Batman/Catwoman Special #1delivers a deep, thought-provoking look at how much a life and a person can change through the lens of Christmas. Read Full Review

The Batman/Catwoman Special #1 tugs at the heartstrings because of King's touching story, as well as the tragic story behind the scenes. It's not often that a creator gets such a loving tribute upon their passing, but it's lovely to see it happen this time. Rest in peace, John Paul Leon. Read Full Review

DC Comics'BATMAN/CATWOMAN SPECIAL #1 is truly something special. For fans of John Paul Leon, this is a celebration of the artist's life and a furious mourning of his death. Read Full Review

Batman/Catwoman Special #1 is arguably the best issue of this maxiseries thus far, filled with tender moments that speak to the thing fans most want in this book, the love between Batman and Catwoman and the nuance between the fights. Read Full Review

Batman/Catwoman Special #1 is a beautifully produced book on every level. Each artist involved, John Paul Leon the star among them, does an excellent job of paying tribute to one of our great comics artists. Tom King's script maintains a steady balance of realism and hope as it tracks Selina's entire life using her experiences on Christmas Days as the frame. While there is an argument that the second half of the issue is mostly filler due to reprints and pin ups, fans of the series, Bat/Cat, or John Paul Leon himself will not be disappointed if they pick it up. Read Full Review

John Paul Leon and the rest of the artists deliver some fantastic visuals throughout the issue. There are some beautiful, emotional moments that are driven home by the gorgeously detailed art in the issue. Read Full Review

Batman/Catwoman Special #1 is an excellent examination of Selina Kyle's life. It shows how different she is from Batman and Bruce Wayne in an interesting way. Furthermore, the art done by John Paul Leon and three other artists is a visual feat for men who typically have different art styles. Paul Leon should be proud that this is his last work. Read Full Review

Batman/Catwoman Special is a good special, with a main story that feels like it could be Tom King's final thoughts on Selina Kyle. It also serves as a great ode to John Paul Leon. In fact, Busiek's essay points out Leon asked to make Batman: Creature of the Night colder, harsher, and to isolate the young Bruce more, which coincidentally are similar words I'd use to describe this story. Catwoman's journey here is cold, isolated, and harsh, which helps define who she is and why she turned to crime and theft. It's also a story filled with positive relationships and a showing of her good heart. This is a touching special well worth a read. Read Full Review

This would have been so much better with just a bit more care and substance and as a result, it's the art that gets this issue the bulk of its rating from me. Read Full Review

Perfect. Very few comics (or anything) merit a 10/10 rating. This one does.

A gorgeous, ponderous book.

R.I.P John Paul Leon

What a beautiful and well written issue. Never knew much about John Paul Leon, but this taught me what an inspiring, talented individual he was.

RIP

The stories around Batman/Catwoman (Batman Annual #2, the stories from Catwoman 80th and Detective #1027, and this one) are so much better than the actual series which has stretched the strengths of those stories far too thin. The main story of Batman and Catwoman's life and deaths are all in the side stories and the main mini seems superfluous. I kind of wish that series didn't exist and that those stories and this were Tom King's last Batman.

You know, this ain't bad. This is pretty good. It's not stellar, amazing, or the best King has written, but it was good.

And JPL's art was wonderful, I hope he can find rest wherever he is.

If you’ve been reading the main series, no surprises here. If you came expecting this to somehow be good, I’m sorry.

RIP John Paul Leon.

I wish I liked this more. I really do. It's a tribute to a dead man, after all. But like... it's hard to enjoy this. The dialogue is the biggest issue here. I don't like how Tom King writes anyone here. It's too ponderous. I could talk about some of the plot here. It's kind of weird that Selina makes friends with Bruce's portrait. Like, that's the kind of thing I hope she never told Bruce about. It just seems like a weird thing to add onto the mythology of these two characters. I don't think it really serves the relationship. I really wasn't a fan of Joker in the main series. We get it, he's queer coded like all the villains people like. I just don't think he'd be Catwoman's gay best friend. And in this issue, his repeating joke is really annoying. I get it, King likes repetition. But instead of writing scenes where Joker tries to rekindle their friendship, which could be interesting, he just repeats the same joke that I'm pretty sure didn't even work that well the first time we saw it. It feels so limiting to me. I don't get it. And of course, the pacing is very weird overall. Things that I felt should have been given more time to breathe just aren't. Like the ending. I saw someone somewhere was heavily affected by that ending and I don't know what I was expecting, but that wasn't it. It's just, there's a lot of unfortunate stuff here and I wish I could just say it was great, but I can't. Sorry to rate this one as low as I am. more

All I can say is wow in the most negative way possible. This was not even a modestly mediocre book. I just shake my head.

Tom King seems like the type of man unable to admit his mistakes. He screwed up the wedding between Batman and Catwoman, he continues to screw it up in the Batman/Catwoman book but somehow he still seems to insist "I got this, guys, I know how to write these two characters as a couple". We should all tell him "No, dude, you absolutely don't, let it fucking go!". And the saddest thing is he really has the most terrible voice for Catwoman. I'm sure in his head he thinks he is eMpOwErInG her but all he makes her is an imbecile character. And it seems like he has a weird fetish with old superheroes, I really don't get that.

Honestly I would've rated this lower if not for the fact that this was the last DC work of John Paul Leon, God bless his soul. more

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Quinn - Jan 26, 2022

You sir, are my hero. You nail King right. Keep up the good work.

Merlyn - Jan 26, 2022

Thank you, I'm glad I cheered you up, you deserve it after reading this.

TSMack - Jan 28, 2022

FWIW, I follow Gem Mint Collectibles on YouTube to hear his take on the week's new comics. He gave this one his Pick of the Week.

Merlyn - Jan 28, 2022

I don't follow any comic reviewers on YouTube but anyone who gave this comic Pick of the Week in an otherwise pretty good comic week must be a tad out of his mind.

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All of King’s usual tropes. Public domain works doing heavy lifting? Check.
Characters talking at each other instead of to each other? Check.
Split time line that makes it hard to follow a linear story. Double check.
Weird Joker/Catwoman relationship. Check.
Quick cut scenes that fail to give a story room to breath and ruin any sense of coherence? Check.
Being told instead of shown what characters feel? Check.

This is another story where King shows an entire lifetime in one issue, which means we don’t learn about character holistically. King basically says “subtext becomes text” here it is. The result is a bland story that doesn’t stick because points are briefly touched on without enough time being spent on any life-defining moment.

King also got too cute with the symbolism. Selina is shown as a baby discarded in a trash strewn ally. She dies walking down an ally after a mugger kills her for her jewelry. Get it? Her life is a complete circle. Also, a healthy white baby found in an ally would not grow up in an orphanage. She would make the news and be adopted so fast, your head would spin.

Once again King shows us his own special continuity, and I remain unimpressed or drawn in. It reminds me of a blind person describing a statue. No matter how talented that blind person is, you are going to get an incomplete picture that lacks a certain life.

I won’t talk about the art. The circumstances are such that it would be in poor taste to comment.

Not a good issue.

Or I could be wrong. more

More awfulness from Tom King. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I always hope he can write something decent.

Batman is romanticized, The Batfamily only includes Bruce, Selina and Helena. This is a shit show, while I could appreciate the early story of Selina but as soon as she becomes part of Bruce's family Tom King writes her as she deserves all because she is Batman's love interest. Compare this to even the current Catwoman book by Ram V. This is a complete shit, There is so much to Bruce's family than Selina and last she would come near the bottom of the list, making Bruce just focus on her makes him look like a dick.