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Catwoman (2011)

Catwoman, Volume 2: Dollhouse

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In the wake of her run-in with Batman and the loss of someone very dear to her, Catwoman turns over a new leaf. Kind of. She teams with a new running buddy named Spark, and together they're taking Gotham City, literally! However, when Catwoman runs into Dollhouse, a psychotic who kidnaps children from the streets of Gotham City, a rage awakens in her that nobody
knew existed, not even herself!

DC's sexiest anti-hero continues her adventures here with writer Judd Winick (BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD) and artist Guillem March (GOTHAM CITY SIRENS)!

Collects: Catwoman #7-12.

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 5, 2013

35 people are currently reading
733 people want to read

About the author

Judd Winick

786 books391 followers
Judd Winick is an American cartoonist, comic book writer, screenwriter, and former reality television personality known for his diverse contributions to storytelling across multiple media. He first entered the public eye in 1994 as a cast member on The Real World: San Francisco, where he formed a close friendship with AIDS educator Pedro Zamora, an experience that deeply influenced his later work. Winick memorialized their bond in Pedro and Me, a critically acclaimed autobiographical graphic novel that earned several literary awards and became a staple in school curricula.

Winick's career in comics took off with The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius and continued with major runs at DC Comics, including Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Batman. His stories often explored socially relevant themes, such as HIV, homophobia, and identity. He was recognized for introducing gay characters and tackling difficult subjects with empathy and clarity. His work on Batman notably included resurrecting the character Jason Todd as the Red Hood, a storyline later adapted into the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, for which Winick wrote the screenplay.

Beyond comics, he created The Life and Times of Juniper Lee for Cartoon Network and served as head writer for Hulu's The Awesomes. In 2015, he launched the Hilo series, an all-ages sci-fi adventure inspired by his own children. The bestselling series has been widely praised and is expected to reach its eleventh volume in 2025.

Winick lives in San Francisco with his wife, Pam Ling, also a Real World alum, and their two children. He continues to create heartfelt and imaginative stories for audiences of all ages.

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5 stars
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64 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
Profile Image for Anne.
4,705 reviews71k followers
February 5, 2015
Also reviewed for Addicted2Heroines.

Does anybody not love Catwoman? I mean, when it comes to anti-heroes I'm not sure if you can do much better than Selena Kyle.
Wait. What?
Did some asshole in the back just yell,"What about Punisher?".
Sit down, dumbass. This is my review!


I've enjoyed Winick's run with Catwoman, but I know it's coming to a close.
Yes, it's very sad.
Please join me in a moment of silence...
I have Catwoman: Vol. 3 sitting beside me right now, but I wanted to review this one before I read whatever fresh hell Ann Nocenti has in store me. I have a feeling I'm going to forget how much I love Selina after Nocenti sinks her gnarled writing skills into this title.
I'm really hoping I'm wrong here, but I doubt it.

In this volume, Selina teams up with another thief called Spark. Not the most original name for a guy with zappy-powers, but I rolled with it because he added something interesting to the story.
While they are out and about stealing stuff, they run across (yet another) Talon bad-guy in a Court of Owls crossover. It's not a bad story, but I'm pretty sure I'd already read it in another book.

Alright...Dollhouse.
Even though I really liked the book, this lame-o villain proved to be a bit much for me.
Dear DC,
Please stop inventing bad guys who like to chop people up and turn them into meat-puppets. It's gross, and you've done it to death.
Sincerely,
Anne

But the story itself was pretty good. Prostitutes and junkies are going missing, and nobody but Catwoman is in the mood to care. An unlikely source on the Gotham police force may be her best bet to bring down the villain, but convincing him that she's the good-guy proves to be a bit of a challenge. In the end, both he and Spark grudgingly agree to help find the missing kids. Unfortunately for her, the cop still wants to arrest her, and Spark has a secret that just might get her killed.
Dum, dum, dum!
Luckily for Selena, she's got nine lives...and some good friends who are looking out for her.
Speaking of, there's even a little cameo with the Big Bat!

So, yeah. This one is worth reading.

