Those who are enjoying Darwyn Cooke's current NEW FRONTIER, with its tale of Silver Age superheroes going face-to-face with the McCarthy era paranoia during which most of them were created, will delight in his somber crime drama for DC Comics from 2002, depicting an important chapter in the life of Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman.
Those who are baffled by why a live action film franchise would take one of the most intriguing characters in the Batman canon, ignore her storyline and -yet again- play her for cathouse stereotypes full of campy sleaze are invited to read SELINA'S BIG SCORE, and experience a tension-packed drama which should have been the shooting script and storyboards for an authentic Catwoman film.
From skillful word to telling image, author Cooke is resplendent in his painstakingly full style. At once spare and simple in his delivery, he can be vivid in his wry, well-rounded characterizations, and incisive in the rich complexities he unflinchingly brings forth for the reader to feast upon. Perfect, then, that Cooke is the ideal author to tell the dagger-and-dues tale of a weary adventurer down on her luck; revisiting old haunts, setting fresh stakes, and facing a bigger price than any are prepared to pay.
Evoking shadows at every turn, a deadly angle lurking just beyond reach, Cooke conveys the alluring peril of the genre, from the grim sarcasm of Raymond Chandler to the stiletto-tongued sass of Walter Mosley. Visually, Cooke conjures a pithy scape worthy of the best in film and comic, from Milton Caniff's STEVE CANYON and Alex Raymond's RIP KIRBY to the Azzarello-Risso 100 BULLETS, onward into the night glare of MURDER, MY SWEET through the grand operatic tragedy of ROAD TO PERDITION.
With a melding of caricature and cinema, mood and motive all his own, Darwyn Cooke tells stories to be read, and read again, growing deeper with each turn. SELINA'S BIG SCORE stands firm as a saga of the times, and one for the ages.
Those who think comics are supposed to be comicky, with no fibre in the narrative meal, may want to avoid this, or risk a rude awkening. Otherwise, set your alarms.
Just don't wait for the bell to toll...