DETECTIVE COMICS #521

"CAT TALE"
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Irv Novick & Sal Trapani
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: Vicki Vale leaves the Gotham Picture News office and is attacked and mauled by Catwoman -- but then Selina Kyle awakens, realizing this is the latest iteration of a recurring dream. Selina calls Wayne Manor and asks to speak with Bruce Wayne, but Alfred tells her Bruce is asleep. Believing Alfred is lying and Bruce is actually with Vicki, Selina angrily hangs up. But in truth, Bruce is out as the Batman, rescuing a young woman from a gang called the Lords, who kidnapped the girl and requested Batman's presence as revenge for the Darknight Detective encroaching on their territory a while back.

Meanwhile, Catwoman sneaks into Vicki's apartment while she sleeps. When Vicki awakens, Catwoman tells her to stay away from Bruce, then leaves. The next morning, Vicki and Bruce meet for breakfast, and Vicki tells Bruce about Catwoman's visit. She believes it to be a cry for help, but Bruce tells her that he loves Vicki, and Selina can take care of herself. But Catwoman watches from a nearby rooftop and vows to fight Vicki over Bruce's love.

Continuity Notes: So here's a weird one: the opening pages depicting Catwoman's dream feature an omniscient narrator telling us that Vicki's mom used to warn her about Gotham City, and mentioning that Vicki was recently promoted to editor-in-chief of the Picture News. But since it's Catwoman's dream, is this true?! It feels like a sloppy way to script the scene.

A couple footnotes within the span of two pages: Vicki recalls the crank call she received from Selina in BATMAN #364, and then Bruce remembers Selina leaving town in BATMAN 335.

My Thoughts: Well, well, well -- look who's back! A few months ago, I wrote a fond farewell to 1970s Batman mainstay penciler Irv Novick, because when I looked at the DC Wiki's list of his penciling credits, his final Bat-comic was listed as 1981's BATMAN #342. So imagine my surprise to start this issue from a year later and find Novick back on the job! I will always be happy when I crack open a Batman story drawn by Irv Novick. Even here, approaching age seventy, his artwork is wonderful. Perhaps not quite on par with his work of a decade earlier, but still very enjoyable. And he's sticking around for one more outing in the next DETECTIVE COMICS, too!

On another note, you'll see that this issue's cover doesn't feature Batman; rather it advertises Green Arrow as DETECTIVE's new backup feature. I've mentioned before that I really didn't read many DC comics as a child; during my elementary school years I was primarily interested in Gladstone's Disney stuff, Spider-Man from Marvel, and certain licensed titles (also Marvel) like TRANSFORMERS and MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. But whenever I did wind up with a DC comic in my hands, I thought it was really cool that you would get a main story and a backup typically starring a somewhat lesser-known character. I'm sure that's how I met Green Arrow. Ditto for the Elongated Man, though I don't remember what comic I picked up that had a feature starring him. And there were others, too.

Marvel used to do this once in a blue moon, but I've always thought it would've been cool to pick up, say, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and get a backup serial starring... I dunno... the Prowler or Rocket Racer? Not as a one-off or limited thing, but on a regular basis. THOR with a Hercules backup! CAPTAIN AMERICA with a Union Jack backup! Stuff like that. It would've been really cool.

Anyway! As for this issue? It's... a little thin. It's really just a Catwoman/Vicki story, padded out by a Batman vs. Street Gang scene to fill the action quotient. This is a sixteen-page story and the Batman stuff accounts for five of those pages. The rest of it is entirely devoted to Selina vs. Vicki, and yet it still feels as if not much happens. I fear that on the heels of his spectacular conclusion to the Thorne saga, Conway is recalibrating, and he's suddenly a little light on material. Hopefully he can get it together in a hurry.