HERO OF THE WEEK: CATWOMAN (DC)
Real Name: Selina Kyle
First Appearance: Batman #1 (June, 1940)
Fight Club Ranking: #34

Featured Fights:
- vs ELEKTRA: Marvel versus DC #3 (Apr 1996)
- vs ABOMINATION: DC versus Marvel #4 (Apr 1996)
- vs POISON IVY: Batman #611 (Mar 2003)
- vs HARLEY QUINN: Batman #613 (May 2003)
- vs BATMAN: Solo #1 (Dec 2004)
- vs CHEETAH: Catwoman: When In Rome #4 (Mar 2005)
- vs BATMAN: JLA #118 (Nov 2005)
- vs BATMAN: Batman: The Mad Monk #1 (Oct 2006)
- vs TRIPLE THREAT: Catwoman #63 (Mar 2007)
- vs CHEETAH: Catwoman #78 (Jun 2008)
- vs JASON TODD: Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2 (Jun 2009)

As a general rule of thumb: I don't like hard reboots.

Movies, video games, comics... Contemporary culture is rife with do-overs and remakes, ranging from the utterly ill conceived -- to the passable, but largely unnecessary.

You have to make a real mess to actually need a hard reboot in serial fiction. It's almost by definition a submission of total and utter failure, and is best thought of in those terms. That was basically the case in 2005 with Batman Begins: a justifiable revival of Batman on the big screen, eight years after Batman & Robin rendered the idea unpalatable, if not unprofitable.

Christopher Nolan's new entry into an already fractured adaptation process was actually sold within the framework of a contemporary trend of prequels. It offered the untold story of Batman's origin. Its Joker epilogue was even discussed as a plausible allusion to Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, as much as teasing a prospective sequel. It wasn't necessarily designed to be the template for a generation of ill conceived imitators and an eroding, colourless cultural apocalypse. It just worked out that way.

I'm drawing a long bow in today's Hero of the Week, even if it's revisiting common themes persisting on the blog. How this relates to Catwoman is in the big questions raised by news Selina Kyle has recently become engaged to be married to Batman in DC Comics.

This won't be the first time Batman and Catwoman have said "I do".

The pair were hitched in the reality of Earth-Two in the late 1970s. It was the culmination of their relationship in almost forty years of publishing: part of an aging counterpart continuum to the modern Silver Age, designed to maintain and advance the Golden Age heroes on their own Earth.

The Bat & Cat spawned a precursor to today's Huntress: a vigilante daughter named Helena Wayne. She took up the costumed fight for a new generation when her mother was murdered by a former associate. Eventually all of this was undone by the hard reboot of Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Earth-Two had its fans and Crisis created many headaches in the decades that followed, but it was always somewhat justifiable for advancing the mission to create a definitive DC Universe. After all, the DCU as we know it wasn't planned. Many characters joined through corporate acquisitions, and were created completely disparate from one another, without a plan to be everlasting cultural icons.

Crisis brought it all together in one place, at a time when refining the definitive vision of characters was still a work in progress. Much of what was done in the eighties is still underlying in modern incarnations. Minor adjustments along the way restored and refined elements decided upon in the eighties, to create what I would argue was close to a definitive DCU in the 2000s.

Then came the much maligned New 52 and a reprisal of the line-wide reboot with no real purpose, and few benefits. A self-made problem, an arbitrary breaking of the chain, now half-heartedly being addressed with the current Rebirth initiative. Results have still been very mixed, and Batman's proposal is one of the elements that raised a lot of questions about Rebirth's actual intent.

Eighty years of publishing tells us DC Comics is at its best when their heroes are iconic and instantly recognizable. Changes may occur over time, but the framework for advancement is limited within a clearly understood centre of the characters. Efforts to challenge this only divide the audience, create repetitive storytelling, and produce ever diminishing returns. Verisimilitude fading.

So, can Batman and Catwoman be married without plunging the DC Universe towards another unwanted wiping of the board?

Doomsday Clock and the expected intrusion of the Watchmen universe is keeping an apocalyptic feeling about DC Comics, who've spent far too long selling the world on the concept of their own death. One hopes Geoff Johns is returning to his best to create a way forward that is iconic and positive, but will he need to break everything to do that? Can another break really make things stronger?

The Batman/Catwoman romance has been enjoyable in the past, but it raises some big questions about the future of DC Comics as we know it. Maybe they won't really get married. Maybe it's just a passing story. Or maybe it's another cheque written that can't be cashed. A foolhardy decision that can only end in the kind of total and utter failure that leads a company to need a hard reboot.

<< Hero of the Week 10/09: Rorschach     [Home]     Hero of the Week 09/25: Silver Surfer >>

BATMAN & CATWOMAN versus HARLEY QUINN

Hush Chapter Six: The Opera (DC)
Where: Batman #613 When: May 2003
Why: Jeph Loeb How: Jim Lee

The Story So Far...
A mysterious new threat has insinuated itself into the life of The Batman, turning his world upside down with a single shot that sent him plummeting from the Gotham City skyline to the streets below.

Sustaining dangerous injuries, a barely conscious Bruce Wayne is inspired to direct his butler Alfred to childhood friend Thomas Elliot -- surgeon of considerable renown! The reunion of friends is a medical and social success! So much so, Dr. Elliot invites Bruce Wayne to accompany him to a performance of Pagliacci in the company of Selina Kyle.

Bursting in to hysterics - and out of the Pagliacci wardrobe - Harley Quinn makes a dramatic entrance at the opera! She's there to rob the rich glitterati in attendance, and sets her maniac gaze on the man pulling out a cell phone in the balcony: Thomas Elliot! With the stakes rising rapidly, Bruce and Selina excuse themselves, returning to the stage as their alter-egos: Batman and Catwoman!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Batman 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Catwoman 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Batman 5 (Marathon)
Agility: Harley Quinn 4 (Gymnastic)
Fighting: Batman 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Batman 4 (Arsenal)


Harley Quinn is Dr. Harleen Quinzel: A former Arkham Asylum psychiatrist whose thesis in the psyche of crime and romance led to an infatuation with The Joker. Surrendering to her mind's darker desires, she dons a black and red harlequin suit, beginning her criminal career as The Joker's favourite girl!

Harley's academic insights and elective madness are underscored by her gymnastic athleticism. Where oversized mallets and guns fail -- acrobatics and agility pick up the slack! Speed and mobility therefore become her greatest skills in a physical mismatch such as a battle with Batman and Catwoman!

