Catwoman: Judd Winick, Adriana Melo, Julio Ferreira, Tomeu Morey, Brian Reber, Carlos M. Mangual, Guillem March

Another brilliantly executed issue. I really love what’s going on with all the various elements. Dollhouse, Spark, Gwen, and Detective Alvarez. Each of them has their own thing going on. Remember the spoiler from last issue? Well, it looks like anyone could be betraying Catwoman at this point. Yeah, that’s right, more than one of her allies may be compromised.

That’s okay. It looks like she’s recruiting another one…and this one’s on the side of the law. Catwoman’s broken into Alvarez’s apartment, and he freaks. Winick gives us a lot of hilarity as the two wrassle around and make all sorts of ruckus. The funniest part comes when Catwoman makes loud sex noises as a neighbor comes knocking. I couldn’t stop laughing.

Catwoman gets Alvarez to help her look into the street kids’ disappearances. She even mentions being a good judge of character, ironically, in the same panel as Spark stands watching her. Dollhouse is apparently running low on “supplies” and has to delay a big order. He starts freaking out when one of his captives kills himself. I loved seeing the villain lose it like this, it made it feel very real, it made it feel like they’re vulnerable.

I still can’t tell if his dolls can move or are positioned and stationary.

Alvarez, Catwoman, and Spark go out to try and capture Dollhouse, because they recognize a pattern in his movements. They end up missing the real Dollhouse, going for decoys, and one of their team ends up kidnapped as well.

It’s a pretty suspenseful issue, but I’m concerned how Dollhouse knew to use decoys. Did he know the three of them were following him? Does he send out decoys each time? It would have worked just as well if just one Dollhouse was out, and the one character that was there said, “He’s here! I got him!” and the others had to rush to catch up from their lookout positions.

Guillem March steps out on this issue for Adriana Melo. Melo does a good job emulating March’s style in this book, but there are places where the difference is noticeable, and that’s interesting to see. I’m forever a Guillem March fan, though, so I’ll always miss it when he doesn’t draw an issue. Honestly, though, Melo’s a great substitute.

Catwoman #11, the verdict: Things are escalating quick. People are getting kidnapped, and the villain is reaching the end of their rope and getting desperate. I like how the villain seems vulnerable, defeatable, in a place where everything could fall completely out of their control if they don’t do EVERYTHING they can. That makes for good conflict and a believable motivation for the bad guy. I like the relationship forming between Alvarez and Catwoman. I really think this could be made into something fun, where he works with her on the DL, and has to be careful not to make his superiors aware. Basically, I’m excited.

(Photo Source: Batman Wikia)