Selina’s got a contact who has cameras on the docks. There’s a delivery that’s come in that doesn’t match with anything that the usual lowlifes are responsible for, so Selina will have to investigate in Catwoman #45. Writer Tini Howard places Gotham City’s greatest thief at the center of a very complicated ecosystem involving crime, crime fighters, and human trafficking. Artist Sami Basri and inker Vicente Cifuentes direct much of the action to the page. Artist Robbi Rodriguez has been hanging out with the Batgirls lately, so when Catwoman consults with them for three pages, Rodriguez handles the art in a dizzyingly well-integrated issue. Color from Jordie Bellaire unifies the visuals throughout the issue. 

Selina has always been a bit of a mix. Part hero. Part villain. There isn’t much that could make Catwoman go full-blown hero. But y’know...human trafficking. Human. Trafficking. In Gotham City. There’s going to be hell to pay. And Selina is going to need more than the usual help. She will get it in the form of a dark knight in white, a couple of Batgirls, a Robin, and a Nightwing. (Not all of that help was exactly solicited, but she’s not exactly alone in Gotham City.)

Howard has a brilliant mastery of and appreciation for everything that’s going on in Gotham City right now. Her clever rendering of Catwoman has her focused on the task at hand as everyone else rushes around her out of concern for her and what she’s dealing with. It’s strikingly clever characterization that doesn’t miss a beat in the rhythm of the action and intrigue. Granted...this is little more than a crime lord pushing around slaves to lowlifes. Nothing terribly new there, but the way Howard uses the central conflict to indirectly illuminate Selina is actually a great deal of fun.

Basri and Cifuentes render a tightly-executed action with a smart line economy that allows Bellaire plenty of room around the edges to breathe atmosphere into Gotham City. Then there’s that sudden shift in style that comes when Catwoman meets up with the two Batgirls on a stakeout in their own title. It’s a brilliant shift as Rodriguez delivers a perfect match in Catwoman for the action going on in the current issue of Batgirls. The three pages he crafts for Catwoman look like they might have come in right after page 5 of Batgirls #8. It’s a very precisely-edited moment that works great visually. 

On an issue-by-issue basis, true multi-title integration is really, really difficult to manage. Either there’s some big dozen-issue crossover that derails the momentum of the individual titles without actually doing much, or the elements that crossover are minor curiosities. With the 45th issue of Catwoman, Tini Howard manages a deep integration with nearly every title in the Batman family of comics that makes Gotham City feel remarkably vibrant while also providing a fascinating look into the psyche of the title character. The central plot of the story might not be all that interesting, but Howard makes the title character and her world seem totally captivating. 

Grade: A