At this time, The Bat and The Cat have been made unwitting players in a grand scheme just starting to take shape. They've levelled their on-and-off rooftop antagonism to forge a full blown Gotham City alliance. When Catwoman was able to break from the manipulative influences of Poison Ivy [Batman #611]; Batman was there to assist her -- combating a mind-controlled Superman, as well [Batman #612]!

The longer it goes, the more the alliance turns up the heat on lingering romantic tensions. It's difficult to predict if romance strengthens Batman & Catwoman's partnership - or complicates it! It was playful flirtation in the chase shown in Solo #1, but created emotional volatility in another mind-control episode, involving Batman, in JLA #118! When the pair were at odds, Catwoman was often able to use the tone to get the better of Bats [eg; Batman: The Mad Monk #1].

Social dynamics are another way Harley Quinn could try to level the playing field! She tends to favor a ditzy, madcap approach to a life of crime, but her past as a studied psychiatrist can never be completely discounted. Batman's willingness to collaborate with morally ambiguous characters has introduced a lot of uncharacteristic uncertainty into the situation!

Batman and Catwoman have a famous history on opposite sides of the law. She's even maintained partnerships with Harley Quinn! Of course, that fact is a two-way street! Harley's found common ground with Batman in the past too, even choosing temporary alliances with The Dark Knight over her beloved Joker [eg; Batman #663]!

Of course, when psychology is too much work -- there are always henchman to even the odds! That's the case in this scenario, which finds Harley Quinn attempting to rob the rich at the opera. Will she get away with it? Most of our metrics point towards a no, but lets see exactly how it went down...

The Math: Batman Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...
Pushed from the balcony by Dr. Thomas Elliot -- Harley Quinn and her masked henchmen open fire at the opera box seats! Elliot sprints to reclaim his stolen mementos, while Selina Kyle and Dr. Leslie Thompkins take cover. The other man in attendance - Bruce Wayne - has already left to change for Act II!

The Batman glides toward the stage with wing-like cape fully outstretched! It provides a target for Harley Quinn, who wildly opens fire upon the descending figure -- hitting only the garb trailing behind him!

As he nears the stage, Batman tosses an arsenal of flash, smoke and mace grenades! The obscuring fog serves his priority of protecting the audience. His boot: beginning the offensive as it shatters one of the goons' masks on contact!

Machine gunfire sprays across stage-right as the goon recoils from Batman's devastating kick! Making ground, he throws his right leg at another nearby henchman. Batarangs whipped through the haze take down three more!

Confronting the harlequin ringleader: Batman squats to avoid another volley of bullets! This time Harley's aim is true, finding the sandbags dangling above the stage. Her bullets send them tumbling toward a Batman who is already nursing a serious head injury from a previous battle! The blow leaves Batman on his knees - dazed and grappling with the mistake of choosing a lighter cowl.

Harley refers to a partnership with Poison Ivy and a mysterious "script" she's considering deviating from. Somebody wants Batman alive, but the temptation to put a gun barrel to his head is too great. Good thing for him, somebody else wants him alive for altruistic reasons as well!

Catwoman leaps onto the stage - launching a fly kick into Harley's face!

The harlequin of crime tumbles into the set wall with a thud, mumbling about a Robin understudy. Catwoman takes extreme exception - slashing her talons across Harley's face as she rises from the ground. This time she goes through the set - sent smashing by Catwoman's stiff body kick!

Catwoman's claws slash through Harley's jester-like headdress, lopping one of the floppy limbs clean off! Harley uses the close quarters contact to make an escape - darting through Catwoman's legs, before vaulting off backstage boxes onto part of the stage!

With all the agility of her namesake, Catwoman keeps in step in the acrobatic harlequin. Being one step behind is enough to turn the tables, though. Whoever wants Batman alive had no objections to offing his "boy hostage" sidekick, or the "understudy" who's there in his place! Harley opens fire!

Taking a bullet to the shoulder in mid-flight -- Catwoman can't control her descent! She tumbles wildly through the turreted set and spills toward the stage. There, a Dark Knight waits to break her fall.

The audience erupts into applause, marvelling at Batman's ability to catch the woman. It was all just part of the show to them. As blood spills from her mouth, Catwoman chastises her ally for choosing to rescue her instead of catching the bad guy. She passes out as Dr. Thompkins arrives to offer medical aid.

The Hammer...
Batman may be standing by the end of the skirmish, but his hands are full with his wounded partner. Harley Quinn lost her fair share of henchmen, but she clearly got the better of both heroes. A surprise winner? Not exactly...

In the big picture, we're working backwards. Longtime readers of Secret Wars on Infinite Earths (and Issue Index divers) know we've already examined the fall out from this issue.

While Dr. Thompkins is tending to Catwoman's gunshot wound, Batman is chasing Harley Quinn. This leads him to run into The Joker in an opera back alley: A final page sting that sets up their showdown in Batman #614! All of the players from today's feature fight find their way into that alley - Catwoman included. Follow the link to see how it all went down!

Hush has been a recurring touchstone throughout the life of Secret Wars on Infinite Earths. I'm reluctant to hold the story up in high esteem, but I cannot deny its staying power as an encapsulation of the basic Batman experience.

At the time, it was a re-energizing experience for Batman comics. A back to basics approach that seemed to empower the vision of a quality creative team over broad editorial mandates. Large scale "event" crossovers like No Man's Land had started to overwhelmed the outward impression of what Batman comics were about. As a 12 issue story, Hush was very much a precursor to the overbearing "event" comics steering the past few years - but by containing it within one on-going series, with a simple objective, it felt ironically refreshing.

The appointment of Jeph Loeb as writer really struck a powerful chord! His past work with Tim Sale had been a well crafted revelation - giving us two landmark maxi-series in the Batman canon. The thought that this quality approach might entrench itself firmly within monthly continuity was an exciting prospect!

Of course, the much anticipated return of Jim Lee as a mainstream superhero penciller created a lot of buzz! His approach to rendering characters drew favorably from an iconic past, infusing it with a strong modern sensibility. Previews of his character designs were a tasty entrée! This may have been Lee at his very best. His work was more sharply focused on storytelling, and an intelligent, modern-definitive approach to character design that was permeating superhero comics in the early 2000s. A seemingly writer-driven focus on ideas, without the excesses of unmotivated visual spectacle.

Unfortunately, Hush didn't hit the storytelling highs of the Sale collaborations.

Like The Long Halloween and Dark Victory before it, the story undertakes a twelve issue tour through Batman's rogues gallery. A selection of Gotham villainy, effected together as a concurrent gauntlet with an overarching mystery.

