It started off strong and compelling, but then after a while it seemed to become less interesting. This ties alongside Year One, but it didn't meld the two books together as smoothly as I'd anticipated. On the other hand, it gives a pretty solid backstory to Catwoman's origins. 5.5/10.

I was surprised at how much I liked this. The dialogue had a good rhythm and the characters stayed interesting.

This is a fun little origin story about Selena Kyle and her transformation into the Catwoman. The story starts out with Selena as a prostitute who is constantly being beaten by her pimp. After being sent to the hospital, a detective gives her the phone number of someone who can help her fight. She calls the guy, he teaches her to fight and she stands up to her pimp with a little help from Batman.
The story overall is kind of mediocre compared to other Catwoman origin stories I have read. The story of her being a prostitute with a sister who is a nun is so ironic that it just seems contrived. The characters didn't have much depth beyond the "pain and suffering" that they were desperately clinging to.
Batman had much to small a part in the comic. The only interesting parts were when he showed up.
The art work in this comic book is nothing special with the exception of the scene where Batman and Catwoman share a kiss in the moonlight. DC has definitely improved its writing and artwork over the years, however this comic is an example of when they were doing just the opposite.
Catwoman is a great character with so much to work with. They can do her more justice than just making her a prostitute on a vengeance quest. Been there done that.

-6 As a companion story to Batman: Year One, I thought it was good and quite interesting until the introduction of Batman in the third issue as someone who was also following the abduction of Selina's sister nun. There was no explanation for how he knew any information, he just popped up so the nun can live and Catwoman doesn’t have to face the consequences of her own actions. There was a lot of assumed, untold knowledge, and the dialogue of issue 4 in particular is really bad and goes nowhere. Had to read a plot synopsis so I could understand what actually happened, and that is never a good sign.

[Read and reviewed in May 2022]

*3.5

This compiles the first volume of Catwoman as an independent title. It builds on the glimpses of Catwoman one saw in Batman:Year One and The Long Halloween and focuses on Selina Kyle's own tortured personal life. The melodrama is a little pat at times, but the artwork is good, and Kyle's emotional transformation is genuinely chilling. Passable read.

A very dark and mature take on Catwoman's origin. The events take place simultaneously with Batman: Year One so its a plus. I always prefer Catwoman being a prostitue who had a rough time since she was a kid. this gives her a dark edge which makes sense with Batman's dark universe and origins.

This ties in quite closely with 'Batman: Year One'. Some sections, especially in the first issue, are taken directly from Year One but without much of the context surrounding them, so they may not make a lot of sense to readers unfamiliar with the Batman title (e.g. is that Bruce Wayne fighting the pimp and, if so, why does he have a large scar?). 'Catwoman', however, isn’t given the full ‘prestige treatment’ and the art and colouring is a little bit lacking. The story itself is interesting and involves Selina Kyle’s relationship with her nun sister, who is kidnapped by Kyle’s vicious pimp as revenge for Selina's growing independence. Upon the recommendation of a caring cop, Catwoman is trained by Ted Grant (AKA Wildcat), and I don’t know if this was traditionally part of Catwoman’s origin but it’s a nice touch, as are the believable motivations behind Selina's adoption of the costume and Catwoman persona. The story is told without narration and the dialogue is mostly used sparingly, and I enjoyed this aspect of the comic. On the other hand, some of the dialogue was stilted and it could be difficult to interpret the meaning of the conversation. Also some of the art felt a bit mediocre, with inconsistently rendered faces and expressions.
A nice companion to Batman: Year One and an interesting origin story for Catwoman, but it is unfortunately not quite up to the same standard in writing or art.

This comic is a bit wonky. The art is uneven. The men's faces get lost in a wrinkly hell. The conflict is reductive. Nothing I havn't read before. Interesting, tie in with Year One, even though it feels a bit tacked on. Gives a solid expansion of the Frank Miller Selina Kyle.

The 'Joker' (2019) of Catwoman stories. Already wasn't a big fan of Year One's take on Catwoman and this just doubled down on a lot of this while adding in more awkward comic-book-y elements in a way that made it a weird attempt to bridge Year One with the normal continuity. It's fine, but feels like it could have been an effective one-shot and kept things simple rather than a full miniseries.

Solid origin story, very gritty and uncomfortable, good art for the time - but kind of lacking in properly giving us the story telling quality we see in some of the better Batman runs like year one. Might not be fair to compare but I am looking forward to reading more Catwoman regardless.

I would have been unlikely to have read this, except that the title was tucked into the list of "Modern Batman" titles. But this is definitely not a Batman book, this is Catwoman, through and through, with some intersection with Batman: Year One.

This is a deeply moving account of how Selina Kyle -- no longer the socialite thief of the 1930's and onward, now a runaway-turned-prostitute -- becomes Catwoman when faced with cascading crises from pimp, police, family, and the Caped Crusader. We also get a little rework, I think, of a scene from Batman: Year One, now from Selina's POV.

I'm stuck between 3 and 4 stars for this -- there are some flaws in the dialog, where the bubbles seem to be in the wrong order, and characters are talking past each other -- or maybe this is what the author intended, but the style confused the message for me. The art is good but not the spectacular scenes we can expect today. I'm going upgrade the rating to 4 stars, because the artists give us two things often forgotten in superhero(ine) comics: women of realistic proportions, and the costumes that aren't walking future wardrobe malfunctions.