On her return from a lengthy affair away from Gotham City, Selina has carved out a nice, little space for herself in the neighborhood of Alleytown. She’s built a nice, little empire with her pack of strays. That empire is challenged in Catwoman #33. Writer Ram V continues his time with Selina in an explosive confrontation brought to the page by artist Fernando Blanco and colorist Jordie Bellaire. Catwoman’s conflict with the weird, religious hitman known as Father Valley serves as the center of the issue while larger concerns of her saving the life of a good friend loom large in the background.

Gotham City TV News is referring to it as a part of the mayor’s initiative. Selina calls it a police invasion of Alleytown. There’s been a massive fire. The police are investigating. Catwoman and her band of strays have their hands full with damage control. Too bad Selina has her own issues to have to deal with...issues that happen to include the twisted religious hitman who is very close to making his final strike. Selina’s been in this sort of position before, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a whole lot to lose if things fall apart.

Ram V has slowly been building toward a showdown between a twisted anti-hero killer with warped religious ideals and Catwoman--a villain-hero looking to improve the neighborhood that brought her up by bringing together youth from the same streets that were her birthplace. Ram V stops just short of characterizing it as streetwise villainy for the people against dark heroism in favor of order for those in power. The power struggle intensifies as Catwoman finds herself surrounded by some of Gotham’s most powerful supervillains who are looking to take a stand against the authorities. Ram V is cleverly taking things beyond Selina’s control in a variety of ways.

Blanco shows versatility. He carefully constructs large crowd shots and massive, atmospheric establishing shots in and around Alley town. Still, he’s also doing a remarkable job of closing in on the conflict between Selina and Valley as the two close in on each other in the glittery dark miasma of Gotham City at night. This is perfect for an issue that’s drawing a clear parallel between large groups of people and the clash between two highly-trained champions. The balance is beautiful, and the action is explosive in places when Blanco strikes it across the page just right. Bellaire has some beautiful moments in the mix. From the darkness of the night to the blazing fire to a delicate trail of blood off the coast of Alleytown, Bellaire adds plenty of atmosphere throughout the issue.

Things are getting darker as totalitarian forces begin to descend on Gotham City. Ram V is definitely exploring particularly dark political territory in the series that reflects some of the darker shadows of life in a nation that’s tearing itself apart. Catwoman is an intriguing force in a heroic serial set in a world that is crumbling faster than our own. It will be interesting to see where Ram V is ultimately going with a story of progressively greater and greater darkness. The darkness needs a hero to lead the various nightmare elements that have come to rest in Alleytown. Catwoman might just be that hero.

Grade: B