I don't have any real complaints about the basic premise, but it may have been strained by a third go around, impacted by different concerns for where the characters are coming from, and going to. The Sale stories took advantage of the changing of the guard in Gotham's criminal underworld - the rise of the so-called "freaks" to take the city away from old families and mobs. More reactions than Hush, where the rogues are puppets in a more broad plot.

The guessing game of who's manipulating events against Batman certainly isn't as compelling or veiled as The Holiday Killer mysteries. This could be excused for what seems to be a different intent: The creation of a new arch-villain.

Fortunately, the story always has the gauntlet to fall back on, and it's hard not to enjoy an adventure through the super-villains. It slightly overwhelms Batman #613, but giving Harley Quinn a spotlight is certainly a fun prelude to the main event entrance of Joker in the next issue.

Harley Quinn is ultimately the reason we're all here. August on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths is all about the stars of the Suicide Squad movie - now in theatres! Margot Robbie stars as Harley Quinn - one of our recent Heroes of the Week, and today's feature fight winner!

If you'd like to find more pieces of the Hush puzzle, more Harley Quinn, or more of the Suicide Squad characters - check out the Issue Index Archive! If you're ready to read the whole story yourself, take advantage of the Amazon purchase link provided for your convenience! Doing so helps support the site, as well!

Stay tuned for the next Friday Night Fights, which is sure to be an enchanting interlude!

Winner: Harley Quinn
#104 (+224) Harley Quinn
#1 (--) Batman
#30 (-1) Catwoman

BATMAN versus BATMAN
Army of One (DC)
Where: Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2 When: June 2009 Why: Tony S. Daniel How: Tony S. Daniel

The Story So Far...
Once upon a time, evil won. Humanity was enslaved by the god of evil, Darkseid, who was reincarnated to walk as man on Earth, a harbinger of the Fifth World. Few could stand against the spread of his Anti-Life Equation, and those that did were gradually whittled away as their own companions became weapons against them. With all hope seemingly lost, one man stood between us and them. Though he conemned himself to a fate worse than death, the Batman pointed a cosmic pistol at Darkseid, and he saved us.

For the people Batman left behind, a smouldering corpse leaves them little option but to believe him dead. For a time they mourn him, but inevitably the absence of a Batman in Gotham City leads only to chaos. Though reluctant to step into a father's mantle, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake are forced to confront the need for a symbol, and their unique suitability for the role.

Complacency allows a third contender for the Batman cowl to emerge on the streets of Gotham. This dark avenger utilizes methods similar to the Batman, but far more brutal than anything even he ever condoned. Armed with twin firearms and an armored cowl, all signs point to the fallen son, Jason Todd, but is there more than meets the eye to this so-called Batman, and who can find out?...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 2 (Average)
Intelligence: Draw 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Draw 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Draw 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Draw 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Draw 2 (Projectile)


- When Batman sacrificed himself to end Darkseid's reign of terror [during Final Crisis], the Dark Knight fell victim to the Omega Sanction -- the death that is life. While Bruce Wayne suffers the torment of successive unpleasant realities, the world he left behind continues under the assumption that he is dead.

In Gotham City, as a city of maniacs begins to tear itself apart, the vaccuum left by the Batman demands attention. From the void emerges a new lightly armored Dark Knight whose intentions meet criminals on a darker agreement than ever before. Wielding twin pistols, the grilled cowl and uncompromising ethic suggests Jason Todd as the sadistic new Batman, but his true identity remains unknown.

- The death of the second Robin, Jason Todd, weighed heavily on Batman.
With the original boy wonder, Dick Grayson, having grown into his own mature hero; the Dark Knight's world turned invariably darker as he internalized the struggle of his responsibility. Recognising this grim turn, a young boy embarked upon a mission to return balance to the Batman's life by enlightening him to the value of the famous sidekick.

Tim Drake, having deduced the dual identities of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, showed an aptitude for detective work that made him unique candidate for the legacy of the boy wonder. When Batman and Nightwing's lives were in peril at the hands of Two-Face, Grayson donned the costume for the first time, forcing even the gruff Batman to accept the possibility of training a new Robin.

Under Bruce Wayne's tutelage, Tim Drake developed the acrobatic and combative skills associated with the previous Robins. Drake also further honed his skills as a detective, benefitting from the Batman's bredth of knowledge, experience, and technology. Drake also expanded his network, following in Dick Grayson's foot steps as a member of the Teen Titans.

Math: Draw Ranking: Robin (#40)

What Went Down...
Donning one of the Batman's old costumes, Tim Drake takes it upon himself to do what Dick Grayson refuses. In his adopted father's colours, Drake enters the Gotham underground to fight the impostor Batman on their behalf. In the ruin of Gotham's collapsed subway tunnels, Drake finds a passage leading to a makeshift Batcave obscured by train debris.

The stunned Robin triggers an explosive trap, throwing him helplessly into the air, if not for the intervention of a whip. Catwoman comes to the blue Batman's aid, hoisting him to a jutting cliff face. Together they discover the dark twisted mirror of the alternate Batman's cave, complete with torture chambers and a starved prisoner. Their investigation does not last long.

The impostor arrives to the cut the cat's curiosity short, taking her out of the battle quickly with the butt of his gun. Tim springs into action, leaping into an gymnastic kick that knocks who he assumes is Jason Todd into the void!

The impostor Batman quickly recovers with some acrobatics of his own, challenging the recognised boy wonder to face him in his own environment!

The caped crusaders clash in a collision of kicks and dives.
The dark impostor notes a thorough understanding of the way Drake operates, observing him as a worthy opponent, but one with the perceived disadvantage of Bruce Wayne's morality. Despite the philosophical difference, the pair appear relatively evenly matched, leaving Tim Drake to land alone at the cave base.

The armored Batman sees fit to remain in the shadows, striking violently at his junior opponent with the sharp edge of a batarang. He slices at Tim's back, neck, chest, and face, showing no mercy in the battle for the cowl.

The dark Batman presses his advantage, leaping on his wounded opposite with a ferocious combination of punches. He mocks Tim's readiness to wear the cowl and symbol of Batman, but the youngster shows tremendous resilience. Reaching out to the rubble around them, he finds a poignant weapon -- a crowbar!

A swing of the metal bar shatters the impostor Batman's grille.

Tim whacks his exposed foe a second and third time, wielding the weapon that the Joker once used to beat Jason Todd to death. Despite the beating, the toothy gape of the impostor Batman's mouth lets loose a laugh, revealing to Tim Drake the truth of the situation. Looking down, the last thing he sees before blacking out is the batarang protruding from bleeding chest.

With that, the dark impostor leaves his nemesis to die.

