It doesn’t say it on the cover but the Batman/Catwoman Special is essentially a tribute issue to artist John Paul Leon who died of cancer last year. His last work is printed here - the first 13 pages of the extra-long Tom King story - which is finished up by Bernard Chang, Shawn Crystal and Mitch Gerads, using John Paul’s breakdowns (which are also printed in full).
Also included are two reprints: The Riddle by Walt Simonson and JPL, about the Riddler stealing the solution to Lewis Carroll’s Raven Riddle (“Why is a raven like a writing desk?” - posed by the Mad Hatter in the first Wonderland novel, and which famously has no answer), that previously appeared in Batman: Black and White, Volume 2 over twenty years ago; and The Question in Reflections of the Heart by Ram V and JPL, which appeared in DC’s Crimes of Passion one-shot from 2020.
Michael Davis and Kurt Busiek provide essays eulogising John Paul Leon and there’s an extensive pin-up gallery from some of the biggest names in the comics art community who all provide touching tributes to an artist who was clearly greatly admired.
Tom King’s bumper story, about the life of Catwoman - at least as it pertains to his Bat/Cat maxiseries - isn’t boring or that bad but it’s also not particularly standout. A lot of the beats have already been touched on in the main series and seeing a truncated version of that here doesn’t add all that much to the story overall. He’s also doing a lot of those pages where he takes the lyrics of a song and spreads it across the page - Christmas carols in this story - which he does in most of his books and I’m starting to see why it annoys some people.
The Simonson reprint isn’t bad but it’s quite forgettable, and John Paul’s art is fine, but not among his best, while the Ram V-scripted short is plain terrible, like all of Ram V’s comics are, though John Paul’s art is really incredible, helped in large part by his wonderful colouring.
Davis and Busiek’s essays are very sweet and give you an insight into the man JPL was, and the pinup gallery is really something: Dave Johnson, Joelle Jones, Clay Mann, Tula Lotay, Klaus Janson, Becky Cloonan, Lee Bermejo, and Dave Gibbons (he draws Rorschach praising JPL) are just a few of the contributions, and they’re all very powerful.
Obviously this review isn’t a reflection on the life and work of John Paul Leon, who I only have respect for - 49 is too young for anyone to die, gifted artist or not - but looking at it like I would any comic, the Batman/Catwoman Special isn’t that special unfortunately. There’s one weak and pointless original comic, two not very good reprints, some breakdowns, a couple of short essays, and a whole lotta pinups. The art is the star here - fittingly so for a tribute to an artist - but, considering the price tag is a tenner, you’re not getting much bang for your buck. So, unless maudlin Batman art is your bag, the Batman/Catwoman Special is an easy miss for most readers.
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