SYNOPSIS: “SOMETHING BLUE”! Follow Batman and Catwoman on two separate but parallel paths as their wedding planning kicks into high gear. Selina picks out her dress, and Bruce starts to make arrangements for their new life together—but this being Gotham City, and they being Batman and Catwoman, you can bet that nothing will go as expected!
And here I’ve been worried for weeks about the external threats that might muck up the impending marriage of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle! In BATMAN #44, writer Tom King reflects on how their tumultuous past might affect their matriomonial present by presiding over a holy union of another kind, bringing artists Mikel Janín and Joëlle Jones together under the same roof for yet another gorgeously handsome issue of what’s consistently been one of the best looking books on the market.
It’s 2:37 a.m., and Selina Kyle can’t sleep. Slipping from the bed she shares with The Batman, she suits up to swing from Gotham’s gargoyles before swan-diving into the nearest sewer… with a bomb? As she blows a hole beneath a bridal shop and slinks inside, she begins to reminisce about all the things she and Bruce have been over the years… and how almost all of it has had an element of antagonism. Does that apply to today? Are their very natures so at odds that they’ll never work out, or does each partner bring out all the things the other needs?
READ ALSO: BATMAN #43 Review by John Bierly
I’m in the latter camp, and I believe that Mr. King is, too, but tonight is Selina’s night for plugging into who she’s been and is. Janín draws the flashbacks and has a blast, with each memory boasting different looks for the betrothed. I loved seeing his takes on all of the classic outfits and costumes, and June Chung’s colors in these encounters are vivacious and vibrant. Jones handles the present-day pages, with her capable commands of faces and postures saying more in her wordless panels than any words ever could. Jordie Bellaire’s classy colors expertly enliven Selina’s singular intimacy in these scenes. I still can’t get over how good this book always looks!
So… which is it? Bride or burglar? The Batman wants one, but can he abide both? And where does Selina’s happiness lie? I love what the perfect final panel suggests. Selina will always be Selina, Bruce will always be Bruce, and each needs to accept everything about the other for this crazy thing to work. I’m rooting for it. – John Bierly
GRADE: A+