The Hammer...
It might be a little early to start eulogising Tim Drake, but whomever he may be, the brutal Batman emerges victorious from this confrontation.

Stat hounds can safely assume the impostor Batman is Jason Todd. All signs certainly point toward the fallen boy wonder, but until we get confirmation on the subject, we'll hold off on updating the rankings. I'm sure you won't mind waiting (longer).

Thus far, Battle for the Cowl has been such an unusual experience. For all intents and purposes, a three-part mini-series that pits elements in Gotham against each other in competition for the Bat-mantle, while establishing a new "status quo" for Gotham City, isn't such a bad idea. However, in execution, I'm stuck wondering whether or not this series is running too long, or far too brief.

After a thoroughly ordinary first issue that ticked off sequences like a hurried checklist, this second issue pauses long enough to redeem itself. Even the artwork of writer/artist Tony Daniel appears a little more composed, making the two major fight sequences with "Dark Batman" much more enjoyable than the previous issue's stunted attacks on Nightwing, and Damian.

DC made no bones about the situation leading in to Battle for the Cowl, but one can't help but feel some level of disappointment regarding the gaps left entirely for a final issue. It's almost unfeasible to expect reasonable explanations for all the questions that have arisen as a result of this book in one single issue. Granted, those are presumably matters for subsequent issues of the post-Battle books, but without those answers, the events of these three issue feel hollow.

The scattershot narrative sifting through details of Gotham's Battle bound woes isn't quite as deft as Grant Morrison's approach to the expansive epic of Final Crisis. With events isolated to Gotham City, even presumably important scenes, like the gathering of notorious crooks under Black Mask, seem slightly irrelevant in a script that seems to want to focus on the matter of the title.

To give Daniel some credit, the issues certainly capture the rapid fire succession that is no doubt gripping Gotham City. However unfulfiled they might be, each scene whisks the reader through at a pace fitting to the overwhelming situation that's taken our heroes by the wayside. Unfortunately, that doesn't leave a lot of room for even insinuation, which was one of Morrison's great skills in Crisis.

The writer/artist copped some heat recently for leaking an image on his blog of post-Battle designs for Dick Grayson as Batman. Let's be honest, assuming the leak really did reveal the identity of the next Batman, he wasn't spoiling much.
Based only on the double-page teaser printed in various DC books months ago, most would've placed their bets on a Dick Grayson Batman to emerge alongside the blue-garbed Tim Drake Batman (featured this issue), and who we assume is Jason Todd, the fully masked grille Batman.

This telegraphed assumption makes sitting through Dick Grayson's pining reluctance all the more painful. It really isn't an attractive trait in the would-be next Batman, but again, I would have to call in to doubt Tony Daniel's handling of the script. Editorial demands might've steered him forcefully in this direction, but the handling of the character just feels a little too weak to be the veteran character. Worse still, it should be as obvious to all characters in-fiction, as it is to us, that Dick Grayson should be the next Batman. So get on with it!

Coping with death and interpretive culpability have long been central concepts in the Batman mythos. Battle for the Cowl continues this exponentially, forcing the expansive supporting cast to deal with issues once plaguing Bruce Wayne, while characters like the impostor Batman thrust many of the doubts of the Batman character upon his potential successors. With much less emphasis on this matter apparent in previews for upcoming titles in the Bat-relaunch, it's easy to accept this brooding stumble through the darkness of Gotham as something that had to happen. If it isn't a B-plot in subsequent series, at least we've dealt with some of those issues in this book, however cumbersome the process may be.

In the fight stakes, it's a shame Catwoman couldn't have featured more prominently, but I can see artistic reasons for wanting to pit the two Batmen against each other mano-a-mano. The artwork could've given a clearer image of her unfortunate fate, but that could be true of most pages. There's a very nineties feel about the whole book, not in a particularly positive way.

A nice enough read with a strong objective point that might not actually be contained within the pages of the series. No doubt we'll be back to talk about that some time in the future, as well as other details featured in this issue.

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 4

Want to know what's happened to Gotham City since Batman's disappearance? Keen to see who's battling for the cowl? Batman: Battle for the Cowl is still under way and on shelves now, but if you'd rather get the whole story in one volume, you can pre-order the trade collection via Amazon. By using purchase links provided, you help sponsor future entries in the Infinite Wars! You'll find plenty more in the Gift Shoppe including collections featuring most issues found in the Secret Archives!

BATMAN versus JOKER
Hush Chapter Seven: The Joke (DC)
Where: Batman #614 When: June 2003
Why: Jeph Loeb How: Jim Lee

The Story So Far...
When a child heir is kidnapped by Killer Croc the seeds of a plot to undo Gotham City's dark knight protector become unwittingly revealed. Batman's greatest villains are about to be manipulated by an unknown assailant, whose war of strategy against the hero proves deeply personal.

The next chapter in Batman's struggle emerges in the unlikliest of venues, during a night at the opera in the company of friends; Selina Kyle, Dr. Thomas Elliot, and Dr. Leslie Thompkins. When Dr. Elliot resists Harley Quinn's attempts to loot the crowd of their valuables, including a jade ring given to him by his deceased mother, he directs the attentions of the villain's gang on their balcony seats.

While Elliot pursues his heirloom; Wayne and Kyle emerged in their costumed alter-egos as Batman and Catwoman. Their battle with Harley Quinn earns the applause of the crowd, but when Batman tracks the fleeing villainess, he enters the alleys behind the theatre to find his arch-nemesis, the Joker, squatting over the gunshot inflicted body of his childhood best-friend, Thomas Elliot.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Batman 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Batman 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Draw 5 (Marathon)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Batman 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Power: Batman 4 (Arsenal)


- After witnessing the street murder of his parents, the young Bruce Wayne's destiny was forever shaped to be one dedicated to an ideal. Having spent his formative years studying the various sciences, martial arts, and crime fighting techniques, Bruce is ultimately inspired to become the one-man war on the criminal element in Gotham City: Batman.

Perhaps Batman's greatest power is the millions inherited from his industrialist parents, and the various facilities that came with that. They prove crucial in the design and construction of his many weapons, which are typically non-lethal, and have a variety of uses.

Complimented by his keenly strategic mind is Batman's expertise in the martial arts. He is extensively trained in multiple fighting styles, and commonly regarded to be one of the greatest hand-to-hand fighters in the world. He is also extremely proficient in general urban warfare.

- It has been claimed that he was the victim of one very bad day, which ended with a fall into a vat of chemicals that bleached his skin, dyed his hair, and twisted his face into a permanent grin. The truth of his name and origins remain unknown, but as the Joker, he is one of the most feared killers in Gotham City.