Profile Image for CS.
1,210 reviews
April 29, 2015
Bullet Review:

Such a fun read. Catwoman is so light-hearted - a reprieve to all those gritty, edgy "serious business" comics out there.

A shame Judd Winnick left after this one :(
Profile Image for  Danielle The Book Huntress .
2,752 reviews6,588 followers
February 5, 2015
I liked the artwork in this volume much better. Selina's features aren't harsh in this version, and she does have the sharper, intelligent beauty of a cat. The story was pretty good, but the ending was a bit anticlimactic as far as the Dollhouse storyline. It was really disturbing what the Dollmaker was doing to those poor streetwalkers. I'm glad that they had Catwoman to fight for them.

I liked Catwoman's team-up with Spark. The inclusion of the Talon storyline was good too. Catwoman's sympathy for the Talon made sense in light of her antiheroic/villainous reputation. Catwoman continues to toe the line of moral ambiguity. Her actions are often spurred on by self-interest even if she does the right thing.

Looking forward to the next installment.

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.
Profile Image for Drew The Reviewer.
99 reviews87 followers
July 20, 2016
A story about Catwoman finding someone named Dollhouse, who kills hookers and turns their corpse into a lifesize doll. Very dark and very good.
Profile Image for Sam Quixote.
4,778 reviews13.4k followers
May 30, 2013
Selina Kyle/Catwoman's up to her usual tricks stealing flashy cars and precious items until she runs into a couple of new characters and gets caught up in a dark and disturbing plot where she's forced to adopt the role of - gasp - hero!

The first new character is Spark, an ambiguously good/bad chap whose powers are, anyone? Yup, electrical sparks! He's also a thief and a looker so he and Selina team up (in more than one way) for a few heists, including an attempt to boost some valuable knives from the Penguin and wind up protecting him from a Talon, one of the Court of Owls' zombie-like assassins. The one-shot Night of Owls crossover issue is maybe the best part of the book but the rest isn't bad - but it's not particularly amazing either.

The second new character and villain of the book is Dollhouse, a weird dreadlocked organ-harvesting serial killer who's been abducting and imprisoning Gotham's youngest prostitutes for various reasons, one of which is to make them human-like dolls after their insides have been sold. Catwoman decides to stand up to Dollhouse and become the white knight for this book, a role she's more or less often cast in albeit not being quite as noble as Batman as she tends to steal and kill a bit too.

Dollhouse is a weak villain, who turns out to be the offspring of the Dollmaker, the dreary villain from the godawful early New 52 Detective Comics run, and she turns out to be as boring. Creepy yes, but not particularly interesting. She's crazy, she's evil, that's about it - not a complex figure despite her kooky macabre treatment of her victims.

Spark turns out to be even more boring. He's really there to set up Catwoman's partner Gwen so that she's in Penguin's debt for a future story (you'll see what I mean if you read the book). He's sparky, he's a thief, he's boring and forgettable.

In a book where the villains fall far short of fascinating, the focus should then be on the heroine and her development in the book. Alas, we learn very little about Catwoman that we didn't already know - the one "new" angle is that she's being more or less the good guy in the Dollhouse story which gets undercut when Batman has to save her in the end. So even Catwoman as a character feels a lot less capable and resourceful in her own title! What happened to the Catwoman from the first book who managed to survive fighting a superpowered villain who tossed her around the sky?

Speaking of the first volume, it took the time to establish Catwoman as emotionally damaged who steals out of an instinct for survival and to escape her past, but that side to her is never really explored further in this book. In the first book, she had this great scene with Batman (no, not that one!) where he tried to turn her away from her criminal path with the scene ending in Selina's emotional response where she yells out her frustration at Batman. In this book, Winick tries that again but between Selina and Spark (when Spark's asking her why she cares about prostitutes being murdered) and it does not work - the emotional punch isn't there and the scene plays out as a weaker, more forced imitation of the first book's scene.

Judd Winick's a good writer but his second Catwoman book feels like he's on autopilot and the book never reads more dramatically than a made for TV afternoon detective movie wishing it were edgier but never coming close to achieving it. Guillem March is still drawing Catwoman with flotation-device-sized boobs but otherwise his work in this book, like the first volume, is solid.

