A thrilling new collection featuring CATWOMAN #20-24! After the horrifying events in CATWOMAN: RELENTLESS, Selina and Holly look for relaxation on a road trip — but they're in for way more than they bargained for! Guest-starring Wildcat, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Captain Cold and more.
Ed Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
(Zero spoiler review) God help me, this is definitely the low point of the omnibus so far. This is not only woefully below the standards I expected of it, but even falls well short of the solid yet unspectacular nature of a considerable portion of the prior issues. Nothing that came before was of an impossibly high standard, yet this arc, this awful, awful arc was Brubaker at his most abjectly lazy. Coughing up stories that no comic book professional should be proud to turn in. Whether DC forced this 'road trip', change of scenery, reset, let's get as far away from Gotham and noir as possible schtick on him, or whether he felt this was a grand idea all on his own, I don't know. But these are stories that I never want to read again, and want to exorcise from my memory as soon as possible. Nothing here warrants an individual mention, for the simple fact as it would likely further ingrain its awfulness into my subconscious, making the chemical scouring I plan to do to said unconscious less likely to succeed. Ok, I might be exaggerating ever so slightly, but not by any discernible margin. These are dreadful stories, dreadfully told. I really expected better from Ol' Eddie boy. I promise, no matter how much you want to read it, no matter how intrigued you may be by my desperate warning, don't! Just don't! Curiosity did kill the cat after all. 2/5
A strong character work arc with a weaker overall "villain" story going on.
Basically Salina is taking Holly across the country to try and find something for her. While she's doing that, she also trains Holly with the help of a friend. On this trip Salina also gets into a stick up, helps Captain Cold, and deals with ancient Egyptians who try to kill her and turn into dust when they get defeated. It's a weird one, more fun than previous volumes, and the character work with Holly and Salina is great but the villains? Very weak.
Brubaker takes the story arc as far as he can . . .All 9 volumes, it turns out, are required to understand the full story from beginning to end. Each of the 9 volumes presents a portion of the longer tale.
I have a feeling I'm going to miss the gritty feel of Brubaker's writing and Stewart's equally top notch artistic renderings.
Excellent volume that sees Catwoman and Holly travel around the DCU, giving a great excuse for cameos by a whole host of characters as diverse as Wildcat and Captain Cold. Brubaker has an excellent handle on Selina's voice, some great dialogue dotted throughout, and although the central plot is fairly thin, there are enough fun sub-plots to keep the reader happy. The art is very cartoony,very Darwyn Cooke style, but suits the tone well. Recommended by me.
I guess I didn't realize this was volume 4 when I picked it up. Regardless it was cheesy in a really fun way and I think the art style fits Selina's vibe at this point in her story.
I've admitted to being an unabashed Superman dork. When you go through all of my non-Superman superhero comics, you'll find a handful of repeating names. John Ostrander. Keith Giffen. Peter David. Walter Simonson. Karl Kesel (underrated master of fun).
Ed Brubaker is making a mark on that list, and Catwoman: Wild Ride is a book that is only going to help his case. I've been pretty open about my belief that there are better places to tackle adult themes than in stories featuring characters in funny spandex costumes, although at the same time, I don't want completely inane, Silver Age-goofy escapism. I remain convinced that some serious themes, balanced by some seat-of-your-pants action, a little humor and great art is the perfect recipe for a satisfying romp in four-color world.
In Catwoman: Relentless, Brubaker told a great, emotionally harrowing tale of Catwoman's worst day. I can't deny the skill that he displayed in the story, although it skewed somewhat darker than I might've liked.
Wild Ride follows on that bleak day, as Selina and her best friend Holly take to the road for an extended road trip in order to forget their troubles. Brubaker does a great job of balancing Holly's trouble getting over the horrors of Relentless with plenty of humor (see the exploding car in chapter one) and uplifting moments (see Holly's meetings with a mystery guest and Hawkgirl in the last chapter). He also shows off the facets of Selina's moral code, as she works with known villains, reformed villains and super-heroes for various purposes, all of which ultimately suit her needs (and just maybe the "common good").
Plus, Brubaker really gives artist Cameron Stewart plenty of chances to shine. From rooftop chases, to the elegant lines of Opal City to Holly's sparring with Catwoman's mentor, Wildcat, Stewart nails every single page. His art is crisp and inviting, a more detailed version of Bruce Timm's open animated stylings, and his action sequences are clear and hard-hitting.
My only complaint: I did not read the monthly issues that compose this book, so I'm not sure how long the Beti-Ma conspiracy ran, but I was disappointed to get to the end of the volume and find that such a HUGE element was left hanging. It would've been nice if the Beti-Ma cult storyline had been concluded in this book.
Creo haberme dado cuenta de que los números en inglés no corresponden con los números editados en español. Lo noté más que nada al fijarme en que las sinopsis de algunos volúmenes dicen cosas totalmente distintas a la que yo leí, pero bueno. Mi coso en español se llamaría Caer no es fácil, y sería la última entrega de Catwoman escrita por Ed Brubaker (si no me equivoco).