Joker is known to have an aptitude for creating and working with toxins and other chemicals, favouring trademark concoctions that induce uncontrolled laughter, facial distortion, and often, death. Joker is also a proficient strategist, who is said to regularly reinvent his identity as a part of his vendetta against Batman.
The Joker, though not a skilled fighter, is shown to have an inhuman capacity for pain tolerance and recovery.

Additional: While Batman has one of the most impressive lists of nemesis, few characters reach the status of Joker as his arch-villain. Joker's rivalry with Batman has arguably produced the definitive vision of the classic comic book supervillain, defined by; false deaths, personal attacks (deaths), trap and baits, and a continuing relationship unlikely to be resolved.

Joker's unpredictability often means Batman is forced into a responsive position. The Dark Knight's dedication to non-lethal justice is the means by which Joker maintains his villainous presence, with an uncanny knack for escape.
Despite their continuous rivalry, it is Batman who has a distinct advantage over Joker in physical confrontations, and regularly dishes out defeat accordingly. [Examples include; Detective Comics #781 and Batman #663].

History: Batman (2-0-0)
Math: Batman Ranking: Batman (#2)

What Went Down...
He knows the moment he sees him, that Dr. Thomas Elliot is already dead.
Enraged; Batman's mind opens to decades of death and violence, filling his fists with a vengeance that recalls the Joker's crimes against Barbara Gordon, Sarah Essen, Jason Todd, and the many nameless victims who've suffered.

The Dark Knight is unsympathetic to Joker's objections. His fists spray the blood of the clown prince with an uncharacteristic ferocity, bordering dangerously on what seems like a total loss of control, but the Batman is in control.

He pummels the Joker with a barrage of expert punches, each more devestating than the last, and unanswered by the weedy killer. For every uppercut, cross, and hook, the Joker pleads with Batman, through broken teeth and blood.

Unable to stand any longer, Joker buckles under the raging bull that is the Batman. With his enemy floored, Batman pins him down and wraps his powerful hands around the spindly neck of the chalkfaced killer. With a twisted grin, the Joker whispers his innocence to a Batman, stone faced.

The Joker's partner in crime, Harley Quinn, lurks into the alley from the nearby theatre exit. Wielding an oversized mallet, she and Joker lock eyes to hatch an unspoken ambush, but the Batman is more than prepared. He rolls to the side, allowing Quinn to clobber the Joker with with her weapon.

Batman sends Harley Quinn hurtling across the alley with a stiff kick, before returning his stoic attentions to the Joker, who continues to deny responsibility for the death of Thomas Elliot. Batman slams him against a wall, only to feel a whip wrap around his neck to jerk him away.

Catwoman, injured in the previous battle with Harley Quinn and her goons, does her best to pull the weight of the Batman away from Joker. Having developed a romantic relationship with the dark knight, Catwoman offers up her bitter intent to do everything she can to prevent the raging Batman from commiting acts regrettable. Despite their closeness, her words fall on deaf ears.

Batman yanks Catwoman toward him by the length of her whip, but the lithe vixen is able to use her momentum to slash the Bat across the chest with claws in her gloves. She emplores Batman to consider what he'd do if the roles were reversed, but the silent dark knight is submerged in regreat, recalling the death of Jason Todd, a milestone that has informed his every decision since.

Intent on punishing the Joker for his constant crimes, Batman takes advantage of Catwoman's wound, putting her down with a simple palm strike. He rests her gently out of harms way and thinks about how easily he could lose her, too.
With the image of her broken body in his mind, Batman makes his decision: "He dies tonight by my hand."

Attempting to flee, Joker is quickly engulfed in the shadow of the bat.
Batman pins him to the ground once more, allowing only screams of terror to escape from beneath the canopy of his long dark cape.

An authorative voice echoes through the rain, firing shots into the alley that clip the Batman's arm and cowl. "Stand up and put your hands in the air. The next shot, I WILL drop you." The descending voice of reason holds a gun to the back of the Batman's head and tries to remind him of the virtues that have prevented his descent into the madness that he combats. He is Jim Gordon, former GCPD commissioner, and lifelong ally of the Batman.

Gordon compells Batman to think, only to reach the chilling realisation that he has thought about his actions. As if resigned to the Batman's will Gordon makes a final empassioned speech, declaring the thin line that seperates the Gotham vigilante from costumed killers like the Joker. He is successful in finally talking the Batman down, but not relieving his sense of responsibility.

The Hammer...
Successful in overcoming Joker, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman - your winner and new Infinite Wars champion -- Batman!

That's right! After slipping from the top of our cumulative rankings some sixteen months ago; July's 'Dark Knight-sponsored entries have seen the original number one return to the top! Six months of the Spider-Boycott hasn't hurt the Bat-cause, but does this mean a return to the Season 2006 dominance of Batman? Stay tuned to Super Stock updates (and tape stats) to watch as the drama of the rankings resumes!

With the first appearance of the Joker arriving in 1940's Batman #1; the feud between the dark knight and his clowning arch-rival has become one of the most storied battles in comics. It's a relationship that has spawned an empire of cross media success, including a second feature film outing in this month's The Dark Knight; starring Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger in the respective roles.

Directly inspired by the adventures of pulp fiction and serial films of the 1940's; the Batman's trials began with bashful confrontations against fairly standard criminals. It was, however, the emergence of macabre characters like the Joker who gave birth to the arch-nemesis as we know it today, not as an evasive foe, but as a supporting character within the genre.

Customary of grim tales of the time was the concluding death of an evil-doer, but for Bill Finger and Bob Kane, this proved merely an obstacle through which they would create a standard. This desire to revisit colourful and memorable villains quite immediately created a situation now regarded with chagrin by many fans of the modern industry -- the false death.

Joker's many murderous returns from near-death situations made his duel with Batman a veritable archetype of the genre, culminating in less permanent solves, like Arkham Asylum, which first appeared under the pen of Denny O'Neal during the grim and gritty period of the seventies and eighties. As his criminal acts became increasingly horrific, the plausibility of Joker's constant return and escape from Arkham created new questions, which arguably remain unsolved.

In reviewing the confrontation in Batman #614, I wanted to look at a question that's probably going to be as relevant to longterm diehards as it is to relative neophytes who've just seen the film: Why doesn't Batman just kill the Joker?

As with Batman, the Joker has gone through many iterations, but the question rests at least on the implication of a Joker who is sufficiently lethal. I tend to think it's modern interpretations that justify the question the best, as Batman delves deeper into increasingly subdued settings, and faces plausible evils.

