Review: Catwoman- Soulstealer
Quick Summary
Pros: The main narrative keeps the reader interested the whole way through. The characters all stand out as individuals and as part of a group. The artwork looks nice and suits the tone of the story.
Cons: The storytelling is lackluster at points and weakens the overall reading experience.
Overall: This is a book with several bright points that are unfortunately dulled by the storytelling. The book features an intriguing main narrative, an awesome cast of characters, and some solid visuals. However, storytelling problems plague the book and prevent it from reading as well as it could have. This read may not be for everyone but will likely still appeal to Catwoman fans, especially if they are also fans of the book’s supporting characters.
Full Review
Catwoman: Soulstealer, by Sarah J. Maas, Louise Simonson, and Samantha Dodge, is a graphic novel that succeeds in some places but stumbles in others, ultimately ending up just average. It presents a Catwoman returning to Gotham after a troubled past. Once there, she launches a mysterious plan that puts her in touch with a colorful array of heroes and villains.
The main narrative in Soulstealer follows Catwoman as she attempts to execute a mysterious plan. Along the way, readers get glimpses of Catwoman’s past and learn about small pieces of her plan. The way all of this is presented and unfolds is compelling. In addition, the way the finale pulls everything together works out wonderfully.
The comic’s other big positive is the characters. Catwoman is obviously the book’s centerpiece but Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Batwing are all major characters as well. Each character manages to stand out as an individual, with their own motivations and problems. They also have great relationships with each other, which are enjoyable to see evolve as the book progresses. Ultimately, the characters really end up stealing the show in this book.
Where Soulstealer stumbles is in the storytelling. There are places where the narrative jumps around in a somewhat disjointed manner. In addition, the comic heavily utilizes narration, to the point where it feels like too much. There are also places where confrontations between characters are poorly written, making the characters’ reactions to what is happening seem over-the-top. None of these problems is significant on its own but, together, they definitely disrupt the reading experience and prevent it from being as good as it could have been.
Continuity
Catwoman: Soulstealer is a standalone book. It does not continue the story from any other comic and the story here is not continued in any other comic.