Yo, como boluda que soy, leí el tercer tomo antes que cualquiera de ellos, así que, sumándole el hecho de que no leo cómics hace mil porque hace poco recuperé mi compu, debería agregar que el último número que leí es el 1, no el 3. No recordaba demasiado en un principio y me sentía perdida, pero lo fui llevando.
La estructura de este cómic me pareció totalmente distinta a la de todos los números anteriores, por eso me costó engancharme y leerlo, créanlo o no. Encima que apenas tuve tiempo de leer por el colegio y el fin de clases, la historia no atrapaba mucho que digamos. De lo peor de Brubaker que leí por el momento. Y eso que él hace muy buenos guiones. Pero algo falló acá, no sé. Me gustó, sí… pero lo consideraría el peor tomo de los 4.
Catwoman and Holly go on a road trip, and I was surprised to see New York City mentioned as one of the other cities, since I always thought Gotham WAS NYC, and now I have to imagine a world in which BOTH Gotham AND NYC (AND Keystone City and Opal City, etc) exist. I imagine this story has plenty of Easter eggs for the longtime DC fan, but most of those went right over my head.
As always, Catwoman delightfully straddles the line between lawful and illegal, and she does it with panache!
This was fun, but I am not enough of a DC fangirl to get a kick out of seeing all the other DC characters. Also, I need a magnifying glass when I read paper graphic novels - those tan text boxes with little words, and Holly's diary entries with even littler words (these were really annoying, honestly - why write so tiny???) ... too much for me.
This volume collects six single issues, and usually when that happens, the collection includes the cover art and front cover page of each single, but this one did not do that, so it reads like one long continuous story. Interesting choice! The art in the first section, from the Special, was noticeably different, and I preferred it, but I was unable to find out if the artist was different between that and the main story.
Usually, graphic novel collections contain one full story arc, but this time that didn't happen. Selina is attacked by some mysterious mummy guys, spends the rest of the collection on the road, finally finds out who these mummy guys are (ancient followers of the children of Bast, which okay, that's a really cool opponent for Catwoman), and this collection ends with these guys travelling back to Gotham, presumably to cause more trouble for Selina and/or Batman. This was disappointing, since this volume marks the end of Brubaker's involvement in this particular series.
Brubaker's run is fun without being stupid, serious without being heavy, and the artwork, which is cartoonish actually fits well the vibe of not taking everything so entirely serious. Plus, the switch in Catwoman's outfit to the full body dark matte leather makes much more sense as a costume than the bondage gown kind of dumbass teen boy jerkoff material that women in comics are drawn in by idiot manchildren.
I used to hate this art style when I was little. I can handle it a little better now but it’s still distracting. The story is cheesy, but it’s important for this particular series as it’s Catwoman’s redemption moment. Her first act of selflessness (they say) is discovering the serial killer clayface and trying to show him mercy, which backfires. Only escaping by cutting off clayface’s head and putting it in a freezer, she fetches Batman to dispose of her mess and recruits Holly to help her with future cases. Meh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Road trip with Selina (Catwoman) and her new sidekick, Holly...Gotham City, Star City, & St Roch. Of course things don't always go smoothly and many appearances by other DC comic characters. A fun read! (Comic book - part of Mini Comic Con prize)
I picked this up right after vol. 3 and as such it was a bit disappointing. Nothing much happened. It was nice to see Holly and Selina out on a road trip, but it didn't really do it for me the way vols 2 and 3 did. It didn't have such a nice noir feel and felt more like superheros.
Wonderful wonderful light and fun 5 issue arc that not only builds characters, but also gives readers a breather from the heavy heavy shit that happened last arc. This is clearly Brubaker displaying his ability to pace and write for a series.
World: Well I found out that Guy Davis (one of my favs) did the layouts for this arc, yeah! The art is once again great, It think I don't need to talk about that anymore. The world building this time around is all about well just serving the story. There is not a lot of world building here, minor character points but it is mostly Brubaker playing around in the sandbox that is the DCU. This is great, because after so many issues of carving his own little piece of Gotham for Selina it's great to see her and Holly on the road just chillin.
Story: Great! It's light, it's fun, it's character developing in a fun and bubbly way, and the fan service for DC reader! It's still paced very well, the premise is fun, the locales and stuff they get into is great but overall this arc seems like a destresser. Not only for the characters but for the readers also, it's a great way to cleanse the palate and it shows how amazing Brubaker is as a writer.
Characters: A large cast of characters due to the road trip but all of them have little snippets of character development and fan service. We still have time to deal with Selina and Holly and their situation but also seeing all these DC characters interact with them was fun.
A light 5 issue arc that gives us a reason to smile when reading this series. I like it and I like why it's here, sometimes writers forget that this is a marathon and sometimes we need a little lightness to balance out the darkness of some of the tales.