Catwoman's still her reckless, thrill-seeking self, cheerfully breaking the law while saving the occasional life, but her character in this reboot initially promised to be far more complex and interesting than it's become in this volume. "Dollhouse" is an ok Catwoman book, just don't expect anything above your run-of-the-mill vigilantics.
Profile Image for Quentin Wallace.
Author 34 books177 followers
April 4, 2015
Even darker than the first volume, but good. The basic storyline is someone is kidnapping homeless junkies and prostitutes and then helping them clean up and get off drugs. Sounds great right? Well, then their organs get harvested and sold on the black market, and their bodies are stuffed and mounted in different scenes. Hence the title "Dollhouse". I liked the art as well, but the story was the main grab here.

I was a little shocked by the first volume and not sure how I liked the new "darker" Catwoman stories, but now that I've settled into it it's working. Good work from Judd Winick.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for 'kris Pung.
192 reviews26 followers
February 6, 2015
Not bad but I didn't think it was as strong as volume one.
Profile Image for James DeSantis.
Author 17 books1,201 followers
September 8, 2018
Judd Winick continues his extremely fun Catwoman run in this volume.

Catwoman is now teaming up with a new guy named Spark (Yes...My comic is called Sparks...with a S...that happens to also feature a electric power superhero) But anyway these two team up to steal stuff because that's what they do. However, when someone starts kidnapping prostitutes off the streets, mostly kids, it becomes a issue for the jewel thief. So it begins down a dark path, betrayal from all sides, and the final twist at the end to end the volume in a nice rush.

Good: The art is great, really flows well. The team up with Spark is fun and brings up some interesting moments and fights. Diving into Catwoman's life more and more makes for a interesting take on the character. The ending is great.

Bad: The main villain isn't as interesting this time around. Talon coming in the middle of this volume is weird.

Overall alot of fun. Though it had one really odd issue out of nowhere and a weak villain it remained solid. A 3.5 out of 5.
Profile Image for Lost Planet Airman.
1,283 reviews90 followers
November 7, 2016
Read as part of my "New 52 Batman Family" push.

Perhaps I am a throw-back to a different era. I've been reading The Batman Chronicles, Vol. 6 in parallel, and I like the older 1940's version of Catwoman -- not interested in costumes, minimal cleavage and unremarkable figure, no feelings for Batman except to play on his feelings, all thief. Ah well.

This collection also seems to drag, another contrast to stories of the 40s and 50s. Old Catwoman could manage 4 crimes in 12 pages. Modern Catwoman spends an issue setting up, an issue robbing, an issue building tension again, etc., etc.

So in the end, I can't say more than "I liked it", enough to read to the "Rebirth" story line, but I think I'll be setting down my fondness for The Cat after that.
Author 3 books62 followers
August 10, 2013
Catwoman finds herself in a position to do some good, which is a welcome change... It's just a shame that the villain of the piece is so boring, and attempts at character development are largely abandoned in favour of lots of self-congratulatory internal monloguing and constant admissions of 'screwing things up royally'. Next to that, the phrase 'Crap' gets a heavy workout... There's some laziness at work here in the writing.

That said, Judd Winick does expand the ensemble nicely, and weaves a more intricate tale than the first volume, which is welcome. The problem is that he forgets to make us care. With an added layer of nuance, this could have easily been a 4 star effort. But this isn't a nuanced title--this is a bombastic explosion of dark sexuality and violence, which is more morally bankrupt than morally grey.

The art is solid, but cleavage continues to be the focus, next to a whole lot of unnecessary sexy posing. Catwoman really does live her life like she's on an endless photo shoot, according to the horny pencils of Guillem March.

