The Replacements

This was an exciting, gripping story. I'm a big Catwoman fan and seeing Selina deal with a child while her friend Holly tried to fill her shoes made for great story. I read it straight through without putting the book down.

"Catwoman, Book Five: The Replacements" Written by Will Pfiefer Illustrated by David Lopez (DC Comics, 2007) ------------------------------------------------- The creative team of Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke, the driving force behind the previous four volumes of "Catwoman," are a hard act to follow. Indeed, they transformed Selina Kyle from a B-list superhero character with lots of built-up mystique into a full-fledged graphic novel heroine, the star of one of the best comics that DC had produced in years. Pfiefer and Lopez do okay picking up the threads of the Brubaker-Cooke storylines -- it's nice to see the spotlight still on Slam Bradley, and the training of Selina Kyle's replacement, Holly, as the new Catwoman, is kind of fun. (Nice to see Wildcat back in action, too!) On the other hand, Pfiefer doesn't seem to have a solid grip on Selina's personality, and she begins to recede into stick-figure territory; similarly, the villains of this episode, the Angle and some pasty-faced, goth-y uber-film buff who is making his own criminal life into some sort of meta-reality show, reek of the tedium of DC's Vertigo imprint, full of simplistic "dark" "twisted" plot points whose trip-you-out tropes are by now quite well-worn and tiresome. Brubaker's approach, keeping Catwoman closer to the Batman/Daredevil crimefighter/noir traditions was a better idea. I might check out the next volume, but I suspect that may be about it for me. I'd give this one a 3.5, if I could. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)

Pregnant handover. Another part of the One Year Later stories, and an odd one. They've taken the femme fatale, and had her drop the bundle offscreen so to speak. So will Selina is ensconced at home looking after the kid, her protege takes over the Catwoman leathers. While she might fill them out aesthetically reasonably well, tactically, logistically and skillfully? Not so much, given she is having severe problems with just one killer and just one cop. 3.5 out of 5

Will Pfeifer's run on Catwoman is one of those frustrating paradoxes, a well respected comic that does not sell well. Changes certainly have been made during his tenure, some controversial, including a replacement Catwoman and the birth of Selina's baby girl. This approach may be applauded for adding realistic life situations to the storytelling; it certainly gives new meaning to the term "working mother", but may not be what the readership wants. All pluses aside, it tends to detract from the superhero aspect of the book, which is probably why most people buy it in the first place, and replace it with more of a soap opera feel. Of course one person's soap opera is another person's characterization. This trade comprises both approaches. The first part focuses more on her interpersonal relationships and her young daughter, with the second half concentrating on her Catwoman alter ego in an adventure in Metropolis involving Lex Luthor. It is the latter that is the more intriguing and works the best. The new direction was an interesting and possibly necessary direction to explore, and added depth to her character and her mythos, but at a price. Superhero characters having marriages and/or children is a hot topic currently in comics, with some people thinking that it limits the potential story possibilities with them. Selina has and always will be a major part of any Catwoman story, and the two personas meld perfectly to make her the great character that she is, but first and foremost she is Catwoman, a lone wolf, part hero, part villain. It may be time to take her back to her roots, which is probably what most people want anyways.

Comic-book readers often must suffer through a "New Coke" phase in their favorite titles. Heroes as iconic as Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Green Lantern and, as of this writing, Wonder Woman have been killed or otherwise disposed of while a younger, fresher and, almost certainly, inferior substitute takes their place. In most cases, the publisher eventually recognized the error and brought the classic version back to the fore. Now it's Catwoman's turn and, as usual, it's probably a mistake. In what will probably turn out to be a plotting catastrophe, writer Will Pfeifer decided it was time for Selina Kyle to get pregnant. With a baby on the way, Selina decides it's time to give up her roof-hopping and crook-kicking ways, and she passes the costume and whip on to an unlikely successor: Holly, former-prostitute-turned-lesbian sidekick. A crash training course doesn't really prepare Holly for the job, however, and right out of the gate she runs afoul of several large problems. It's hard to imagine which is worse, the film-obsessed villain who wants to kill Catwoman or the tireless cop who wants to arrest her for murder. Of course, it's not long before Selina is forced back into her costume (which, given her recent pregnancy, doesn't fit quite like it used to). And it's not long before her baby is put at risk because of her nocturnal outings -- and, let's be honest here, the sight of a maternally outraged Catwoman is a treat. But New Coke never satisfied the thirst like Classic Coke does, and Holly as Catwoman is equally unsatisfying. She lacks both skill and motivation, and it appears her future must involve either an unrealistic upgrade in abilities or her constant use as a foil to bring Selina back into action and save her. Either way, I'll sip the new formula grudgingly until DC brings the real deal back to the shelves. by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(n e t) editor