Selina and Valmont have gone to Tuscany. They’re not there for a vacation. They’re there to save the life of a guy named Dario. They’re meeting with his family. What could go wrong? Selina and her lover are about to find out in Catwoman #48. Writer Tini Howard delivers a largely dramatic story that is captured in drama, mystery, and intrigue by artist Nico Leon and colorist Veronica Gandini. Although Howard’s intricate plot is not without its charms, it would fall rather flat on the page without the impressive and thoroughly immersive work of the art team. 

Saving Dario is going to involve a lot. Catwoman needs to invade the bedroom of a couple of very important criminals. Valmont will have to call in a favor. He and Catwoman catch a ride with people who want him dead. The ride in question is a plane. The plane in question is being flown by Eduardo Flamingo: one of the deadliest assassins in the world. There might be something of a potentially deadly physical confrontation involved. Not exactly standard operating procedure. But things are changing for both of them. And things could get a lot worse for everyone. 

While there definitely is a story going on that requires a great deal of moving pieces, Howard isn’t in any hurry to get from one action sequence to the next. She’s patient with the drama, allowing characters the time they need to assemble the right motivation to get from one moment to the next. It's a disciplined approach to storytelling. Thankfully, it’s also quite entertaining. There are some beautiful moments that cascade across the page with a style and form that exist as their own type of poetry. It’s a romantic adventure, and Howard does an excellent job of making it feel authentic.

Once again, Leon shows a natural flair for framing both action and drama in a way that feels both immersive and stylish. The Tuscany of the DC universe is brought to the page with careful attention to detail and atmosphere. The overwhelming presence of great wealth and gorgeous vistas gives all of the action and drama a very stunning place to be. Were it not so convincingly grounded in a specific location in northern Italy, the issue might not have felt quite as captivating. Gandini’s colors are absolutely exquisite in places. Individual panels would look really good as posters. That’s not something that can be said about many casual comics.

Howard is moving things forward in an interesting way. It’s an approach to the character that's both respectful of her past and respectful of her need to go beyond it. She’s been to so many places just in the past year. Howard lends Catwoman’s personality a kind of stature that seems totally cohesive with everyone she’s been over the course of the past five or ten years. That being said, as bewildering as the plot might be to first-time readers, Howard tells a succinct story that feels respectively complete in its own right.

Grade: A