One day this character might stumble into a good story in the New 52, but not yet it seems.
Profile Image for Charlos.
501 reviews
January 13, 2021
There is a Court of Owls tie-in in here, but the primary story in this volume centers around the abduction of street folk and Selina's deciding to play the hero in the situation. While not stellar, it was enjoyable, which makes it stand out from many of the other New 52 titles whose lows bottom out a lot lower than this. I drew favorable comparisons to Daredevil and Hawkeye for the hero-at-street-level frame of this story. I don't think it would hurt if this title could develop a humor and distinct style of its own while remaining under the cape of the Batman title franchise.
Profile Image for Bradley.
1,179 reviews11 followers
March 5, 2024
Alright, I knew I'd enjoy volume 2 more than one. Less Batman makes me happy and I thought I caught a glimpse of Selina and why she is Catwoman. Which might have bee what I was looking for in the first volume, but I don't think they did a great job. The Court of Owls/Talon bit was pretty cool. Although I don't know very much about that other than that one Batman movie I watched...

I felt like this volume fleshed Selina out more, which in turn creates Catwoman for me. I think what made me enjoy this one more and finally give in was when Spark was confronting her about taking risks to rescue "street trash" and she cracked. This was hallmark for me because I always notice Catwoman always looks out for the zeroes. There were many more instances in this issue that I can drone on about, but they were more subtle and I'm not too familiar with Catwoman to speak with any real certainty.

This one was likable, but I can't give it 4 or 5 stars. There was no real established villain in this one. Normally it wouldn't bother me, but lets be real, Dollhouse probably won't be making it into many other issues. Then there's Spark. Spark could have worked, but I saw the twist in loyalties a mile a way. What I didn't expect was the ending, which nullified the twist. Not sure what I'm trying to say here, but just like the chick Catwoman fought in the first volume, I knew they wouldn't make it to the next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Bobby.
Author 10 books17 followers
February 27, 2016
A stronger volume than the 1st in this series. It felt like the storytelling stopped trying so hard to be as crime-y and edgy as it felt in Vol. 1.

There's less Batman, which is good. This is Selina's book; Batman should be a small part of her larger world. Unfortunately, Winick doesn't allow her to get through the climax of the story without a gratuitous amount of help from her brooding pal in the cowl.

That said, I would have liked to have seen Winick stick around for a longer run with her. I feel like he was just starting to find his voice in her world and would have liked to have seen more of it.

After what she did with the most recent Green Arrow, I don't think I can bring myself to see what Ann Nocenti does in Vol. 3. It might be time to move on from Catwoman and imagine what might have been.
Profile Image for Jenny Clark.
3,225 reviews122 followers
June 28, 2020
Art and story were both solid here. I am actually enjoying this Catwoman a good bit.
5,870 reviews144 followers
July 7, 2019
Catwoman: Dollhouse picks up where the previous volume left off, collecting the next five issues (Catwoman #8–12) of the 2011 on-going series and collects five interconnecting one-issue stories.

With the exception of one issue (Catwoman #9), the trade paperback revolves around Selina Kyle as Catwoman dealing with a kidnapper named Dollhouse, who was taught the ways of the hunt and slaughtering people, and teaming up with a new partner, Spark, an electricity powered meta-human. Within the trade paperback, there is the Night of the Owl tie-in in where Selena Kyle as Catwoman battles Ephraim Newhouse as Talon.

Judd Winick penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it is written somewhat well. Winick gave Selina Kyle as Catwoman an interesting villain in this trade paperback, Matilda Mathis as the Dollmaker was raised in a sick and twisted manner, teaching her how to hunt and slaughter people and is a part of an illegal organ trade market. Surprisingly, the Night of the Owl tie-in seemed little out of place and flows somewhat well with the narrative.

Adrianna Melo (Catwoman #8, 11–12) and Guillem March (Catwoman #9–10) are the pencilers of the trade paperback. For the most part, their penciling styles mesh rather well, but also rather distinctive, which made the artistic flow a tad inconsistent, but rather enjoyable nevertheless.

All in all, Catwoman: Dollhouse is a wonderful continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series.
Profile Image for 47Time.
3,383 reviews92 followers
December 20, 2019
After going through several difficult fights in the past volume, Selina still manages to be childish and oblivious to her predicament. It's like she resets to her default state every two issues. I expected some progress in her character, but the focus seems to be on just how many encounters she can survive. Being nimble as a cat has its perks, but there should be more trauma to her psyche or something. There is no direction to this volume, so it's the last I read from this series.

