Absolute Catwoman #2 Finds Its Footing

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been sitting on a few DC Absolute comics for some time now. Well, it’s time to crack into that backlog and talk about Absolute Catwoman #2.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

The story picks up right where #1 ended. Selina Kyle is trying to figure out what the mysterious orb is. In the hopes of learning more about it and those who want it, she tries to auction it off. There are also flashbacks of Selina and her gang of thieves during one of their break-in jobs. In the auction house, she’s reunited with these two old friends. The three of them fall back into their old roles as the auction house is attacked by a group of invisible assailants. The same woman from before, Cassandra Cain, is there and succeeds in stealing the orb. Selina grabs her two friends, and they try to escape and give chase, but Cain escapes. The story ends with one of the women revealing all that she knows about the orb: it’s needed to access a reality-warping computer intelligence.

I liked this issue a lot more than I liked the first one. I was a little worried that the pacing was going to slog, but I can safely say that that isn’t the case. The pacing in #2 picked up a lot. The moments of backstory and context felt less like treading familiar ground, and more like a needed expansion and explanation of characters. None of the segments overstayed their welcome either. The story progression itself was also interesting. The fact that there’s now some context given to what the orb is and what it means allows the narrative to really start moving forward. Sure, new questions develop, but that’s a natural progression from the answers that we’re given. I’m excited to learn more about the digital intelligence and what it can do, and see it in eventual action. But so far, the narrative is shaping up to be quite tight, making for an enjoyable read.

Thematically, the story seems to be dipping its toes into ideas of found family and writing your own story with hints of wealth inequality thrown in. None of these themes are revolutionary by any means, but I think the narrative is handling them well so far. Truth be told, it can be hard to judge stories on what they’re trying to say so early on. And yes I know that this review is quite a few months old, so I’m behind on a few issues. Regardless, I’ll be curious to see what issues this comic tries to tackle thematically.

Turning to the artwork, as always it’s fantastic. The character designs and coloring all looks great. No panels stand out as goofy or uncanny. Something that I really like is how the flashbacks have a different color scheme when compared with the present day sections. I know that I’ve praised decisions like this in previous Absolute comics, and my thoughts remain unchanged here. I think the best part about these comics in terms of artwork is that they’re able to firmly walk the line between realistic and stylized. It feels like a comic book in the best way.

SPOILERS END

As always, I think that DC is killing it with Absolute Catwoman #2. Sure, I didn’t hate the first issue, but I can’t say that I was blown away by it either. Now #2, on the other hand, was a lot more enjoyable in my opinion. I’m starting to like the characters more. I like the direction that the story is going. The art is still top-notch. I know that this is another short review, but these comics aren’t that long. This one in particular is only 23 pages long. I can’t really stretch my review of something so short into something longer without becoming disingenuous and a waste of time. But regardless of the comic’s exact length, the fact that it is on the shorter side makes it more digestible and easy to read. I really don’t regret paying $4.99 for it. I think that these comics are pretty well-priced for the amount of content and enjoyment that they bring. So again, I implore you to check out the DC Absolute comics, and give Absolute Catwoman a try.