Reviews
Under The Moon: A Catwoman Tale by Lauren Myracle and Isaac Goodhart is another of the DC YA graphic novels. This one is an origin story for Catwoman. It includes depictions of child abuse, domestic abuse, animal cruelty, animal death, and homelessness. http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...
Content warning for domestic abuse, suicide, and animal cruelty. Hmmm, I'm honestly not sure how to feel about this one. It just feels like a bunch of stuff happens to her and she has very little power to do anything about it. It's pretty frustrating, to be honest, since you're expecting Catwoman to be a very competent character with a lot of agency, but it just feels like she's unsuccessful in everything she tries to do. More thoughts: (view spoiler)[ -I could have done without Bruce and Selina being childhood friends. It feels distracting to Selina's story and ultimately feels kind of pointless in the end. You'd think there'd be some fun interactions between the two, but it mostly amounts to Bruce "Let me help you." Selina "No, I don't want help" There's no real retribution for her stepdad who kills her cat, no final resolution with her mother. The kid she was taking care of just goes hang out with her brother ( if this is an option, why didn't they both get adopted initially) who are hinted to be in the hands of a suspicious agency, but nothing comes of this. The side plot with the killer is stopped in the background by Bruce, not Selina. Selina says she has friends in Ojo and Yang, but that relationship feels abandoned as soon as their role in the story stops being relevant. (hide spoiler)] Hate that she calls herself Catgirl instead of Catwoman. Loved the art, but I just didn't dig the story. It ultimately is just a story about a teen girl who's beaten down by circumstance and she learns parkour and cats just mysteriously are attracted to her because she's Catwoman. Unfortunately, the story leans too heavily on readers recognizing her as Catwoman instead of developing her as her own character. At the end of the book are resources for domestic abuse, suicide prevention, and stopping animal cruelty, which is much appreciated. I don't feel comfortable commenting on the use of these subjects in the story, so I'll just say they're present. Edit: I forgot the best part. Supergirl is a TV show in this universe. Whaaaaat?!
