Let's discuss Catwoman Defiant! (1992)
What does everyone think of this story?
I've read this story three times now, most recently via the DC Finest edition. I don't think it's a particularly important story in the history of either Catwoman or Batman, but there's something that keeps drawing me back to its mood.
First of all there's the cover. I think Brian Stelfreeze is a good artist -- I especially like his covers during the Knightquest era & his work on Black Panther -- but I can see why this cover is polarizing (which is why I chose not to make it the first slide of this post). It's a bit of a shame it's the first thing a buyer or reader would see, because it's nothing like the interior art by Tom Grindberg & Dick Giordano, which has a less stylized, more traditional Bronze Age feel to it. Catwoman wears her gray Year One / Her Sister's Keeper costume & it's drawn well here.
I really enjoy the way the story opens with a wordless sequence of "Mr. Handsome" destroying items from a priceless art collection. I think Handsome & his gang are introduced well in the first few pages.
Peter Milligan's writing shines most for me in the dialogue between Bat & Cat. He really nails their banter for this era of the characters.
The most disturbing moment in the book is when Graven & another Handsome Gang member bring a presumably stray dog down the elevator to feed to "the beast". Made me feel like I should've checked "Does the Dog Die" before reading. I know this is CATwoman & all but that was emotionally cruel.
For whatever reason the underground maze where the beast lives captures my imagination. Catwoman meeting the disfigured woman down there & then climbing out back-to-back is a great sequence.
The twist that wraps the story up & really spells out its themes for the reader might be a hit heavy-handed, but I don't really mind. It reminds me of O'Neil, Robbins, or Conway tales of the 70s with a mysterious creature & a psychologically damaged villain. It might be overly tropey that the beast came from some Filipino guy in a game of poker, but such is the nature of old pulpy comics. And whatever flaws the story has, Catwoman's attitude shines through brightly & I love that she beats Batman to solving the case at basically every turn.
I think this story, with a few script tweaks, would've made a great episode of Batman the Animated Series. It hits all the hallmarks of moody atmosphere, creepy mystery, & a sad villain backstory. Alternatively it could also work well adapted to the style of Batman: The Caped Crusader, or as one of DC's standalone movie projects. It could be neat to see it combined with Her Sister's Keeper as some kind of "Early Adventures of Catwoman" / Gray Suit Era animated project.
Also pictured above is my double-sided Catwoman Defiant bookmark, which I randomly found in a used TPB I bought. This book had something of a sister book called Penguin Triumphant (by John Ostrander, Joe Staton, & Bob Smith), both published to coincide with the release of Batman Returns. For some reason I haven't gotten around to reading the Penguin book yet.