Profile Image for grace.
72 reviews4 followers
June 29, 2022
i realized i dont like judd winick
Profile Image for Amy Braun.
Author 36 books350 followers
June 17, 2023
One of my favourite Catwoman collections to date. I truly loved the story, the banter, the fun, and the twists that came with this series. It was great to see Selina Kyle return to her roots, make some new friends, and thwart some new enemies. The writing is fun, the action is solid, and the art is fantastic. Highly recommended for Catwoman and DC fans!
Profile Image for Joshua Adam Bain.
298 reviews6 followers
May 11, 2014
After reading the previous volume I wasn't quite sure whether I liked it or not. It was good, but it didn't have anything the blew me away. It needed a good story, and thankfully this book delivers one.

I'm glad we got to see a really creepy villain in this. Dollhouse is convincingly crazy with a passion for brutally weird "art". You also get to see more into Selena's character in this book. The first volume was mainly spreads of Catwoman scantily dressed. Not that there's none in this book, but the story definitely takes focus off them. We get to see the heroic side of Selena and her dilemma with being good and bad. You see a more strategic Catwoman this time round. Which is more reminiscent of her character pre new 52 reboot.

The art was one again fantastic. Creating a beautiful world of working girls and addicts. It once again has a visit from the Dark Knight himself. I loved how he didn't overshadow Selena in this, yet still proves how much of a bad ass he is. It was very well done.

I'm so happy this title ended up improving! Onto volume 3!

Profile Image for Caroline.
1,201 reviews164 followers
October 7, 2015
Like the first volume in this reboot, this is all over the place. There's some good character stuff in here, with Catwoman being a champion for the lost and forgotten--the addicts, the prostitutes, the homeless. As an outsider to traditional society, she's a good semi-hero for this kind of work and having empathy for the people she's helping.

It was nice to have a clue who Spark was on re-reading Catwoman's issue that was included in Night of Owls, which the first time around reading it in the monster collection he felt super out of place. That did feel like the strongest issue in here, with the Dollhouse storyline being interesting but not fantastic.

Still sticking with the series, but it does feel like the weakest of the New 52 Bat comics that I've read.
Profile Image for The Sapphic Nerd.
1,107 reviews47 followers
September 22, 2015
I didn't really like volume one (mixed feelings), so I put off reading volume two for a couple years. Now I've finally read it and thank goodness I did! A Catwoman book that gets Selina right! She's neither a villain nor a hero, but she's certainly a character you'll respect/admire (and shake your head with a smile at). I've always loved Selina best when she's standing up for the people society doesn't care about, and this is one of those books. The villain is effectively creepy. Winnick did a great job writing this.

The art is good too! I really like March's work with the Gotham City Sirens and his Selina is one of my favourite looks on her. I love her hair...

One of my favourite Catwoman books for sure. It might be my favourite but I can't remember right now. Either way, if you want Catwoman, read this.
Profile Image for Gavin.
1,261 reviews89 followers
March 3, 2014
Not as good as Vol. 1; the character suffers here, and doesn't quite have the same oomph. It isn't bad, but the promise of Vol 1 isn't met here. Not as much characterization of Selina/Catwoman here and she also appears to be a little dumber than before. However there is one fantastic page where a male GCPD detective and Batman have just helped Catwoman out with the badguy, and the detective says something like "I just cannot figure her [Catwoman] out." to which Batman replies "Get in line."
Best line of the book.
There's also the one issue crossover into Night of Owls where Catwoman helps a Talon, but not in an evil way.
This Catwoman is almost doing hero stuff, but still a thief; it's not bad but not at the same level as vol 1.
Profile Image for Sean Kennedy.
Author 41 books1,010 followers
January 25, 2014
The Dollhouse concept was suitably creepy, but when this is a line dedicated to the fantastic character of Catwoman it sucks to see her becoming a damsel in distress relying upon Batman to save the day.
Profile Image for John Yelverton.
4,414 reviews38 followers
February 7, 2013
An enjoyable story, but there were several parts that were quite uncomfortable to read, and it really bogs down the character.
Profile Image for Xavier.
105 reviews8 followers
April 6, 2013
Dat plot twist and then dat double plot twist but no bareback sex :(
Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews

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