Catwoman #24 (2018) - Review

The end of the Catwoman & Snowflame saga.

Written by Sean Murphy & Blake Northcott, Pencils by Cian Tormey, Inks by Cian Tormey and Colored by FCO Plascencia.

So last month, I took a look at Catwoman issue 23. Can't say I'm that big of a fan of Catwoman but that particular issue piqued my interest as it reintroduced the character of Snowflame back into DC comics after 30 years of absence. Snowflame, for the no doubt many of you who don't know, was a one-time supervillain that became a bit of a cult-classic amongst fans due to how utterly ridiculous he was. He was the leader of a local drug cartel in Colombia and was utterly addicted to his own product. When high, not only did his fire powers quick into gear but he started spouting memorable one-liners like 'cocaine is god'. He got killed at the end of his first appearance back in the '80s, blown up to bits and combine that with his drug addiction his reappearance in Catwoman was quite unexpected, to say the least. 

As someone who got into contact with Snowflame over the years, and laughed hard the multiple jokes and parodies other have made about the character, I felt that taking a look at his reintroduction was only fitting. I feel like it is only fitting that I cover the conclusion to the story as well. I highly recommend that you read the review about issue 23 before coming back to this one, but for convenience, sake's I will say that I found that Snowfame had been adjusted well for modern times and that the issue itself was surprisingly good. The setup for the story intrigued me and got me excited to see where it would all lead to. Did this issue manage to stick the landing or did it crash and burn in (snow)flames? 

Let's dive in and find out!


At the climax of the last issue, Catwoman got a spear laced with poison inconveniently placed in her shoulder. She tried to save a giant Panther from getting gunned down by Snowflame's men but got mistaken for another one of his goons instead. The young girl who threw said spear through Selina's shoulder doesn't believe her when she tells her that she's there to help, but the giant cheetah thankfully does. After being given the antidote to the poison, she's brought to the local village to recuperate further. While still uncertain about why she has come to the island to attend Snowflame's auction, seeing the state his cartel has left the people in, she decides to take him down.

To immediately answer the question that I answered only a paragraph ago, the issue sticks the landing but not as smoothly as I had hoped. There's nothing wrong with the story itself, there are no 'jumping the shark' moments or anything so no worries there. The problem here is this: Issue 23 established five plotlines this issue pay-offs but when it’s all set and done none of them ends in a quite satisfactory way.

The character of Jeannie is a good example of this. To quickly recap, Jeannie is a super-villain who uses her status as a world-famous influencer to cover up her criminal activities as an information broker. She's made, intentionally, unbearable and her animosity towards Selina makes you want to see her getting her comeuppance. This does happen and in the way you'd expect, but it's just not satisfying. It lacks the proper impact, a personal touch you could say, that makes all of these endings a bit unsatisfying and this does hold the book back somewhat.

When it comes to the other aspects of the book not much has changed really. It still has the same team of writers and artists behind it. Selina's character is still very well handled, even if her motivation was a bit unclear. The writing itself is still top-notch, it reads away easily and there's nothing wrong with the pacing either. The artwork is also still as good and actually even better here than it was the last issue. Unlike that one, the art gets to be more dynamic and imaginative here because of the action scenes. On top of that, it manages to set atmosphere better as well with some nice and dark shadows on Catwoman's part and the over the top nature of Snowflame suiting up and using his powers. So once more, there's not a lot to complain about in these departments. It's just as good, if not better, then the last issue when it comes to the writing, art etc.

Hey Snoflame, the 80's called. It wants its font back.

Conclusion

Catwoman #24 is, just like its predecessor, a good and enjoyable book that is worth picking up. It might not cap off the story as satisfactory as I might have hoped but that doesn't hold it down too much. The writing is still very good, Snowflame is still a blast to read and the artwork is even better here than it was previously. So yeah, pick the book up. I don't think you'll regret it.

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