Written by Tony Bedard
Penciled by Peter Nguyen & Andres Guinaldo
Colored by Tony Avina
Inked by Jack Purcell & Raul Fernandez
Lettered by Steve Wands
Cover by Guillem March
My Awe-Inspiring Opinion
The strange and horrific two part horror story of Catwoman’s possessed sister is over, but Tony Bedard has left room for second coming. Last month gave us the introduction of Maggie Kyle who somehow came under the control of an angelic demon whose purpose is to exorcise Selina Kyle and remove the cat demon within her. #13 brings us the battle where Maggie goes up against her own sister and we learn how Maggie came to her insane religious state of mind.
For the most part, I enjoyed this issue, just like I enjoy most of Tony Bedard’s work. He seems to do well when hired for guest writing spots as well as writing exceptionally creepy tales. The back story of Maggie and how she became this insane, Nun-on-steroids was put together quite well and helped to explain this rather sudden change in Selina’s sister. However, I’m not entirely sure it makes sense in the end. One can assume that watching your husband be murdered in the most gruesome way could make you go completely insane, which is what I thought had happened and that Maggie was merely talking to herself and not some fallen angel. But the ending leads us to believe that Maggie was, in fact, possessed by some higher power compelling her to kill her sister. I would very much hope that Paul Dini follows up on this so we may discover the identity of this phantom demon. (Phantom demon…hmmm. Seems like an oxymoron.)
I was disappointed to not have Poison Ivy in the mix, but that isn’t the point of the story, Ivy’s just my favorite Siren is all. (Sniff sniff) But it was a lot of fun to see Harley smashing things with her hammer again! I feel like it’s been ages since she’s gone on a gavel swinging rampage.
With minor little distractions aside, what truly bugged me in this issue was the art. Last month was so amazing I had chills running up my spine. But when you have two separate pencilers and two separate inkers, you’re going to run into problems. Guillem March set such a high standard that it’s sometimes difficult to read this title without him heading the pencil work, but when you make both Harley and Catwoman looks as if they’ve come straight out of an anime cartoon, looking as if they are twelve year old girls stuck in women’s bodies, I can’t help but chuckle. Now I won’t deny that Maggie looked even creepier than in last month’s issue, so points awarded Nguyen and Guinaldo, or whoever took charge of the scary side, but the maturity in the artwork was almost non-existent. Towards the end of the book the artwork got better, but overall it is very unsatisfactory.
But the cover, drawn by the great Guillem March, is fantastically horrifying. I love how the symbology (Shout out to Boondocks Saints, woo hoo!!) of the entire scene represents the crazy state that Maggie is in; this conflict of sadness and obligation of killing Selina permeates all throughout Maggie’s face and extends into the desolate mountainous area behind her.
My Profoundly Climactic Conclusion
Fun story with minimal confusing parts. Overall a very fun read and interesting story arc. I hope Tony Bedard is able to get his hands on more consistent work soon. But DC, please, find some better artists in the future.
Ratings
Writing: 8.5
Themes: 9
Art: 3
Overall: 6.83 out of 10
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment