This is Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War. It is the third volume of Chip Zdarsky’s Batman run and fourth volume of Tini Howard’s Catwoman run. Another Writer for this volume is Matthew Rosenberg, who works on the Red Hood portions. The Prime Illustrators are Mike Hawthorne, Jorge Jiménez, Nico Leon, and Nikola Čižmešija. The Other Illustrators are Adriano di Benedetto, Mark Morales, and Wade von Grawbadger. It is Colored by Romulo Fajardo Jr, Tomeu Morey, Veronica Gandini, Rex Lokus, and Arif Prianto. It is Lettered by Clayton Cowles, Lucas Gattoni, and Troy Peteri. The cover used above is Illustrated by Jorge Jiménez. Trigger Warning: This book contains elements that one may find disturbing such as organized crime, inner manipulation, inhumane experimentation, drugging, moments of intense violence, references to resurrection, panic attacks, beheadings, building fires, drug use, and stabbings. Reader discretion is advised. This follows Batman, as his city is doing surprisingly fine in his prolonged absence. The crime rate is down across all parts of the city, even though Batman has been in a coma for a couple weeks (because of an array of varied reasons). Much of the responsibility for this peace is given to Catwoman, who has created a mass plan for Gotham City, revolving around the villains’ henchmen. She has created an entire league, made up of supervillain henchmen, trains them to be master cat burglars (if they agree never to return to their original employers), and has them target only the rich of Gotham. And, for the most part, this plan has worked for everyone involved. It has worked so well that Catwoman has convinced much of the Batfamily to join her side (or at least act as peacekeepers). The only two people she was unable to convince were Batman, himself, and Damien Wayne (the fourth Robin), who have both shown skepticism of the longevity with this plan. It also doesn’t help that Batman has been secretly manipulated by his deranged alter ego, The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. So, with all of these factors building up, a war breaks out between Catwoman and Batman. How will this war end, how will relationships change because of it, and will Catwoman’s plan work for the long term?
This book is not what I was anticipating. For those of you who do not know, this one crossover event was easily one of the most controversial storylines in comic books from last year (when it was releasing issue to issue). And, after finally reading it after the controversy ran its course, I really don’t get it (like most major comic book controversies). I do find that this event is the low point of both Chip Zdarsky’s Batman run and Tini Howard’s Catwoman run, but not because of the reasons the controversy started. My main problem with this volume would be that it felt rushed, and the themes being discussed that interested me were put on the backburner by the end. The main critique that I saw during the controversy is that the two protagonists (being Batman and Catwoman) were acting out of character throughout the volume. I agree with this in only one sense, but there is an explanation for it (which I will get into with the spoiler section). The other part of this controversy, specifically the pushback with Catwoman’s role, is something which completely disgusts me, and it revealed a part of the comic book community that I don’t like talking about. The extent that some members of the comic book community get flabbergasted and offended when a comic book couple breaks up (which, in this case, they didn’t even really) is weird and shares a great amount of insecurity. It has always been something that just makes me feel embarrassed for great portions of the comic book community (especially when harassment and death threats start occurring). And this goes for all nerd communities too. But, to my major critiques for this volume. I felt that many of the interesting topics and themes mentioned were introduced in the beginning, and then just completely ignored by the end. It is frustrating because the topics discussed, like the morality of stealing from the rich and to fix crime rates in the long term (at least when superheroes get involved), are interesting themes that I wanted to see expanded on. But sadly, they were ignored pretty fast, just to make a pretty standard superhero civil war story.
