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Catwoman (2001) (Old Editions)
Catwoman, Vol. 9: The Long Road Home
The sexiest, most skillful cat burglar in the Gotham City underworld, Selina Kyle has spent her life prancing along the line between good and evil as the feline fatale, Catwoman.
And now that she's back from the Hell Planet seen in SALVATION RUN, Selina's looking to re-sharpen her vigilante claws and make Gotham City her scratching post. A lot has changed since she's been gone, though, and this final volume of the series sees Selina go to war with the other Gotham supervillains. Where will she stand when the smoke clears and what'll happen when her former lover Batman learns she's back on the streets?
collecting CATWOMAN #78-82
And now that she's back from the Hell Planet seen in SALVATION RUN, Selina's looking to re-sharpen her vigilante claws and make Gotham City her scratching post. A lot has changed since she's been gone, though, and this final volume of the series sees Selina go to war with the other Gotham supervillains. Where will she stand when the smoke clears and what'll happen when her former lover Batman learns she's back on the streets?
collecting CATWOMAN #78-82
144 pages, Paperback
First published March 3, 2009
About the author
Will Pfeifer
312 books23 followersWill Pfeifer was born in 1967 in the town of Niles, Ohio. He attended Kent State University and graduated in 1989. He has resided in Rockford, Illinois since 1990, with his wife, Amy.
Pfeifer, along with his comic writing duties, is the assistant features editor at the Rockford Register Star. He also writes a weekly DVD column for the Sunday paper.
Pfeifer, along with his comic writing duties, is the assistant features editor at the Rockford Register Star. He also writes a weekly DVD column for the Sunday paper.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 9, 2016
There are something like three Catwoman series, tagged as Catwoman. The one that came out in 1993-2001, the one that was out in 2002-2008, and the current run that started in 2011. Plus a bunch of mini-series here and there. As far as I know I've not read anything in the first series, and everything that has been published in collections for the second series. Plus four volumes in the most recent series. I obviously can't say anything about the first series.
The second series started off strong under the hand of Brubaker, but even he had his ups and downs. His "downs" though only were down to three stars. His stuff was consistent and made sense. Will Pfeifer's run started off unbalanced and turned left into even more wackiness. That's unfortunate.
Pfeifer controlled Catwoman for 5 collections, or 29 individual comic issues (picking up at 53 until the end of this Catwoman run). He actually had Catwoman for a longer run than Brubaker, but Brubaker's run was far superior. Brubaker had Catwoman for the first 24 issues.
I'm babbling, of course, but then Pfeifer's run felt that way. Him babbling around with vague story ideas. Plots with holes large enough to drive tanks through, and with enough holes for three armies. The Film Freak story line was pretty solid. I say that even though I couldn't wait for it to be over. All the other story arcs kind of went nowhere and came out of left-field. Suddenly Catwoman is on another world. Then . . . suddenly she's back. But . . wait, maybe that's just in her mind, and then . . . maybe not. bah. annoying.
The second series started off strong under the hand of Brubaker, but even he had his ups and downs. His "downs" though only were down to three stars. His stuff was consistent and made sense. Will Pfeifer's run started off unbalanced and turned left into even more wackiness. That's unfortunate.
Pfeifer controlled Catwoman for 5 collections, or 29 individual comic issues (picking up at 53 until the end of this Catwoman run). He actually had Catwoman for a longer run than Brubaker, but Brubaker's run was far superior. Brubaker had Catwoman for the first 24 issues.
I'm babbling, of course, but then Pfeifer's run felt that way. Him babbling around with vague story ideas. Plots with holes large enough to drive tanks through, and with enough holes for three armies. The Film Freak story line was pretty solid. I say that even though I couldn't wait for it to be over. All the other story arcs kind of went nowhere and came out of left-field. Suddenly Catwoman is on another world. Then . . . suddenly she's back. But . . wait, maybe that's just in her mind, and then . . . maybe not. bah. annoying.
August 2, 2012
More great tales from the greatest cat burglar of all time, Catwoman.
July 26, 2016
¡Hasta la vista!
July 29, 2023
I didn't realize this was Volume 9 in a series once I started it. It makes sense, it definitely brought things up I didn't know about. I still really liked it! May have to catch up now with Volume one! Lol
May 17, 2020
I'm sad this run is over, it was pretty great.
July 14, 2009
The run of Catwoman comics ends with an odd combination of three stories.
The first is the conclusion of Catwoman's tie-in with JLA Salvation Run, though that story name's never mentioned. Selina Kyle's trapped on a far-away planet with loads of villains, many of whom hate her. Meanwhile, back on earth, Detective Slam Bradley looks for her. This story apparently resolves in another book, with no mention here. Confusing.
The second story wraps up Catwoman's battle of prestige among thieves with "The Thief." It's a fairly decent payback story, with Catwoman cleverly adopting many of the lessons she's picked up from Batman over the years. The Thief was set up as a no-nonsense foil, as if to question why Catwoman bothers with a costume, name, and trip to far-off planets. These are all good questions.
The last two issues are a breezy sendoff to this 80-plus issue run of Catwoman as an almost-hero who commits a lot of fun crimes. She robs a party full of people who are dressing up as heroes (meta!), before Batman catches up with her. The two go on a long chase where Catwoman throws sense to the wind in taunting and evading Batman. Her motivation is almost impossible to figure out. Grief over her daughter? The thrill of the chase? Not-repressed libidinal urges? In the end, she somehow manages to dash off into a comfy spot in continuity where other writers call drag her into crossovers without completely thwarting the narrative of her own series.