Because of these many interpretations [and the history just recapped to a questionable quality] it's very difficult to attribute any single reason for the Batman's restraint, and in the context of Joker, Jeph Loeb explores this lethal imperative on the terms of their longstanding relationship.

Quite suitably, the Christopher Nolan films have made quite a good effort to present both sides of the argument. It was Batman Begins that helped distill the character's motivations as they had become through the benefit of decades of refining, presenting a clearer depiction of Bruce Wayne as a man attempting to create an incorruptable symbollic structure for good.

[Christian] Bale's Batman defines himself by these broad ideals, benefitting from a slightly more balance psyche than popular interpretations of the comic book Dark Knight. In the four-colour medium the character is free to indulge much bigger, more fantastic ideals, where his morality and sense of responsibility becomes the spiral point for the Gotham villains to emerge.

The Dark Knight appears to reinstate a sense of individual, if tangential, motivation in the Joker as an independent entity. He is undeniably attracted to the Batman, but appears as a villain with a proclivity for chaos, and intrinsic homicidal tendencies to be played out en masse.
Bruce Wayne's larger-than-life push to be a force for good, without becoming an executioner, justified Batman in the first film, but the sheer scale of Joker's madness quite realistically reconfirms doubt over Batman's non-lethal tactics.

It's a fairly curious thing.
While off the page the answer might simply be a corporate American ideal to present Batman in the moral company of his superhuman counterparts -- the reality reflect by world law enforcement is an increasingly militant presence, forced in greater number to deal with life and death situations.

Geoff Johns has done well to introduce this concept to the Green Lantern mythology, granting even sometimes war-time pacifist, Hal Jordan, the license to do something previously attributed solely to the vengeance of Parallax.
So, as comics continue to confront the reality of a dark world, why not Batman? Why is the distinction between crippling and maiming sufficient for a man so staunchly against lethal force? I might redirect you to previous discussions about our totem of justice, and ponder the subject for our last Dark Knight Friday, where maybe I'll be ready to discuss the matter with more focus.

Oh, and the punchline? Joker didn't kill Tommy Elliot!

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 5.5

If you want to know more about Batman's attempt to kill the Joker; Gordon's intervention; or the secret war waged against the Dark Knight by a new foe - Hush - then you should head over to Amazon and pick up the trades! The top ten selling storyarc is the perfect way for fans of The Dark Knight to initiate themselves into the world of the Batman, as he is forced to tackle some of his greatest foes (and allies) in an effort to uncover the true identity of Hush! If you don't like what you see, but are looking to get your Bat-fix on, then be sure to check out the Amazonian Gift Shoppe for more legends of the dark knight! Collections featuring most issues reviewed in the Secret Archives are available, and by using purchase links provided, you help sponsor the Infinite Wars!

POISON IVY versus CATWOMAN
Hush Chapter Four: The City (DC)
Where: Batman #611 When: March 2003
Why: Jeph Loeb How: Jim Lee

The Story So Far...
When a child heir is kidnapped by Killer Croc; the seeds of a plot to undo Gotham City's dark knight protector become evident. Batman's greatest villains are manipulated by an unknown assailant, whose war of strategy against the hero begins with a break in modus for a Killer Croc mutated beyond his usual condition.

When Catwoman attempts to steal the ransom from Croc's kidnapping; the plot thickens as Batman takes pursuit across the city skyline, only to be cut down by one of his own weapons!
The resulting injuries from his fall bring Bruce Wayne's past into the present, but even as he becomes reacquainted with old friends; the Batman is thrust into a mystery that takes him to Metropolis and into the path of contemporary allies.

Beneath the lights of the city of the future; Batman and Catwoman begin a search for the puppeteer pulling their strings - Poison Ivy - but even as they do, they play into the hands of the true manipulator, and enter into an arena they could not possibly anticipate...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Catwoman 2 (Average)
Intelligence: Poison Ivy 5 (Professor)
Speed: Catwoman 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Catwoman 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Catwoman 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Catwoman 4 (Trained)
Energy Power: Poison Ivy 2 (Projectile)


- In her formative years, Pamela Isley was a budding student of botannical biochemstry at a Seattle university. Her introversion made manipulation easy for Dr. Jason Woodrue, a teacher who convinced the shrinking violet to partake in potentially lethal experiments involving botanic toxins.

The betrayal shakes the fragile woman into action, who narrowly escapes death, only to experience a series of personal tragedies. She invests her emotions in environmental issues, discovering an inate ability to converse with, and control, all forms of vegetation.
Using her intimate knowledge of botanic toxins and an unwitting connection with a mystic elemental force known as the Green; Isley settles in Gotham where she becomes the eco-terrorist, Poison Ivy.

To compensate for her limitated combative vocabulary, Ivy relies on the manipulations of more powerful adversaries, and the animation of complex and rare vegetation, to do her battles for her.

- Selina Kyle lives a life on the streets, coming to be known as a notorious thief. Her escapades garner much attention, and eventually force the burglar to lay low, where she continues her career in crime as a dominatrix extracting information from potential victims.

Kyle gains extensive training in the martial arts, and inspired by the mysterious vigilante called Batman, adopts her own leather mask and catsuit ensemble to become Catwoman. As Catwoman, she embarks on a career as an ambiguous entity in the Gotham City landscape. Though regularly acting as a professional burglar and occasional mercenary, Catwoman also comes to be known as a protector of Gotham's East End.

Catwoman is a highly skilled fighter at peak physical condition, with impressive physical strength, agility, and speed. Catwoman also utilizes weapons including a whip, cat o' nine tails variation, and claws contained within her gloves.

Though well known as antagonist of the Batman; Catwoman's moral ambiguities err on the side of good, often resulting in brief alliances (or romance) between the sometimes-enemies.

Math: Catwoman Ranking: Catwoman (#17)

What Went Down...
Having been freed of Poison Ivy's influence; Catwoman plans to track the villain to a safehouse in Metropolis. Batman and she form an alliance amidst romantic tensions, but the fiercely independent Catwoman proves difficult to tame. Only on her terms to the pair later reconvene to devise a plan.

Catwoman descends on the hideout alone, faking the lingering influence of Ivy's poisons. The villainness is not so easily deceived.

Poison Ivy swats the ill-prepared Catwoman with a backhand slap, but the surprise attack garners little advantage. With her ruse uncovered, Catwoman is given license to offer a little payback for manipulations suffered.

Payback takes the form of an unrelenting combination of punches and kicks from the well trained burglar! Ivy quickly finds herself on the ropes, and with a claw to her throat, attempts to bargain with her former-puppet, offering up a share of the ransom she had used Catwoman to steal. The thief remains uncompelled, but the tables are quickly turned...

