I used to read a lot of comic books. Recently, I unloaded my collection, but I retained several bookshelves full of graphic novels and collected editions -- none of which, I realized, have been read in a very long time. I decided to revisit some of these books, partly for reasons of nostalgia, and share my impressions after a very long absence from the genre.

The first, chosen purely randomly, was Catwoman Defiant, touted as the first Catwoman graphic novel (from a time long before the character was dramatically redefined in the comics). It, along with Penguin Triumphant, was released to capitalize on the villains' appearance that year in the movie Batman Returns.

It is, by graphic novel standards, very short -- a mere 48 pages. The art, by Tom Grindberg, is quite good, although some readers might find his depictions of the titular Selina Kyle a trifle pre-"woke" -- wearing a skin-tight catsuit, she's exaggeratingly thin, long-limbed and buxom, with a lot of angles focusing on her cat-tailed posterior. Her flirtations with Batman -- who in this book is more of a supporting character -- are mild at best, while his with her are nonexistent.

The story by Peter Milligan is OK, but it didn't really hold my interest for long (so I guess it's good the book is so short). There's a masked villain, the one-off Mr. Handsome, who steals valuable pieces of art for their beauty, then destroys them. Handsome has now decided to kidnap Catwoman, because she's beautiful (although, now that I think of it, Handsome has no idea what she looks like under her costume, which at this point in her career conceals everything but her jawline). Of course, Handsome wants to see her destroyed. And Batman decides he can use Catwoman as bait to catch the criminal, but he's distracted just long enough for Handsome's minions to grab her and flee.

Obviously she survives, since the character is still around. I won't spoil the details of her escape or the twists Selina discovers under Handsome's lair.

All in all, it's just kind of meh. It feels like a book written solely because they wanted a Catwoman book on the shelves without putting in much effort.