Published on June 2nd, 2020
I mentioned yesterday that Tom King was fired from Batman. This was a huge story even though he wasn't fired from DC or anything tragic. One of the DC higher ups wanted him off the book. This happened right after King's weird, dream storyline that was terrible. The book was a good seller, so that wasn't the reason he was fired. Just some executive didn't like what he was doing on their big book. It was kind of weird that he was fired considering his run was almost over, anyway. The book was bi-monthly when he was writing it and he left at #85 and was supposed to carry on until around #120. He got to finish his run anyway because it just turned into this 12 issue mini-series, Batman/Catwoman. I read all 85 issues of his run and when it came out it was usually the first book I read that week, so it's not like I loathed it or anything. His run was hit-or-miss, though not particularly memorable. Making Bane the central villain probably didn't help. But his successor, James Tynion IV, hasn't really done anything better. Tynion's run is just boring.
Batman/Catwoman is a bit different because it takes place in the future & in the past. Selina Kyle kills The Joker in the future (The Joker is a retired, old dude in Florida). In this issue, Harley Quinn shows up to kill Selina in the future and they have a fight. Meanwhile, in the past, Catwoman meets up with Phantasm, a pseudo-villain. And we get more of Tom King's classic "broken" hero here, as Catwoman spends the present section drunk and reckless. Some things never change.
The first four issues of this book were released monthly starting in December, but this book was delayed for two months for unknown reasons. Clay Man, the artist, has done phenomenal work on the previous four issues but this issue doesn't look as crisp. That means I'm assuming the delay was his fault for whatever reason.
Like his 85 issue Batman run, this book feels like it's treading water. The pace is so molasses slow, and there's not a lot of meat to it. Batman does show up in the book but I don't think he even says a word. That Harley Quinn as a senior citizen is still dressing up in costume and acting the part is kind of an odd choice. One of the big surprises in this book, besides The Joker being murdered, is that Catwoman has a daughter, presumably one she had with Bruce Wayne. Will any of this future stuff even be remembered or be considered part of the official DC cannon?
This book is strange though it is engrossing. I'm guessing that the DC executive that fired him would read this and feel justified. But sometimes different is good, and I think this mini-series is unique enough to be worth reading. **1/2
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