swing yourself off towers and not be ripped). So the story was short and sweet but the best part about this was seeing Catwoman represented in more than an over sexualization for male readers. Yay!!

Was this review helpful?

A fun Catwoman one-shot that includes Selina's backstory, a new and interesting villain, and a sympathetic and sweet Batman. A quick read, much fun, well-paced and plotted. I want more!

Was this review helpful?

The Batman: One Bad Day series each follows a different member of Batman's acclaimed Rogue's Gallery, with a different creative team behind the wheel of each issue. This issue follows Selina Kyle, Batman's on-again off-again love interest, known more widely as Catwoman.

This issue provides a focused, street-level view on Selina, her capabilities, and her motivations. In this issue she isn't stealing for the thrill, or for a Robin Hood-esque sense of equitability (okay, maybe a little) - she's stealing to reclaim a family heirloom; sold by her mother to have the money to keep the lights on and a roof over their family's head.

G. Willow Wilson provides a thrilling story between haves and have nots, and a terrific platform for discussing issues like income inequality and poverty. Thoughtful prose strengthens and presents these concepts, and it's always interesting to juxtapose these concepts against a series built around a mysterious, crime-fighting billionaire. While never directly referenced in this issue, it's hard to remove the Wayne family from the system Catwoman resents.

"Sometimes I think...it's not enough to take from the rich. They still control what things are worth. Things change hands. Money changes hands. The system stays the same. Other people decide whether who you are and what you own has value."

"This is what growing up poor does to you. You spend years longing for better fortune...and then you don't really trust it when it finally shows up."

Was this review helpful?

Great cover You already know who always likes to be the loving protector.
I really enjoy these One Bad Day collections. For Catwoman it was an enjoyable read. I wish there was more of a story of Maggie, the sister we have forgotten about. Nice back history to the mom and the beautiful brooch.
Definitely a good collection read for any true fan of Catwoman.

I would also like to add that I just reviewed Batman: One Bad Day: Catwoman by G. Willow Wilson. #BatmanOneBadDayCatwoman #NetGalley

Was this review helpful?

Catwoman pulls off a beautiful heist that backfires big time. Here was family history, a bonding with the past, and a few extra bucks in a timely appearance in a rough week. Then the guy in the bat suit show up, swooping in on the mystery from a different direction further complicating the relationship which is already burdened by through the mask kissing. Catwoman also has a new bandit mentor adversary who takes a shine to a complicated McGuffin.

It’s a fun, in the moment, back of the Batmobile perspective on a whole new Catwoman mystery.

Was this review helpful?

I wanted to like this so much more than I did! For one, the One Bad Day subtitle would lead me, and others who have read/are aware of The Killing Joke to believe that this would be some sort of origin for Selina, or, at least, an actual really bad day. Instead, it's years into Selina's career as Catwoman, she has an established relationship with Batman, and, in the end, everything turns out ok! The story itself is fine, pretty standard short Catwoman story, but Batman is seemingly out of character. In fact, if Batman and Catwoman hadn't kissed, I would've assumed that it was Dick in the mask rather than Bruce. The art is great though!

Was this review helpful?

This one-shot follows Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, through a day of emotional highs and lows as she deals with what's supposed to be a simple heist for a simple item that's supposed to help the sting of a simply sucky memory. G. Willow Wilson is best known for co-creating the beloved Kamala Khan over at Marvel but hasn't dropped the ball with existing characters either–her Poison Ivy miniseries has been declared an ongoing due to its popularity, and her Dreaming (Sandman) book is tragically underrated. Although this Catwoman story is a little over sixty pages, Wilson manages to get so much in, including a swoon-worthy scene with Batman that does more in two panels than most writers can manage between them in two years. McKelvie's art is, as always, stunning.

Was this review helpful?

The Batman: One Bad Day series is both easy to describe and hard to categorize. The books are all connected thematically through the thread of showing one Batman rogue at a specific moment in their life or career, in a situation that helped define the characters we see gallivanting in the mainstream series.
Perhaps most intriguing in all of this is the unique flavor that each of the creative teams bring to these books, and Wilson and McKelvie, perhaps more than any of the other, show their specific skills in this book.
Selina's story, a caper similar to the recent Batman-Catwoman series, focuses on Selina in a heist connected to her family's troubled history and poverty, and we get to see both her internal reflection and some very classic Catwomanning in the crime and theft itself. Wilson's character's are always brilliantly introspective, and we see all of that on display in this series, with just enough touches on her past to give context, but not so much that she ever feels overly-burdened or restricted by her life.
Jamie McKelvie's art is, of course, expectedly, clean and beautiful, his line work showing the same care and meticulous attention as Selina does in her heist of a bird brooch. Moreso than any male artist out there, McKelvie's art reaches peaks rarely touched by those outside of Joelle Jones, Jenny Frison or Jen Bartel today, with strong, sexy, beautiful women who never feel objectified, never feel like eye candy, although they are, in appearance, action and style, pleasing to look at. I think the one issue I'd take is that he's an artist SO known for reimagining costumes (like Captain Marvel) but his costume work sticks close to established styles, which is probably more a matter of in-universe continuity than anything.
Overall, while it will probably still always play second-fiddle in the One Bad Day arc to Riddler, like all the books in this series, it did the best thing a book can do, leave you wishing there were more of it, but satisfied that a story of weight and value has been told fully.
Strongly recommend, along with all in this series.

Was this review helpful?

Beyond excited for this! Love Carwomen and always try to keep the leanest and greatest in stock for our super hero fans, Gorgeous illustrations

Was this review helpful?

So fun and after so many Catwoman comics, this still feels like such a fun and fresh character. I will read anything catwoman forever and this makes me so excited to see this particular world more!

Was this review helpful?

Selina Kyle attempts to recover an item that her mother had to pawn to make rent when she and her sister were young. It appears to be worth more than they were led to believe until Selina finds out it's a forgery. Batman tries to make Selina use caution, but she goes in full throttle.

Was this review helpful?

G. Willow Wilson and Jamie McKelvie? Sign me up!

I want to start by saying the art in this is just so clean and stunning, and the colorization too! Is it cool to call a comic featuring a cat burgler "bright"? Like, this is just my favorite kind of comic art. This is just a beautiful, beautiful book and I badly want a poster-sized version of that cover. And also, the inner-page of Selena looking badass in that purple chair haha. I highly recommend checking out McKelvie's other work though.

To the story and writing: G. Willow Wilson rarely disappoints, and succeeds with Batman: One Bad Day: Catwoman once more. She's also on the new Poison Ivy that I highly recommend. She's great at writing interesting and rounded women.

This is a great intro to who Catwoman is as a character, especially for this most recent universe re-boot (I'm 100% here for her new look, btw) as it gives a look at her history. Also loving the messaging in this hahaha Very on brand for the world of comics and for Catwoman in particular. After reading a recent Teen Titans issue where I felt some of my favorite characters were made to be out-of-character, it is nice to see one still be herself, even if she's been rebooted. I appreciate G. Willow Wilson remaining true to the character while still modernizing her.

I also still go weak in the knees for some classic Batman/Catwoman romance (especially if it has Bruce going weak in the knees for Selina, which in this comic he does hehe) and we get a little bit of that here too, so thank you Ms. Wilson!

I'm unsure if this story is continuing, but I sincerely hope it is because I loved absolutely everything about it!

Was this review helpful?