Punchline has control of Axis Chemicals. Selina is going to try to liberate it from her. Punchline’s Royal Flush Gang is pretty deadly...especially as it is aided by a massive superhuman by the name of Amygdala. Selina has some pretty serious firepower in her corner as well in Catwoman #50. Writer Tini Howard wraps up the “Furious Hearts” storyline with the aid of artist Nico Leon and colorist Veronica Gandini. Howard’s aftermath of the big climax comes courtesy of artists Inaki Miranda and Juan Ferreyra. Howard lowers the boom on a few different things that she’s been setting up over the course of her run in an issue that manages to feel pretty monumental.

Catwoman is working with a couple of guys she’s been linked with romantically. One of them is relatively new. He’s a killer named Valmont. The other one is a bit better known in and out of the mask he wears. These are two very powerful figures in Gotham City. And since they’re both answering to Catwoman, everything should go according to plan. She hadn’t counted on a hulking mass of muscle known as Amygdala, though. A guy like that is going to throw messy chaos into everything. 

Howard has been moving Selina into a very logical position for quite some time. She’s been a master criminal for so long that it’s only a matter of time before things really fall apart for her. Howard makes it happen in a way that allows for maximum drama in a hell of a climactic moment. Catwoman is pushed in a whole new direction, and things get weird. The descent to rock bottom hits the page beautifully as various dominoes that Howard has set up fall in an action-packed assault on Axis Chemicals. As quickly as everything moves for Selina, it doesn’t feel rushed. Howard clearly put in the work in the preceding issues. Everything feels perfectly paced.

Leon and Gandini’s execution of the initial assault is sleek and stylish. The action slices across the page with a deft sense of poise. Gandini’s colors work nicely with Leon’s streamlined art style. Everything has a very impressive balance on the page. Miranda handles the initial aftermath with a well-articulated sense of drama, but he’s only really handling characters from the extended ensemble, so his art doesn’t have a chance to embrace the heart of the story as much as Ferreyra’s end of the aftermath, which feels suitably cagey as Selina is forced to deal with her new life.

And now Catwoman is...on a leash, so to speak. It’s kind of a bold move for Howard. It would be really, really interesting to see Kyle gradually work her way up from rock bottom in one of the most totally awful places in all of Gotham City. If Howard is patient enough, the issues to come could be a potentially breathtaking look at the psyche of one of DC’s longest-lived anti-heroes. 

Grade: B+