A branch twists out from the millieu of plantlife adorning the hideout, wrapping itself around Catwoman's neck! Like an anaconda it yanks Ivy's attacker from her body, wrenching it's grip as it lifts Catwoman's flailing body upward.

A batarang flings from the gloom, slicing effortlessly through the animated vine!

Just as the Dark Knight makes his presence known, another hero stirs nearby.
It begins with a thoom and then a krrrkk as the foundations of Ivy's dockside building begin to crumble under the might of Kryptonian strength.
Superman tosses the building aside, wounding Catwoman in the process. With that, he takes Poison Ivy's side, while Batman surveys the carnage.

The Hammer...
I hate to say it, but the double victory goes to surprise entrant Superman, and the lady pulling the strings, Poison Ivy!

This isn't one of the promised July Dark Knight entries, but if we're going to be nearly two weeks behind schedule, I figure it's going to be more worthwhile if we cram in plenty of meat in the sandwich. Indeed, cram we have, as we make a belated acknowledgment of Catwoman's inclusion in Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe.

I have to admit to a bit of a double motive, because, one of these things [pictured right] is not like the other...

We've touched upon it briefly in other entries, but we might as well just take the gloves off and get down to business: Poison Ivy has no business appearing in a beat 'em up video game!

It might surprise the initiated to learn that there's been a surprisingly vocal response to the idea of Poison Ivy appearing in the game. One assumes the shouting minority probably doesn't include many of our regular readers from the DC Nation, because, as we'd all know, Poison Ivy isn't really a fist-fighter.

That's not to say Poison Ivy doesn't have a place in video games, which are, for the most part, centred around the mechanics of a combative exchange. There's a lot of validity to the concept of a plant-manipulating Ivy in a video game, but as we saw in this particular entry, Ivy's MO is to surround herself with quantities of vegetation, or minions bewitched by her toxins. Gamers might instinctively equate these qualities to an adventure/platformer, which seems fair.

I have to admit; I'm the first person to acknowledge a disappointing history in the gameplay of previous Mortal Kombats. 2002's Deadly Alliance led with Tekken-inspired fighting styles applied liberally, but with a fluidity that made it everything it's predecessors (and successors) failed to be.

The jury remains out on whether or not MKvsDC, and it's many incrementalized mini-modes, will be able to salvage the brief reputation garnered by MK:DA. I do, however, feel that recent history of slapping the names of fight styles on-screen emphasises the lingering connection between Mortal Kombat and the martial arts. Early games might have suffered from a serious disconnect due to the homogenous palette of kicks and punches shared across the roster, but the implication was there to be fulfilled.

Poison Ivy not only lacks the requisite fighting abilities that even unrefined brawlers, like Flash and Captain Marvel, bring to the table, but is more specifically characterized by her removal from physical altercation. Few examples come to mind where Ivy has physically opposed her arch-rival, Batman, beyond the delay of a vine-tangled struggle -- which, as we saw in this entry, is usually remedied quite quickly.

I don't expect the descent of reason to interrupt the claims of uninitiated fans clamoring for Poison Ivy in a fighter - but hopefully we can at least contribute context to those interested in researching the names being bandied about.
Suffice to say, I do not expect Poison Ivy to beat out the many characters sure to be cut from the list. If you'd like to know more of those, you should track through our long series of related entries, which can currently be found starting here!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 5.5

Fresh off The Dark Knight and keen to do some reading? Want to know everything that happens in the big battle of Batman #612? The good news for you is that 2003's Hush is collected in two convenient, affordably priced paperbacks. Better yet, if you use purchase links provided on the Inifinite Wars, you help sponsor future Bat-entries! And hey, looking for more classic Batman stories? Why not browse through the Secret Archives to see what takes your fancy, or scroll over to the Amazonian Gift Shoppe where there are many recommended and reviewed reads on offer! It's all part of the plan!

CHEETAH versus CATWOMAN
The Long Road Home: Part 1 (DC)
Where: Catwoman #78 When: June 2008
Why: Will Pfeifer How: David López

The Story So Far...
After a spate of especially violent superhuman crimes, the secreted United Nations agency called Checkmate set about plans to 'relocate' the world's super powered criminals on a distant planet called, Salvation.

Amanda Waller leads the initiative with her group of reformed and controlled criminals, the Suicide Squad, in an effort to round-up the powers, and redistribute them with the use of Apokoliptian Boom Tube technology.

Catwoman finds herself among those trapped on the hell planet, which is actually a training ground for the New Gods. Populated by deadly and malicious creatures designed to harden those trained there, Catwoman has much to contend with, not only the wildlife, but also arch enemies like Hammer and Sickle...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Cheetah 4 (Enhanced)
Intelligence: Catwoman 3 (Professor)
Speed: Cheetah 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Draw 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Cheetah 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Catwoman 4 (Trained)
Energy Power: Draw 1 (None)


- Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva was an anthropologist who travelled to Africa to seek out the secrets of a tribe whose guardian is said to possess the powers of a cheetah.

When this guardian is killed by marauders, Minerva steps up to the mantle, but details of the mystic process mean the recipient must be a virgin, which she is not. The irregularity means the mystic powers of the Cheetah become a curse, as Minerva finds herself wracked with pain, and bloodthirsty when in the form of a human-cat.

As Cheetah, Minerva possesses strength, speed, agility surpassing any ordinary human, approaching the levels of the creature from which she takes her name. Her senses are also heightened to comparable levels to the animal.

- Selina Kyle lives a life on the streets, coming to be known as a notorious thief. Her escapades garner much attention, and eventually force the burglar to lay low, where she continues her career in crime as a dominatrix extracting information from potential victims.

Kyle gains extensive training in the martial arts, and inspired by the mysterious vigilante called Batman, adopts her own leather mask and catsuit ensemble to become Catwoman.
As Catwoman, she embarks on a career as an ambiguous entity in the Gotham City landscape. Though regularly acting as a professional burglar and occasional mercenary, Catwoman also comes to be known as a protector of Gotham's East End. She is also known to be romantically involved with Batman.

Catwoman is a highly skilled fighter at peak physical condition, with impressive physical strength, agility, and speed. Catwoman also utilizes weapons including a whip, cat o' nine tails variation, and claws contained within her gloves.

