Issue #01 - Cat's Paw
Scans and Review by Jim Harvey

Gotham Girls #1
Cover Date - October 2002
Written by Paul Storrie; art by Jennifer Graves and J. Bone; cover by Shane Glines

The women of the hit WB Online webtoon burst into the animated DC Universe in an action-packed miniseries! Unable to resist a golden opportunity to fund her beloved lion preserve, Catwoman heists a vial of a mysterious formula for a shady company — only to discover she’s actually working for Poison Ivy and mallet-wielding sidekick Harley Quinn. That sets off an every-villain-for-herself chase across Gotham’s rooftops — and attracts the attention of both Batgirl and officer Renée Montoya, who reluctantly team up to join in the fray!

Review

Where to start? Well - the beginning is the best place. I was originally not a big fan of the Gotham Girls web series, mainly because I had a poor internet connection and could only watch one every now and again without crashing the old computer. Although now that I've seen them all to date, I love 'im. So, when this comic was announced way back when, I was excited. A comic that I'm actually looking forward to. It's such a rarity these days. B:GA has been a bit sub par and my interest has been waning on that series. But this....had potential. My only previous exposure before this series was his great work on arguably the best issue of Batman Beyond and a "better than issue #1" tale in Justice League Adventures. I was becoming a fast fan. There was still a bit of skepticism in me, but I was liking what I saw.

Then, over a month ago, I picked up Gotham Girls #1 and was blown away. The first page had me hooked. From the (much missed) dialogue boxes to the classic Tim Harkins lettering to coloring from Patricia Mulvihill (last seen in Superman Adventures I believe). This is what I want to see in an animated comic, and I got it. This first issue was a great mix of the darkness of the animated series and the light hearted webtoon (also improving on bi-weekly basis).

Paul - you nailed these characters perfectly. Your approach on Catwoman is probably the best we've had on her in sometime. She was touched upon in 'Cat & The Claw' and 'Catwalk', but that's it. Here, we get some more behind her character, something her character really needed. She sorta slipped into this two dimensional theif who has a thing for Batman, which can get sorta boring after awhile. You provide us with not only some good motivation, but some good commentary on her as well.

These are the characters I want to see when I read B:GA. These are the characters I want to see when I watch the animated series. These are the character I want to read more about. In the first time in years, I am really looking forward for issue #2.

Back to Catwoman, I like how you gave her a sort of 'been there' approach when she was stealing the vial. The 'Trust an absent-minded professor to remember his wedding anniversary by making it a security code' line was great. It showed that she's been done this before and was a pro. Maybe I'm reading into the line a bit much, but that's what I got out of it. And pages later with the switch between the vial and flashlight was great move!

And the Catwoman obsessed security guards were a nice touch - a nod to fans?

Also, you did one major thing right - you made Catwoman better than Batgirl. Batgirl is still a newbie compared to Catwoman, and to have Catwoman escape was the smart thing to do. If Batgirl caught her, I would've been a bit let down, but having her escape was the right thing to do. Catwoman is simply better than Batgirl in just about everyway, so it's only natural Catwoman gets away at the end of the day.

Now...the artwork. First off, I don't think it matters that Shane's cover isn't this grand opus. It gives us a striking Catwoman pose and it looks great. Also, the little heads on the logo look fine. I'm not gonna base an entire book just on those little heads. That's a bit ridiculous if you ask me.

As for the inside art - WOW! This is spectacular artwork right here which. The art eerily resembles Bruce Timm's work so closely. Jennifer Grave's portrayal of Batgirl is so dead on (any chance we'll see her at these boards? :) that it's bit scary! I also like how the issue was packed with panels. We had some splash panels, but overall, this issue was just packed full of panels which helped push the story forward. The art was dead on here, I can't find one complaint.

A rare perfect comic. Now...bring on #2...