Posted by I know that I’ve been reviewing a lot of the DC Absolute comics lately, and I am back this week with thoughts on another one: Absolute Catwoman #3. I’ve almost made it through my backlog of these comics, which means I can soon turn my attention back towards my backlog of game reviews! And then probably back to comics again. Now, let’s get into the review.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
After the events of #2, Selina and her old friends Helena and Victoria escape from the invisible assassins still pursuing them. The trio return to Selina’s Cat Cave in London, where they briefly discuss the Yarn–a synthetic intelligence capable of rewriting the past and shaping the future. Selina reluctantly agrees to have Helena and Victoria help her. There are interspersed flashback sequences of their last job together seven years ago when they were tasked with stealing a list of names from a Mr. (David) Cain’s office, only for there to be an explosion. The group escaped, but Selina had seen a young girl just before the detonation, and briefly worried about where she was and what had happened to her before the group has to move on. The issue ends with the trio in the present traveling to the coordinates of the Yarn to finally try and find it.
My complaints with this issue basically mirror my complaints with Absolute Green Arrow #3–not much of substance really happens, causing this issue to feel like padded filler. A lot of this issue is clearly set-up meant to lay the groundwork for the finale. It brings the group together and establishes clear motivation for what comes next. But that doesn’t necessarily make it that interesting.
I think that my biggest gripe when it comes to the flashbacks in Absolute Catwoman is that they don’t feel like they add a whole lot. In comparison, the flashbacks in Absolute Green Arrow are short, probably shorter than these ones, but they convey important characterization details quickly and concisely. The flashbacks in Absolute Catwoman feel like they’re meant to be contextual backstories, but they don’t have enough time to breathe. In fact, I think that that was my central problem with this issue: not a lot happened yet it still felt fast paced. The flashbacks generally tell the reader that a given event happened, then leave it at that. The significance and content are left squarely in the historical background. I know that it’s part of the technique of building intrigue, but I feel like not enough intrigue is being built. For example, the main flashback in this issue is about the last job to steal the list of names. The group encounters a young Cassandra, and then there’s a random explosion. There’s the implication that this explosion set Cassandra on the path she’s currently on, but nothing more than that. We as readers don’t even know what caused the explosion, let alone what it did to her. I think that for the narrative to properly develop intrigue, one of those two questions needed to be answered. The audience needed to either know what caused the explosion, or what state Cassandra was in after the fact, as well as how it shaped her current trajectory because otherwise we’re left with the vague notion that she’s an assassin and might want revenge. The characters themselves don’t necessarily need this information, but the audience should have it, otherwise the audience is left drawing conclusions themselves based on implications and arbitrary narrative events, not earned storytelling.
The last thing I need to talk about is the Yarn. I don’t really understand it. All the story says about it is that it’s a synthetic intelligence capable of creating new world orders. It never explains HOW it can do that. It’s simply presented as this uber powerful MacGuffin. Can it actually warp reality? Does it just hijack existing technological framework? I assume that the story is going to explain more about what it actually does, but I can’t deny that I struggle to conceptualize why the Yarn matters when we’ve only heard statements made about it.
I’m going to be honest, this has been a rather negative review so far. There’s a lot about this issue that annoyed or frustrated me. So what did I like? I like the characters. They’re starting to feel more interesting and developed, especially as Selina comes more out of her shell around them. I like that we’re starting to get answers and escalation, even if those answers feel underdeveloped and shallow. The character designs continue to be excellent. The art design is good. I do think that some of the panels suffer a little in quality, namely when it depicts a face in the background. I’m definitely curious to see what comes next. For $4.99, I don’t regret my purchase, though I may encourage others interested in the series to wait for more issues to release first.
SPOILERS END
Absolute Catwoman #3 is definitely the weakest issue so far. I was hoping it would have a stronger start than it did in #1, then #2 gave me some hope that the quality was on the rise, but #3 kind of let me down. I was hoping for a lot more. I’m optimistic that the quality is about to skyrocket now that the narrative is moving towards the climax, but as a rising action, I’m not super satisfied. Granted this could all be a limitation of my reading the series in separate increments, so the completed arc may have better pacing than I’m giving it credit for. Regardless, I’m hoping that #4 can really get the story back on track.