Spoiler Alert: One aspect of this volume that I found fascinating was how both sides of the Gotham War were analyzed. Another section of this controversy (although a smaller one) was that this story leans towards Catwoman’s plan being all right and Batman’s viewpoint being completely wrong. This was definitely not the case in the actual story. The actual look of each person’s plan is a lot more nuanced than people give it credit for. I’ll start with Catwoman’s group and plan. Her entire scheme was to get the henchmen away from the costumed supervillains that abuse them, such as The Joker and Two-Face. She would then train these henchmen to be master cat burglars, and they would use these new talents to steal from the ultra-wealthy (like a Robin Hood type deal). This plan seems to be working before Batman gets a word of it. But, as the war between him and Catwoman starts to rage, more cracks within the surface of this plan start to show themselves. Firstly, the main reason Catwoman targets the ultra-rich is because they would be less likely to notice that money is being stolen from them since they have so much. Well, they noticed, and people started to die because of it. Secondly, and most importantly, Catwoman’s enterprise had no backup plan for anyone high up going rogue. In the story, Marquise, who is pretty much Catwoman’s second in command of this operation, goes rogue and convinces a great number of henchmen to leave with her. Because it turns out that Marquise was the daughter of the immortal supervillain Vandal Savage and was planning on using the redeemed henchmen to become immortal as well. I don’t know about you, but it is a big flaw that this operation fell apart as soon as one significant member goes rogue. And to put salt in the wound, after the war concludes, every henchman went right back to the supervillains they left in the first place. It is clear that Catwoman’s operation, while well intentioned, had major flaws which inevitably led to its demise. What a sad end to well-meaning cause.
Another Spoiler Warning: Now, onto Batman’s side of this war. I will admit, Batman was incredibly against Catwoman’s operation from the jump. Even a little too much so. Many of his points are good, such as questioning the longevity of it and the dangers if it falls apart. But, others, such as showing no sympathy or remorse for criminals’ situations, are not as good. Well, that point is rather strange for Batman to make, since he has shown sympathy for how people become villains in the past. Well, the book does an excellent job explaining why Batman’s views have changed so drastically. Well, since the start of Chip Zdarsky’s run, The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh has started to show himself more and more. For anyone who doesn’t know, The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is a backup personality for Bruce if his mind is ever compromised. But the problem with Zur (That is what I’m calling him to save time) is that he is only the Batman moniker, without any human element to keep it grounded. This causes Zur to be much more monstrous, violent, and inhumane. Batman has also been more exhausted and tired in his crime fighting, which Zur has seen as an opportunity to influence him, while remaining unnoticed. So, Batman has been manipulated by Zur to become more brutal and unsympathetic towards criminals. And, oh boy, you can see it in this volume. The most egregious example is Batman kidnapping Red Hood (his own son, Jason Todd) and implanting a fear toxin implant into him. This implant puts Jason into a panic attack any time he tries to put himself in danger. This was both a punishment for Jason from Batman for helping Catwoman’s operation and an opportunity for Jason to have a normal life. We get to see Bruce’s inner monologue, and it is clear he believes that this monstrous act will eventually help Jason. So, Bruce is still good at heart, but Zur has messed up his mind so much that he thinks it is moral to do this. This deterioration of Batman’s morals by Zur has been an ongoing arc for Chip’s run, and it will continue after this volume. I, myself, am fascinated with where it will go.
The art for this book is amazing, if not a little inconsistent. The interesting aspect of this volume is it’s a crossover event, with each section of the crossover having its own artist. The first and last issues are illustrated by Mike Hawthorne. The Batman sections are illustrated by Jorge Jiménez. The Catwoman sections are illustrated by Nico Leon. And the Red Hood sections are illustrated by Nikola Čižmešija. All of these artists are amazing on their own, with my personal favorite being Jorge Jiménez (who is such an amazing artist it blows my mind). But, having them all in the same volume is a little difficult to see. These artists all have their own unique styles and they do not mix that well. Especially since they all have different colorists. Again, I love all the artists in this volume, and each has their amazing moments. But the lack of unity with how they operate does lose it some points. But, still, overall, the art is really nice to look at, if disjointed.
Overall, while I disagree with the controversies revolved around this volume, it is a mixed bag. I found the story itself to be fun, if rushed. While I enjoyed the topics and themes being discussed, they were largely ignored by the volume’s end. I do appreciate that both sides of this war were shown as, while having good intentions, ended up having major flaws in their plans that caused their downfalls. The art, while well done, has a challenging time mixing all together, since there are so many illustrators. Overall, a low point for both runs, but still integral.