World Famous Comics: Catwoman: When in Rome (Batman)
Catwoman: When in Rome (Batman)
By: Jeph Loeb Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: DC Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 160 Publication Date: June 06, 2007 Release Date: June 06, 2007
Product Description: The acclaimed, Eisner award-winning team of writer Jeph Loeband artist Tim Sale return to Gotham City, home of Catwoman, for a talethat takes the Feline Fatale into a dangerous new realm.WHEN IN ROME chronicles Catwoman's mysterious trip to Italy and herdealings with the deadly Falcone crime family.It's a colorful tale ofGotham's sexiest cat burglar at her most intriguing.
Saving the best for last When we last saw Catwoman at the end of Dark Victory, we had learned of the possibility that Carmine Falcone was her father. In this followup, the last of Jeph Loeb's very successful trilogy that started with The Long Halloween, we find Selina in Rome searching for the answers to this mystery. Accompanying her on this roller coaster journey is one Mr. Edward Nigma, aka The Riddler, who ably and humorously provides the fodder for Selina's many acid tongued barbs, and as we eventually find out later in the story, much, much more. From the intriguing plotline to the witty one-liners and Selina's insightful and engaging internal monologue, this tale fires on all cylinders. Loeb's love for Catwoman is obvious, with his extensive use of her in all of his Battales, and who can blame him. Her star power shines brightly throughout them all by the sheer force of her multifaceted and magnetic personality. Loeb delivers, for a delightful change, a fairly wordy script that isn't the rapid read that his two previous installments of this ongoing saga, especially TLH, were and in the process delivers his most exceptional work yet. Most sequels usually end up as pale and disappointing imitations of the original, but he has bucked that trend with this series that exhibited improvements with each installment, culminating here with his grand finale. His place in the Batman pantheon of writers was cemented with these books, and while he may be currently writing for Marvel, here is one fan who would like to see him weave his magic one more time with the Bat and the Cat.
Loeb and Sale do it again Loeb is one of our greatest comic book writers,especially when it comes to Batman. He'skinda making our hero into something new, much more believable. Loeb and Sale's classic story (where their reputation rests) is the early Batman stories, like The Long Halloween, which features Catwoman quite prominently, though she does disappear. This is the story of her time gone from TLH, in Rome. We learn a lot about Selina Kyle. It seems Loeb's influence is heavily on her as well as many of the other Batman characters.
Graphic SF Reader Following The Long Halloween Catwoman sojourns to Italy, and becomes entangled with the Falcone crime family.
She tries a jewel heist from the Vatican, and ends up getting into quite a bit of trouble, from many sides, and the whole Gotham City thing isn't reall that far away after all.
Catwoman gets the Loeb/Sale treatment So being the Batman fan that I am as well as a Loeb/Sale fan, I devoured everything I could of theirs. Knowing that this story of Catwoman, trying to discover her roots in Italy, took place in between The Long Halloween and Dark Victory just made it that much more enticing. Unfortunately I can't say that the magic they were able to pull off with Batman and other heroes was put to good use with Catwoman's solo story.
Not to say that their talents were put to complete waste. The artwork was terrific as always. I just couldn't get into it the same way I got into their work previously. Maybe it's because I'm not as big a fan of Catwoman as I should be to enjoy this. There are plenty of characters from the Bat universe thrown in there for good measure (Batman never makes an official appearance, just in Selina's dreamlike hallucinations), but still that wasn't enough to satisfy.
The Riddler plays a big supporting role in this and while he is one of my favorite Bat villains, the fact that he was there couldn't elevate it for me. I actually much prefer the way other writers handle Riddler better. I would love it if these guys would collaborate on another Batman project at some point in the future because Catwoman just wasn't a good enough substitute. No offense to Catwoman or her fans intended! I still love these guys' work and if they were to write another Catwoman tale set in Gotham I would be all over it.
Loeb and Sale Strike Again... Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, the masterminds behind Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory are at it again, and this time they've brought Selina "Catwoman" Kyle and Edward "The Riddler" Nigma along for the ride. Catwoman: When in Rome finds the pair on a mission of Catwoman's own devising in the eternal city, fraught with beautiful locales and all manner of peril; and to top it off, Selina is suffering from some very disconcerting nightmares. What does it all mean? Is someone following her? Will she find what she's looking for in Roma's well trod thoroughfares? Intrigued? Then pick this one up.
Chronologically, this book seems to fall in between Long Halloween and Dark Victory, but for those looking for a good read, you don't have to be familiar with those other works to enjoy this gem. Jeph Loeb ranks among the likes of Kurt Busiek as a writer who "gets" the comic genre and can write characters with equal amounts of pathos, humor and joie de vivre. He is perfectly paired with Sale, whose artwork walks the razor's edge between charicature and straight illustration and mirrors Loeb's own literary style. Indeed, Sale's artwork, which - as in Long Halloween and Dark Victory - has a sort of 1950s-1960s feel to it (see, for instance, Selina's jaunt through the twilit streets of Rome on a Vespa scooter) was, for me, one of the chief attractions of this volume. If you're looking for a fun read, with great dialogue, a chuckle or two, and fantastic artwork, you would do well to pick up Catwoman: When in Rome
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