Emerging from the pages of Batman: Eternal, Selina Kyle assumes her role as the queen of Gotham’s crime families in the newest issue of Catwoman.

Since the launch of The New 52, Catwoman has been an interesting book to follow. The first issue kicked things off with a story called “…and most of the costumes stay on…” which started with Selina flying out a window wearing only half of her costume, and ended with her having sex with Batman… also with half of her costume on. For reasons, I guess. Anyway, the title has had some weird ups and downs since then, and has now received a new status quo.

The book sees Selina taking control of the entirety of Gotham’s organized crime scene, something her father had once done. In this capacity, you see her balancing a life of good and bad intentions, just like she always had. Much like Carmine Falcone claims in the first episode of the Gotham TV show, she’s setting out to do right by Gotham - because without a thriving Gotham, there’s no way to make money. She attempts this while dealing with challengers on all sides, from different crime families and from within her own ranks. It’s a phenomenal story by comics-newcomer Genevieve Valentine and accomplished artist Garry Brown, who take a series largely known for weird stories and salacious costuming and build a phenomenal crime book. For the first time in a long time, I’m interested in seeing where this series goes, and will keep checking it out (rather than just checking up on it for time to time for work purposes.) Highly recommended.