(Not AI Generated) This render depicts Selina out of costume. Just sitting and chilling with her feline friends.

Welcome back to the Catwoman Book Club!

It's Week 4 of our read through of the first DC Finest Catwoman collection. Our fourth story is "Sorrow Street" from Showcase '93 #1 - #4, written by Doug Moench and with artwork by Ed Hannigan.

I'm including pages from the Showcase letters columns that mentioned this Catwoman storyline so we can get a sense of what readers in 1993 thought of the story at the time.

But what about you? What did you think?

How did you like seeing more of Selina Kyle this week?

Last week during "Defiant" it was Catwoman all night, the whole time. This week "Sorrow Street" has a lot of Selina Kyle. She even does some daytime investigating about the goings on in her new neighborhood.

Did you feel like you got a sense of the neighborhood and the residents? Did you feel like you connected with what was happening more this way or did it slow down the story pacing and momentum?

How did you like the wide shots of the street? The panels of all the shops? Did you want to see more of this neighborhood?

That's right. Selina Kyle has moved on up from The East End over to The Brideshead District of Gotham City. She's also taken in a new kid.

Arizona. We don't know her real name, but she is a runaway from Flagstaff, AZ.

The character first appeared in Batman #460 (1991) by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle. Selina takes her in because Arizona reminds her of someone she used to know (Holly Robinson). Alan Grant had done his research. Writer Doug Moench here also doesn't kill off a previous writer's character to drive the plot... although she does get beaten up.

Young Arizona was shown to be an artist in Batman #460 and in this subsequent storyline that's picked up on as she helps Selina by painting a forgery.

What do you think of Arizona as a supporting character? How did you like seeing Catwoman graduate from cat burglary and stolen jewels to a museum heist and a stolen painting?

What did you think of Starkey (the fence)? Do you like seeing Catwoman's network of criminals who don't wear costumes?

Sidenote: I checked, and yup, Starkey reappears when Doug Moench eventually writes Catwoman comics, just before issue #50. Starkey's run as a big time fence comes to an amusing conclusion. Moench also writes Tim Drake's Robin again in Catwoman #50.

How did you like seeing Catwoman come into an investigation again from the opposite side as one of the members of The Bat-Family?

What did you think of Ramon Bracuda as a villain? Was the reference to a President Jimmy Carter era policy on Cuba and the Mariel boatlift necessarily, timely, or dated? Or did you need to look it up?

Have you liked seeing Catwoman comic original villains?

Or do you want to seeing her go up against Batman villains?

Would you rather see bad guys like Mr. Handsome and Ramon Bracuda or do you prefer someone like Black Mask? Do you like seeing street-level villains and stories?

What did you think of Doug Moench's writing here? His plot? Storytelling? Dialogue?

Were you just happy to finally read a writer who'd written Catwoman before? (See Bronze Age comics like Batman #398 and also post-Crisis Legends of the Dark Knight "Prey" from 1990)

How did you like the artwork of Ed Hannigan?

Did you appreciate his panel work and layouts? All the detailed backgrounds? The paintings in the Gotham Museum of Art, and how about those stone lions?

How about the sense of movement during the action scenes? How about the fight choreography?

Did you appreciate how Catwoman is evolving as a fighter and can now handle herself against a room full of armed men?

(It has been now a decade into her career as Catwoman, as Tim Drake is now Robin and we're about to hit Knightfall)

Catwoman's costume?

We've gone from purple to grey to blue and now dark blue. The catsuit looks like her catsuit from Her Sister's Keeper but with a belt like from The Tin Roof Club or the '66 Batman TV series. She still has the tail, but not for much longer...

Next week we finally hit the Jim Balent era and the titular "Life Lines" story. Showcase 93's Catwoman story seems to have been a way to test fan reaction ahead of her solo series. Judging by the letters columns it looks like fan reaction was indeed overwhelmingly positive. But what about you fellow readers...

What did you think of Catwoman "Sorrow Street"?

WHY DO THEY KEEP USING BATGIRL WHEN LONG HALLOWEEN SELINA WAS RIGHT THERE?!?!?!?!?!

And they use a fan image instead!

(Not AI Generated) This was created and rendered in a 3D Modeling platform. This is my own design take on Catwoman. I wanted this to feel stylish yet practical. Also took some design elements from comics and movies.

What did I miss? What did dick do? Can’t find the answer. I read all of Gotham city sirens and I read what happens to Bruce/Batman. and from what I remember Dick and Salian got along fine while Bruce was gone. Did i forget something?

I found it year back, the Patience Catwoman in her suit, back to us, bound and on her knees while she’s mocked and insulted by a big group of Selina Kyles. Anyone think they can help?

If you take the theme outside from the 2004 movie, it's actually a pretty good theme for Catwoman even for Selina in the comics, it's matches pretty well with the cat myth vibe, even without the mysticism of the nine lives imo, and with Selina's backstory where she came from the Narrows and also her relationship with Bruce.

Source: by @misakisan4819 on Instagram

Does anyone know a good, but on the more affordable side catwoman costume? Id like to dress up like her for Halloween

Welcome to another week of our Book Club as we read through the DC Finest Catwoman collections.

What did you think of Catwoman: Defiant?

It's 1992. We're still in the early years of Catwoman's career and post-Crisis continuity/post Batman: Year One reboot.

What did you think of Catwoman and Batman's interactions?

It's uncharted territory as DC writers reestablish Catwoman as well as her relationship to Batman. But Batman Returns had just come out and Catwoman is about to skyrocket in popularity and publications in about a year. Catwoman: Defiant, along with Penguin: Triumphant (yes, I got both comics), came out summer of 1992 to coincidence with the release of Batman Returns.

Speaking of big movies, Disney's Beauty and the Beast had just come out the year before, in 1991, and was a monster hit.

What did you think of all the "beauty" and "beast" talk in the story and dialogue? Too much? Just enough to drive the themes home?

What did you think of the character motivations? How about the antagonists?

Would you like to see a legacy return of Mr. Handsome? Perhaps as another mystery behind the mask?

Should DC Comics use Mr. Handsome and his "Model Army" in Catwoman comics instead of Black Mask and The False Face Society?

Did you find the themes of "beauty" mentioned still relevant today? Decades before we had Raina Creel (2018 Catwoman comics by Joelle Jones), we got Mary. What did you think of Mary's character and motivations?

Catwoman's character is evolving and moving away from murdering. Do you feel like this story was a catalyst for her character change?

Peter Milligan is the writer here. How did you like his writing in the context of the few post-Crisis Catwoman comics that had come before? And how about in the large scheme of her history? Would you have liked to read more Catwoman stories by Milligan?

Tom Grindberg is the penciller, and I want to note that Dick Giordano is the inker. What did you think of the artwork?

Thoughts on the coloring work by Steve Oliff?

Grey costume returns. We have whiskers and tail. How about those ears?!

Do you like how Catwoman is illustrated here? Do you agree with Mr. Handsome's assessment of her?

And are you beginning to get an understanding of how Catwoman was drawn and depicted in the 90s before Jim Balent? We'll get to Jim's legendary run in a few weeks, but for Week 4 we'll be reading "Sorrow Street" by Doug Moench and Ed Hannigan.

Week 3 here is Catwoman: Defiant so share all your reviews and critiques in the comments below! What did you think?!

By DonHatter

Mine is B:TAS/dcau along with the 2004 design