Review: Catwoman Vol. 2- Dollhouse

Quick Summary

Pros: Catwoman’s growth and character development is executed very well. The main storyline is entertaining and has a unique mystery.

Cons: The book’s romance ranges from average to lackluster. The conclusion may be a bit much for squeamish fans.

Overall: In an improvement on the previous volume, this book has a better take on Catwoman and an interesting story for her to follow. The highlight here is character development and the progression of Catwoman as a character, which is exactly what this series needed. It puts a lot of potential out there and builds up even more excitement for the third volume. Fans who enjoyed the first volume should feel right at home with this one.

Story

Catwoman Vol. 2: Dollhouse improves upon its predecessor in offering an interesting story and compelling character development. Here, writer Judd Winick allows Catwoman to grow as a character and shed some of the wanton recklessness seen in the previous volume. This change makes for a better read and also makes the story easier to enjoy. Speaking of story, fans of chilling tales might get a kick out of this particular storyline, as it ends up featuring some of the creepiest moments in this era of DC Comics. Overall, this is a slightly above average story that makes its seem as if the Catwoman series is headed in the right direction.

(spoilers start here)

The main storyline, in this volume, follows Catwoman as she stumbles upon a mystery while committing her usual spree of robberies. This mystery involves the abduction of several Gotham sex workers, people who the rest of the city are fine with forgetting about. Catwoman approaches the case with a lot of emotion and her typical dramatic flair. She starts out with a reckless charge on the person responsible for the crimes but plans a more clever approach later on.

While this plotline is entertaining, its true success comes from how it allows Catwoman to develop as a character. Selina initially clings to the case because she feels a connection with the victims; she even states that she was abducted at some point in her past. This drives her to do good for once in her life, something she isn’t exactly the most comfortable with. Seeing Catwoman take a hesitant approach to vigilantism is a unique concept to watch play out but ends up being very interesting. I ended this volume excited to see how Catwoman’s progression from pure villain to reluctant hero will play out in the rest of this series.

Along the way, a solid portion of the book ends up focusing on Catwoman’s new partner, and potential love interest, Spark. For the most part, these portions of the book are overwhelmingly average. Spark offers little to the book besides a twist; it turns out that Spark was working for the police the whole time. His romance with Catwoman is also pretty lackluster and has more than a few awkward moments, such as Spark admitting his feelings for Catwoman immediately after she tells him about being abducted in the past. The only unique aspect of this romance is that the fallout from Spark’s death, which happens at the very end of this volume, has the potential to provide Catwoman with some additional character development in the next volume.

The conclusion of the book sees the end to the abduction mystery and the pinnacle of the book’s creepiness. The villain, Dollhouse, has been harvesting the organs from the abducted people and then putting their taxidermied bodies on a grotesque display. Catwoman’s final showdown with Dollhouse happens among these bodies and is all sorts of chilling. Fans of the macabre may find this finale unique and compelling but more squeamish fans will definitely be turned off.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The vast majority of this collection sees a shift from artist Guillem March to artist Adriana Melo. Despite the changeup, Melo does a fantastic job in maintaining consistency with March’s work, a task made easier by Tomeu Morey’s consistent colors. This also means that Melo’s work looks nearly as good as March’s. Their art style does well in fluctuating between gritty action and sensual energy, which compliments Catwoman’s unique personality very well. The only problem is that Melo’s faces seem a bit less realistic, especially when compared to March’s. This is a very minor problem though, and the rest of the collection looks great overall.

Continuity

Catwoman Vol. 2: Dollhouse continues the story started in Catwoman Vol. 1: The Game (Review).

The story here continues in Catwoman Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review).

This volume also references and continues the stories from other comic books, detailed below:

• This volume contains a crossover with the Night of the Owls event in the Batman series. The core issues of this event can be found within Batman: The City of Owls (Review).
• Dollhouse references her father, Dollmaker, who previously appeared in Detective Comics Vol. 1: Faces of Death (Review).