Selena Kyle has been having difficulty sleeping since she moved to Villa Hermosa. Things aren’t likely to get much better for her in Catwoman #21. She’s in costume in a large estate of a very powerful woman. It’s crawling with zombies. So maybe she can’t sleep because of the things she’s forced to endure in Villa Hermosa. The gritty, street-level horror continues in another issue of the series written by Joëlle Jones. Art is brought to the page by Fernando Blanco. Those visuals are added a shadowy depth by colorist FCO Plascencia. Catwoman takes to horror so well it might as well be her natural habitat. The darkness feels right at home in an issue that works well as an individual story AND a chapter in a much longer series. 

Catwoman has come to see Raina Creel. She wants something known as Lazarus Water. To get it, she’s going to have to fight through a writhing mass of zombies...some of whom she recognizes. It’s not going to be pretty. And then when she gets to see Raina Creel (as she inevitably does), THAT’S not going to be pretty either. There’s going to be a confrontation. That confrontation is going to involve a flashback of backstory in a rain-soaked sepia-inspired drama that recalls vintage Hollywood. It’s all very much as one might expect until one realizes three panels after the flashback that Catwoman isn’t entirely in control of the situation.

Jones pens one of the single most satisfying issues of her run with Catwoman #21. It’s an issue she’s been building up to for quite some time. One of the most satisfying things about it is the fact that it works so well as a standalone story. It’s the end of the first...21-issue cycle in the series, but it also serves as a refreshingly reflective peer into the psyche of the character herself. Jones’ run on the series thus far has been uneven and repellently dull at times. But, with this issue, she nails a solidly impressive balance between action and drama. Which serves as both an ending an a beginning while breathing some much-needed life into the series. 

Blanco’s heavy inking gives Catwoman a sense of weighty darkness. In spite of this, the zombie action at the beginning of the chapter has highly kinetic energy about it that whips across the page. The drama hits the a striking tone when Catwoman delves into a story from her early days. Plascencia’s stylish use of sepia-style color in the flashback gives the issue a classy film noir feeling that is punctuated with shocks of vibrant color. The panel is still largely weighted down by Blanco’s heavy inks, but there’s a rhythm and style about it that keeps things moving through to the end. Plascencia lifts things a bit on the final page with beautiful use of color in a sunrise that opens on a whole new chapter in Selina’s life.

Catwoman edges towards her 80th-anniversary celebration next month with an issue that feels like one of the better single issues in her long and winding history. The character still has a great deal of life in her. Jones has proven that she’s not tied to any one city. From here, she can really go anywhere she wants and still be interesting to give the right treatment. Occasional faltering aside, Jones has done a very good job with the overall flow of the better part of the first couple of years of this series.

Grade: A-