After a longer than normal release spell, DC Comics finally released the next Batman Catwoman issue, and this one marks the halfway point in our story. Batman Catwoman 6 basically takes our three timelines and has everyone ‘sit down’ for a little heart to heart. Bruce and Andrea engage in a morals discussion over revenge. Selina and Joker discuss tree decorating and character quality, and Selina and Helena discuss a certain Clown Prince’s demise.

After reading this issue, I have to ask myself if DC didn’t make a mistake naming a couple of their comics. They currently have an ongoing title called Joker, but so far it follows Gordon more than anyone. I really think they should have called that title Gordon and this title Joker, but the Clown-Prince sells better than a good cop I guess. The Batman Catwoman series seems very centered on Joker and could either be titled Joker or The Gotham Trinity. Batman, Joker and Catwoman make up the three biggest influences on Gotham when all is said and done.

Heart To Heart – Life For a Life

Catwoman

In the past timeline, Andrea Beaumont continues her bloody quest for revenge. She wants the head of the clown that murdered her family, and she will not stop until she gets it. It helps being an ex love interest of Bruce Wayne and knowing all his secrets. She knows exactly how to hurt him and make Batman help her quest for revenge. Batman’s one weakness has always been his heart, so this makes the natural target Catwoman. Trade a cat for a clown and the world will be a better place.

The most interesting point to all three stories comes at the end. At the end of the past, Andrea unleashes a verbal assault on Batman. He holds to his ideal while her son gets murdered. I really would have liked to hear Batman’s response to that except it never comes. Catwoman gets free (shocker), but instead of Aiding Batman, she sucker-kicks him and knocks him out cold. She then sides with Andrea and goes with her to kill Joker. Selina being Selina I do not know that this moves surprises me much, but the real question is what goes wrong?

Being in the past, we know their plan doesn’t succeed, but why? Does Selina betray Andrea, possibly to Andrea’s downfall? Does Bruce intervene, making him side with and protect Joker? Or is there a third possibility that really messes things up? Given future events, I am very intrigued by what will happen.

Heart To Heart – Inconceivable Words

The present story line really baffles me. While Selina always walked both sides of the line, why in the world would she invite Joker over, especially after the position he put her in! She had to choose between saving lives and outing her partnerships with Joker. He just put her in a preverbal Kobiashi Maru scenario (no-win scenario). Now she and Joker decorate the Christmas tree Bruce gave her. Part of this scene gets really touching, but then so does the ending.

I love when she pulls out her ornaments, every single one is a cat ornament. Selina chides herself for being so predictable and cliched, but as she pulls out each ornament, she tells the story behind it. Each one brings back a memory of when she was young, learning to steal, and one even showed her how not to be afraid. The fact everyone of them is stolen and having to tell Batman about the bomb, leaves her wondering if she’s a good person. It is a touching scene that really invokes some sympathy for her, but why does she ask Joker if she’s a good person? You can feel the pain and desperation inside her.

Then HE knocks. No, not Joker like she thought, but Bruce Wayne! She nearly lets slip Joker was just there, and before she can say a word, Bruce states he is nothing without her. Everybody 1. 2. 3 – awwww! Such a sweet thing to say, but the final panel is equally chilling. Filled with Joker’s trademark laughing, did he just hear everything Bruce said? Again, can’t wait to see where this goes.

Heart To Heart – Wit Sharper Than Any Claw

I think the future timeline is perhaps my favorite of the three. I love Helena and her costume. It would make for a great show, but you would have to find someone to truly embody this older version of Selina. It’s her attitude, yet command of the room that would sell the show. While I think a better person could be found, Michelle Pfeiffer would most definitely fit her role. This Selina embodies every part of both Catwoman and Batman. She kicks ass, but has a grounded persona that I just love.

Selina is not stupid. She knows Helena is not stupid. When Helena states Selina killed Joker, instead of getting worked up or starting a fight over methods or anything else, she rolls right into the perfect response. I did some digging and I do not think the costume she pulls out was ever a genuine early Catwoman costume, it definitely felt like she was reaching back to those days form long ago. She and Helena go out to fight side by side despite her age.

I love how as they fight these new age bad guys, Selina cannot help but ridicule the stupid puns that the villains in Gotham continue to name themselves. They cannot even be original. Tired schtick only goes so far. In the end Selina sees it all as a fun night out, not as a night of fighting evil and villainy as Helena does.

Heart To Heart – Family Til the End

But the best part of Future Selina is her heart. It hurts. It avenges, but it also loves. Selina’s first action as she and Helena head out is to talk with Commissioner Grayson. The relationship between Bruce and Selina seemed to stay between those two. It never really incorporated the rest of the Bat-family, yet when she sees Dick she smothers him in love as if she were his own mother. I don’t think we know exactly how long Bruce has been dead. It wasn’t recent but it hasn’t been so long that those around him are still hurting. Selina doesn’t lay false flattery on Dick. She tells him the truth and what Bruce really thought of him after all those years. She touches Dick in a way few truly could.

Then after an evening of pun kicking with Helena, she turns it into a lesson. No sharp words or lectures. Simply a plea for Helena to ask her if she killed Joker. Selina then gives the only answer fitting of the former Catwoman – “Damn #%#$&%# right I did.” The story stops here, so how Helena responds will need to wait til issue #7. Will she bring her mother in? Cover for her? What is the right answer?

Heart To Heart – Absolutely Killing It

Here we stand, half way through the series and Tom King and company are absolutely killing it with this series. The story sports the infamous DC Black Label, which means pretty much anything goes, yet it stay respectable. The character looks sexy. They cuss a lot more, but most gets symbolled out. The overall look has been amazing.

As for the story, I do not know how you craft a better story. It’s pushing Bruce and Selina’s characters in ways we have never seen before. There is such a depth to both of them, and they keep getting deeper. At the center of all of the timelines are the hearts of these characters. Not all together good, but not all bad either. Bruce and Selina are opposite sides of the same coin, and King really brings this out. I cannot wait to see where the second half of the series takes us.

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