The first is the conclusion of Catwoman's tie-in with JLA Salvation Run, though that story name's never mentioned. Selina Kyle's trapped on a far-away planet with loads of villains, many of whom hate her. Meanwhile, back on earth, Detective Slam Bradley looks for her. This story apparently resolves in another book, with no mention here. Confusing.
The second story wraps up Catwoman's battle of prestige among thieves with "The Thief." It's a fairly decent payback story, with Catwoman cleverly adopting many of the lessons she's picked up from Batman over the years. The Thief was set up as a no-nonsense foil, as if to question why Catwoman bothers with a costume, name, and trip to far-off planets. These are all good questions.
The last two issues are a breezy sendoff to this 80-plus issue run of Catwoman as an almost-hero who commits a lot of fun crimes. She robs a party full of people who are dressing up as heroes (meta!), before Batman catches up with her. The two go on a long chase where Catwoman throws sense to the wind in taunting and evading Batman. Her motivation is almost impossible to figure out. Grief over her daughter? The thrill of the chase? Not-repressed libidinal urges? In the end, she somehow manages to dash off into a comfy spot in continuity where other writers call drag her into crossovers without completely thwarting the narrative of her own series.
February 2, 2016
Finally the suffering is over.
I hate that I hate this series. I loved it so much and I loved the characters so much until Issue 35, the rest was torture...slow agonizing torture...like seeing your favorite puppy drown.
World: There are little bits and pieces here and there that call back to the East End and the world of Selina but not much, the art is what is has been for a while, it's not good but aight. The only good thing about this book has been Hugh's covers.
Story: Pointless and just trying to hard to fix this sinking ship. The Thief storyline was utterly stupid because we as a reader have never cared about that rivalry because it was never written well and never even had time for it to build. Unlike the Black Mask relationship this one is just nothing, it's empty and therefore the end of it was also empty. Just bad writing all around. Yes it was nice to end the series with Bats but and some Slam but really, it was too little too late...and where the fuck is Holly...really...
Characters: Nothing to say here, Pfeifer destroyed these characters and they are beyond redeemable. Slam is not Slam, Holly and Karon are completely missing and I feel so bad for Helena on the way she was treated by this atrocious writing. Selina I'm not even going to start with her.
This series is terrible since Brubaker left, DON'T EVEN BOTHER ONCE THE WRITER CHANGE HAPPENS. SAVE YOUR TIME AND MONEY.
Onward to the next book...thank God...!
I hate that I hate this series. I loved it so much and I loved the characters so much until Issue 35, the rest was torture...slow agonizing torture...like seeing your favorite puppy drown.
World: There are little bits and pieces here and there that call back to the East End and the world of Selina but not much, the art is what is has been for a while, it's not good but aight. The only good thing about this book has been Hugh's covers.
Story: Pointless and just trying to hard to fix this sinking ship. The Thief storyline was utterly stupid because we as a reader have never cared about that rivalry because it was never written well and never even had time for it to build. Unlike the Black Mask relationship this one is just nothing, it's empty and therefore the end of it was also empty. Just bad writing all around. Yes it was nice to end the series with Bats but and some Slam but really, it was too little too late...and where the fuck is Holly...really...
Characters: Nothing to say here, Pfeifer destroyed these characters and they are beyond redeemable. Slam is not Slam, Holly and Karon are completely missing and I feel so bad for Helena on the way she was treated by this atrocious writing. Selina I'm not even going to start with her.
This series is terrible since Brubaker left, DON'T EVEN BOTHER ONCE THE WRITER CHANGE HAPPENS. SAVE YOUR TIME AND MONEY.
Onward to the next book...thank God...!
January 14, 2015
Overall, this is a decent end to the run. The first issue (#78) starts off with Catwoman on another planet, which I can go along with, except that at the beginning of the next issue, she's back in Gotham without any explanation as to how she got back or what happened to all the other criminals who were on that prison planet with her. The rest of the volume is dedicated to Selina getting back at The Thief for robbing her and burning her apartment down. That's pretty fun. My favourite part is the last section, when Catwoman leads Batman on a little chase and fight as she's working out her feelings on giving up her daughter, Helena, and choosing to stay in Gotham as Catwoman. Letting go of Helena wasn't the most "motherly" thing to do, but Selina can't /not/ be Catwoman; she IS Catwoman. Catwoman lives a dangerous life that doesn't suit having a child. I can't blame her for what she did. It makes sense.
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May 16, 2016I wouldn't recommend reading this out of sequence, because a lot of stuff happens and you're wondering what. There is a huge life change for Selina Kyle, one that has me intrigued when I read the blurb on the back of the book. I liked this, but I was really confused about what was going on, without having read the previous volumes. Sometimes you can skip around with characters in ongoing comic series. Not so much in this case. I liked the artwork, and Batman and Bruce show up, so I was happy with that.
Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.
Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.
May 9, 2014
Good stories and a nice closure, but it still feels a bit hollow as the series goes out more with a whimper than with a bang.
July 7, 2015
I've liked some other newer cat womans but this one was just average.
December 8, 2017
This iteration of Cat Woman isn’t nearly as good as Ed Brubaker’s version. Big plot holes and a flat story arc. But even bad writing can’t take away from some of Selina Kyle’s charm.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews