Catwoman: Year 2 by Doug Moench, Jim Balent, and Mark Pennington

So, this story has no direct relationship to my history of the Justice Society of America—which at forty-one installments and counting across more than three years is clearly never going to come to an end. But when researching Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper, I discovered its existence and, well, it made sense to me to read Catwoman: Year 2 after what was "Catwoman: Year One" in all but name. So here I am with a brief break from the JSA.

This story, obviously, takes place during the early years of Batman and Catwoman. Specifically, it must fall after The Long Halloween, as Harvey Dent has become Two-Face, and it must precede Dark Victory, as Batman is not yet working with Robin. Indeed, that lines it up pretty much exactly with my placement for Batman: Year Two, which seems right. In Long Halloween, Selina briefly pops up as a socialite in Bruce's circle (if I remember correctly; it's been a long time), an identity she must have established for herself with her proceeds from theft. For her, it would also go before When in Rome, another story of her early years.

The story seems to be designed to bridge the gap between the dark, gritty Selina of stuff like Batman: Year One and Her Sister's Keeper and the more lively, flirty Selina of the Batman comics of the 1990s. One aspect of the transition is very obvious. By the end of Her Sister's Keeper, Selina was wearing a gray costume; here, inspired by a meeting with the Joker in his purple suit, she discards it and replaces it with a costume in royal purple, such as she was wearing by the 1990s. More significantly, the story wants to establish Batman and Catwoman's flirtatious relationship, where he's attracted to her, she's attracted to him, but also he thinks of her as a criminal and therefore can't let himself act on that attraction, and she does enough good things that he can overlook the bad.

from Catwoman vol. 2 #39

On the other hand, while the story is designed to bridge the approach of the 1980s Catwoman to the 1990s one, it's not actually—despite the title—a very direct follow-up to "Year One." Holly Robinson is nowhere to be seen; my understanding is that she would never appear in a Catwoman story again until the Catwoman vol. 3 ongoing in the 2000s. Where did this character so integral to Selina's early days go off to? You can of course make something up, but writing her out is the kind of thing I expected this story to do. 

More jarring if you go directly from Her Sister's Keeper to Year 2 is the fact that here Selina has no sister... It's not that Maggie isn't mentioned; Year 2 goes so far as to explicitly state that Selina was an only child! Like, the last story was called "Her Sister's Keeper," you can't just ignore that. (And if Her Sister's Keeper was considered not to "count" by 1996... then what else was "Year One" supposed to be? You can't have a "Year Two" without one!) In my last post I said Her Sister's Keeper and Year 2 together would make a good trade... and that's still true but it would make an odd read!

from Catwoman vol. 2 #40

As for the actual story, well, it's okay. Selina goes for a cat-themed jewel but Batman anticipates her; to plan her next heist, she decides to distract him by releasing Two-Face, the Joker, and the Penguin from Arkham Asylum. The story tries to establish that unlike them, Selina's not a killer... but c'mon! Releasing the Joker is about as bad as being a murderer yourself! The idea that this was somehow a forgivable act was one I just could not buy no matter how hard the story tried to sell it to me. On the other hand, Jim Balent was born to draw Catwoman (her 1990s incarnation, at least), and it was always fun and engaging to read. Aside from the continuity aspects I discussed above, I also felt like I wanted a better sense of how Selina transitioned from someone adopting a costumed identity to help herself and others (in her own way) to someone obsessed with jewelry for its own sake... but that seemed to have happened off-panel between Her Sister's Keeper and this story.

Catwoman: Year 2 originally appeared in issues #38-40 of Catwoman vol. 2 (Oct.-Dec. 1996). The story was written by Doug Moench, pencilled by Jim Balent, inked by Mark Pennington, colored by Buzz Setzer, lettered by Albert T. De Guzman, and edited by Dennis O'Neil.

This post is a supplement to an ever-expanding series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. The next installment covers Wonder Woman: Past Imperfect. Previous installments are listed below:

The Adventures of Alan Scott--Green Lantern by Roger Stern, Ron Marz, Dusty Abell, Jim Balent, Andrew Pepoy, et al.

While reading Justice Society of America vol. 2, I learned from the lettercol that at the same time, Alan Scott had his own feature in the short-lived Green Lantern Corps Quarterly series. I don't necessarily track down every solo appearance of every JSA member, but these seemed to have some focus on Alan's family life, which meant appearances by Jade and Obsidian of Infinity, Inc., plus Alan's marriage to the original Harlquin, also an Infinc concept. So I went ahead and tracked it down. (I skipped the final issue, #8; it featured Lobo, so it goes for $20 at least these days. No thanks.)

GLC Quarterly was an ongoing anthology comic about various members of the Green Lantern Corps; each issue had 54 story pages. Typically, there was a short frame story, an eighteen-page lead story about a new Green Lantern character, a twelve-page Alan Scott story, a twelve-page G'nort story, and a short story either about a preexisting character ("Whatever Happened to...?") or a previously unknown Earth Green Lantern ("The History of Sector 2814"). Issue #7 switches things up somewhat, and features two Alan Scott tales. (In issue #8, the Alan Scott story is actually a flashback tale, so I feel justified in excluding it.)

from Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #3
(script by Roger Stern, art by Dusty Abell & Mark McKenna)

The first four stories are written by Roger Stern, and mostly feature art by Dusty Abell and Steve Mitchell. Roger Stern is one of those comics writers who I wouldn't call "great" but you can depend upon to turn in a satisfactory story, in my experience, and that's exactly what he does here. Across his four tales, we get an origin recap, a family reunion, a visit to the grave of Dinah Drake Lance (the original Black Canary), a battle with Solomon Grundy, and a visit to Doiby Dickle's adoptive home planet.

This is solid stuff. I always like seeing a superhero's family, and though twelve pages don't leave a ton of room for it, we get a good sense of the affection Alan has for his found family. The best story was, to my surprise, the Doiby Dickles one, which treats this goofy character with enough affection that I found myself charmed: Alan and Molly visit his new planet, and discover that he's remade it into a tribute to the place and time he's left behind. Dusty Abell is an artist I don't have much experience with—I do remember a solid turn on the "Five Years Later" Legion of Super-Heroes—but he proves himself well-suited to the classic heroism of a Golden Age character. All in all, enjoyable stuff. I was pleased also to see the whole JSA paying tribute to Dinah, who died while they were in limbo; it's a nice touch that keeps these characters feeling real.

from Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #7 (script by Ron Marz,
art by Mark Tenney & Wade Von Grawbadger)

With issue #4, though, Jim Balent and Andrew Pepoy take over the art, and with issue #5, Ron Marz takes over the writing. The result is an immediate, jarring change in style and tone: overwrought, angsty, verging on the 1990s "xtreme" aesthetic stuff. There's a new Harlequin taunting Alan; later, Alan is de-aged, and in issue #7, we learn this is because of the power of the Starheart, the ejected magic core of the Power Batter on Oa that gave Alan his powers. Alan becomes the new "Sentinel," abandoning his Green Lantern identity. It was all rather rushed and under-explained, even though issue #7 gives us two Alan Scott stories, and makes his story the frame narrative.

This is all because, I think, of the impending Emerald Twilight storyline, the end goal of which was to make Kyle Rayner the only Green Lantern in the universe; if Alan was to go on, he needed a new superhero identity. I am not a fan, but I guess I'm glad he wasn't killed off. However, this material doesn't feel rooted in the life and history of Alan Scott like Stern's; it's much more generic action-adventure with a dose of darkness that feels gratuitous.

I thought the Harlequin here was the same new one who bedevilled Infinity, Inc. back in the day, Marcie Cooper, but the DC wiki tells me that she's a new character who only appeared in two more issues a few years later (Underworld Unleashed #1 and Green Lantern vol. 3 #71), and who we never really learn anything about. It seems to me it would make more sense for her to be Marcie, based on what she knows about Alan's personal life.

This could make a nice little trade if anyone was ever so motivated, but I doubt anyone ever will be. Still, the first four issues are worth picking up if you are into the JSA legacy elements, and I assume the last three will be important for understanding future Alan Scott stories if nothing else.

(It's not my focus here, but I did read all the stories in this title. Some were quite good! There's a charming Mark Waid/Ty Templeton collaboration in issue #2, I really liked the story of the woman who turned down the Guardians in issue #4, Elliot S! Maggin has a neat one-off about an alien GL in issue #5, and so help me, I even liked the G'nort feature at times.)

The Adventures of Alan Scott--Green Lantern were originally published in issues #1-7 of Green Lantern Corps Quarterly (Summer 1992–Winter 1993). The stories were written by Roger Stern (#1-4) and Ron Marz (#5-7); pencilled by Dusty Abell (#1-3), Jim Balent (#4-6), Darryl Banks (#7), and Mark Tenney (#7); inked by Steve Mitchell (#1-2), Mark McKenna (#3), Andrew Pepoy (#4-6), Terry Austin (#7), and Wade Von Grawbadger (#7); lettered by Bob Lappan (#1-3), Bob Pinaha (#4-5, 7), and Albert DeGuzman (#6); colored by Anthony Tollin (#1), Matt Webb (#2-5, 7), and Stuart Chaifetz (#6); and edited by Kevin Dooley (#1-7) and Eddie Berganza (#6-7).

 

This post is twenty-third in a series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. The next installment covers Damage. Previous installments are listed below:

1. All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever (1976-79)
2. The Huntress: Origins (1977-82)
3. All-Star Squadron (1981-87)
4. Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume One (1983-84)
5. Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume Two (1984-85)
6. Showcase Presents... Power Girl (1978)
7. America vs. the Justice Society (1985)
8. Jonni Thunder, a.k.a. Thunderbolt (1985)
9. Crisis on Multiple Earths, Volume 7 (1983-85)
10. Infinity, Inc. #11-53 (1985-88) [reading order]
11. Last Days of the Justice Society of America (1986-88)
12. All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant (1999)
13. Steel, the Indestructible Man (1978)
14. Superman vs. Wonder Woman: An Untold Epic of World War Two (1977)
• Wonder Woman: Earth-Two (1977-78)
15. Secret Origins of the Golden Age (1986-89)
16. The Young All-Stars (1987-89)
17. Gladiator (1930) ["Man-God!" (1976)]
    
18. The Crimson Avenger: The Dark Cross Conspiracy (1981-88)
19. The Immortal Doctor Fate (1940-82)
20. Justice Society of America: The Demise of Justice (1951-91)
21. Armageddon: Inferno (1992)
22. Justice Society of America vol. 2 (1992-93)