Ed Brubaker and Cameron Stewart take Catwoman on a DC road trip in this fourth volume of the series. In order to help her friend Holly Robinson cope with the trauma of their encounter with Black Mask, Selina determines that its time to leave Gotham. The first stop is an old farmhouse where Holly receives some one-on-one training with pugilist hero Wildcat. The ladies next make a stopover in Keystone City, where Selina and Captain Cold team up for a unique heist. The home of the original Starman, Opal City, sees a battle with a ninja cult from the previous adventure; the final leg of the trip is the aerie of Hawkman and Hawkgirl in St. Roch. The culmination of the saga is the reunification of Holly and her long-lost brother, setting up a clean slate for the next arc. Brubaker offers a nifty road map of the 2000s DC Universe, cleverly avoiding the major hubs for a more intimate look at the lesser-known cities. Holly receives excellent character development, which serves her well in the upcoming One Year Later reboot, and Selina is adequately portrayed as both concerned friend and opportunistic thief. The flashback to Gotham featuring jealous boyfriends Slam Bradley and Batman are humorous and offer much-needed levity after the dark turn of the previous volume. Cameron Stewart's art evokes a rougher version of Darwyn Cooke, but thrives on the cartoonish details and expressions. Catwoman's Wild Ride is a fun romp across the famous worl of Detective Comics.
It's sad that this is the end of Brubaker's run. I often find myself annoyed when Brubaker leaves an ongoing title. He sets up a really big story but he never seems to write them. At least with this run he managed to end it with a storyline that has a chance to be cool as opposed to his ending of his run on Daredevil.
The art on this is good but i doesn't seem as great as the earlier volumes. The storyline itself isn't too bad. It's nice to see Wildcat show up and train Holly. I've never really read JLA so Wildcat always shows up in a supporting roles. I do like him though. It's nice to see an older superhero who's still in the game. The other thing that I like about this is getting to see Holly have a happy moment. It's annoying to see characters just constantly beaten down in these kind of books, so when there are happy moments it's nice to savor them.
If you like Comics but aren't too into the whole Supers thing, Catwoman is a good mix. There's a lot of time spent on Selina as a person rather than her as a costume. (at least in this volume. Some of the volumes are definitely about her as a costume.
This volume was certainly not as powerful as the previous three volumes of Catwoman. I understand why it exists as it provides quite a bit of levity compared to the events of "Relentless" however, in doing so I felt Catwoman lacked the substance that Brubaker has instilled so far.
Essentially, this volume was a buddy road trip and was not as grounded in reality or noir as the previous volumes.
I appreciate reading this because I am less anxious to complete Brubaker's run on Catwoman because I would have to be the remaining individual issues separately as they have not been collected.
There is also "War Games" which involves several crossover titles, but again...I am not chomping at the bit.
The first three volumes of Brubaker's Catwoman are perfection. We hit a bit of decline here that is disappointing because of what came before it but still a solid Catwoman story.
One of the better versions of Catwoman, with her becoming more Gotham's version of Lupin and Raffles than an actual hero or villain. After a rough mission, Catwoman and her sidekick Holly go on a road trip, and all the cities are DC universe cities, so they get to cross paths with various heroes and villains, as well as having the usual adventures you see in a good road movie.
Also a couple of nice interludes, where we get to see what the men in Catwoman's life are up to with her gone. A fun read that combines crime fiction with super heroes and keeps the road movie vibe.
Ed Brubaker and Cameron Stewart deliver another fantastic Catwoman tale. Its actually more like a Selina Kyle/Holly Robinson tale. Sure, Selina is a in costume at times but this is more of a personal story than a superhero type story. Their friendship seen through stops along a DCU road trip was great. Seeing Stewart get a chance to pencil some of the DCU heroes and villains that normally aren't found in these pages was really fun. This book was easily accessible and a pleasure from beginning to end. Really good stuff!
As usual, I ended up getting in late on this particular Catwoman story. I'm horrible with volume numbers. But it's okay, because I loved it anyway, and I know I'd love it more if I had read the previous volumes. Selina is great. Holly is great. Even Ted and Slam were great. And Hawkgirl! I loved Hawkgirl on Justice League. (I still can't take Batman seriously, though.) So I guess now I get to see if I can get my hands on the Catwoman stories before this. Why can't we have a Catwoman movie instead of endless Batman and Superman?
Although some readers were put off by the road trip aspect of this volume, I really enjoyed it. It gives you a chance to see the other side of Selina- the loyal best friend. There IS a villain in this one, but you only get hints of what's to come. The main focus is Selina and Holly. Brubaker is the best at writing Catwoman, he really gets inside her character, and it never feels cheesy.
Since I enjoyed casually reading some She-Hulk a few weeks ago, I picked up some Catwoman stuff at the library. This was the best of what I randomly checked out as it turned out to be a fun girlpower road movie comic more than a superhero comic. I really enjoyed the friendship between Selina and Holly and the little adventures along the way.
Wild Ride may not be as exciting and interesting as the previous stories, but it's still a good one. I really love the way Selina surprises Holly. Holly is right, she really has the best best friend in the world.
I enjoyed the story and seeing that side of Selina, but wasn't fussed on the style of artwork. I borrowed it from the library to read - and while I did enjoy it, it's not one I feel the need to own.