Catwoman #1 – Lifelines – Chapter 1: Rough Diamonds
The first issue of 1993’s Catwoman series starts off with everyone’s favorite feline fatale wiping the floor with a few security guards during a museum heist.
Now working for Bane, she hands over her stolen goods to her fence Leopold. Catwoman’s true identity, Selina Kyle has taken in a young runaway named Arizona, who she helped save from an attacker.
Bane learns that a hitman is tracking him and sets up Catwoman as bait.
The hitman Guillermo gets Leopold to lead him to Catwoman where he proceeds to fire a rocket into her apartment.
Catwoman #2 – Lifelines – Chapter 2: Blast From The Past!
Catwoman rescues Arizona from the burning building and leaves the girl to be cared for by medics.
After his failed attempt to kill Catwoman, Guillermo dyes his hair blonde before cabbing to the airport. Selina checks on a slowly recovering Arizona while Catwoman makes a donation to her sister, Magdalene’s nunnery.
With the help of Leopold, Selina discovers the whereabouts of her hitman.
Catwoman #3 – Lifelines – Chapter 3: Shadow of the Cat!
In Santa Prisca, Catwoman takes on the military police, preventing them from harming a man who stole food for his sick child.
Selina phones home to Leopold who has informed her that Arizona has left the hospital with her parents and that Batman has returned and beaten Bane close to death.
Through her wealthy host Quincy Lord, Selina learns that Bane’s mother, while pregnant with him, was sentenced to prison after his father eluded soldiers in Santa Prisca.
Catwoman trades food for information about Guillermo with the man she rescued upon arriving in Santa Prisca. She tracks him down and attacks him as he is about to assassinate an old man.
After a brief encounter with Catwoman, Guillermo is stabbed in the back by the old man who reveals himself as Santa Prisca’s leader, El Jefe Del Pais.
Catwoman #4 – Lifelines – Chapter 4: Full Circle
Grateful for her assistance, Jefe invites Catwoman into his home where they are later joined by Quincy Lord and his female companion, Dohani.
Lord, falsely believing that Bane is the son of Jefe, attempts a coup but is shot by Dohani. Not wanting her child to suffer for Lord’s crimes, a pregnant Dohani and Catwoman flee the country with Lord’s fortune.
Now home, Selina realizes that Leopold helped Guillermo in his attempt on her life. Outside the prison walls, she fools Leopold into telling Bane a story that suggests that Bane is the son of Quincy Lord who allowed him to be imprisoned from birth. Infuriated by his story, Bane snaps Leopold’s neck.
In Conclusion:
This four part story was a nice way to open the Catwoman series. Writer Jo Duffy does a great job showing Catwoman as a strong yet caring, smart but also vicious, character. And of course Jim Balent’s design and illustration is legendary among Catwoman fans.