History: Catwoman (1-0-0)
The Math: Cheetah Ranking: Catwoman (#21)

What Went Down...
Alone on a planet populated by murderers and madmen, Catwoman finds herself face-to-face with her Russian arch-enemies, Hammer and Sickle. Ever the survivalist, Catwoman convinces them her alliance with Lex Luthor can get them off the planet, but only if she can convince the All-American Luthor to aid the tandem of Russian super-soldiers.

The Russians prove less than invested in their role as Catwoman's super-muscle when Cheetah descends on the trio while they overlook Lex Luthor's camp. Tensions between the feline-themed ladies had built over previous encounters.

Forced to fend for herself; Catwoman finds herself physically overwhelmed by her stronger opponent, who pins her to the ground before slamming her head into the stone underfoot. Cheetah prepares to toss her foe to the villains below, but the incredibly agile Catwoman is able to swing out of the press position, using her momentum to drive Cheetah's arm into a jarring slam.

Suffering a broken wing, Cheetah is too distracted to defend herself from Catwoman's preemptive assault. A rock serves as a makeshift equaliser, Catwoman wielding it as a weapon she breaks across Cheetah's face, before toppling her with a roundhouse kick.

The rush attack hurts Cheetah, making her increasingly desperate.
Catwoman reaches for the whip, wrapping it around Cheetah's head with a violent crack. Unwilling to go down so easy, Cheetah yanks on the whip, flicking Catwoman over the edge of the cliff. The whip drags both women down, but only one of them is in condition enough to maneuver in the air...

Catwoman rides her attacker to the ground, but the impact fails to put an end to Cheetah's vengeful desires. Catwoman paws at her belt, revealing a cigar marked "J" just as the feline villainess launches herself.

"Any of you *koff* guys see the Joker tell him I said thanks for the cigar."

The explosion puts a punctuated end to the latest installment in the growing rivalry between vixens. The war, however, is but beginning, as Luthor and Catwoman look to the night sky to witness a boom tube open...

The Hammer...
Ladies and gentlemen, Catwoman officially smoked Cheetah. Oh, come on! What would victory-by-Joker cigar be without a bad joke to close the deal? Ah, to hell with you guys!...

Needless to say, it wasn't the pun that delayed yet another entry in the Infinite Wars. Suffice to say my time's been pretty well booked lately, but I was too excited about the prospect of getting another entry from 2008 up on the Wars, that I just had to push on! What a trooper.

Earlier in the year we featured a previous encounter between these two characters; from the Loeb/Sale mini, Catwoman: When in Rome; as a direct response to the release of this issue that caused a minor stir. It's nice to be able to follow up, because the issue delivers exactly the kind of whip cracking throwdown I had hoped for.

For those who missed it; it was the salacious reception of the Adam Hughes coverart that had many interpreting the lip-biting cover as the latest in a long line of covers that are gratuitous.
While I would accept Hughes has a reputation for provocative artwork, and Catwoman covers have certainly pushed that line; I felt, and feel, this was more fantasy than fact when describing the feral ferociousness of this cover. Suffice to say, it proves an accurate representative of internal materials now detailed.

That's not to say I'm stupid or blind, mind you.
My threshold for embarassment and arousal might be a bit more relaxed than our friends from the United States, but my thoughts did turn to the Comics Fairplay regular feature when spying what is to be the second-to-last cover for this series of the book [Catwoman #81].


Top 25 Ladies#1 Invisible Woman (Marvel)
#2 Catwoman (DC)
#3 Storm (Marvel)
#4 Rogue (Marvel)
#5 Wonder Woman (DC)
#6 Wasp (Marvel)
#7 Zatanna (DC)
#8 Elektra (Marvel)
#9 Kitty Pryde (Marvel)
#10 Hawkgirl (DC)
#11 Tara (Marvel)
#12 Spitfire (Marvel)
#13 Hellcat (Marvel)
#14 R. Mika (Capcom)
#15 Phoenix (Marvel)
#16 Black Cat (Marvel)
#17 Black Canary (DC)
#18 Black Widow (Marvel)
#19 Lyja (Marvel)
#20 Tabitha Stevens (Marvel)
#21 She-Thing (Marvel)
#22 Powergirl (DC)
#23 Stargirl (DC)
#24 Sayd (DC)
#25 Sakura (Capcom)I'm no wowser, but if a scene depicting the catsuit clad heroine bent over infront of spotlights isn't gratuitous, I do not know what is! Yeesh!

Food for thought, though that may be, it's actually the impending cancellation of the title that's the real talking point. Upcoming issues bring Selina Kyle back to her stomping grounds of Gotham, but it looks like her return from Salvation will only bring her into conflict with the villains of Gotham, and former-flame, Batman.

Admittedly, between being busy and distracted by other sources, I'm a bit out of the loop, but I just don't know what to expect from the coming months at DC!

Final Crisis has thrown all kinds of theories at the wall! The final chapter of the so-called "Crisis Trilogy" has me feeling everything I've mocked others for. After scoffing notions that Identity or Infinite Crisis were building to a line-wide reboot or fragmented multiverse; I find myself dreading the potential of exactly that.

Catwoman has been confirmed for post-cancellation appearances in Detective Comics, but for a title that's held such a consistent standard for over eighty issues, it seems like a bitter consolation for Will Pfeifer, David Lopez, and fans of the series. It also begs the question of what the future holds for the character.

I have to admit, thoughone of Wonder Woman's few readily identifiable adversaries, I liked the notion of seeing Cheetah and Catwoman continue their acquaintance as rivals. As a supporting character herself, that might be a little too much to ask for, but the baggage Catwoman has accumulated in her solo adventures may yet find it's way to pages inhabited by the Dark Knight, which could make for some very interesting material.

Continuing the theme that seems to have trumped Invincible Iron Month; Cheetah and Catwoman are also prime examples of characters it might be nice to see in the upcoming Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe. The modern Cheetah certainly has qualities sure to appease certain expectations of MK fans.
I'd love to elaborate, but I'm absolutely zonked, so I'll take my leave satisfied with just getting an entry done! Make sure you stay tuned for the various things going on around the site, and keep rocking! More soon!

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 5

You'll have to wait a while before preordering the collected edition of this Catwoman story, but there's plenty of other Catwoman goodness on offer in the Infinite Wars: Amazonian Gift Shoppe! Titles reviewed, and recommended, are all available at low prices thanks to Amazon, and by using purchase links provided, you help sponsor future entries in the Infinite Wars! Show your support, check out the many titles on offer, including the series, Salvation Run! Be sure to also check out the urban adventures of the White Ghost in our very own, The Kirby Martin Inquest. At the special price of $1.99 for twenty-two pages of full-size story, it's the perfect time to show your support for resident fledgling (and exhausted) talent, Mike Haseloff!