On the (very limited) plus side, we get some more information about Catman and Grodd in this issue. Catman was in Gotham to find weapons to fight Grodd, and Grodd had followed him there, when the dome fell. Grodd lost his super-powers, turning into a regular ape. Once Telos lifted the dome, he regained his powers and went after Catman. The two of them were fighting in Gotham when the globes transported them to the desert arena. The part that I still don't get is why Catman told Stephanie that he was fighting her as a delaying tactic last issue. I originally thought that he was colluding with Grodd to save his/their city, but it's clear from this issue that it wasn't the case. But, I guess that I'm not going to get any more clarity on this front.
On the (very significant) negative side, this issue is quite simply a mess. Tim suddenly starts acting like an ape, a continuation of his weird behavior last issue. However, amazingly, Kwitney never explains why Tim started acting this way. Worse, the conflict gets resolved when Stephanie convinces Catman to lose. Catman agrees because he lost everyone that he loved back home. I get that he doesn't feel like that city is his home anymore, but he's really willing to kill off everyone else in that city without a second thought? Plus, his actual city is Cape Town, not Gotham, so it doesn't really matter anyway. Is he essentially committing suicide? After all, if he and Grodd are really returning to Cape Town, as he says at the end of the issue, then they're returning to a world on the verge of destruction. Is he really ready to so willingly embrace that?
I could continue, but I won't. The only reason that I'm giving this issue one star is that the final scene between Stephanie and Tim -- where they can't have sex because they're both too bruised -- is cute. Otherwise, I'm planning on forgetting about this mini-series as soon as I can.
* (one of five stars)
No comments:
Post a Comment