Catwoman #13 is the official start of new series writer Ann Nocenti‘s run with artist Rafa Sandoval (although they also handled last month’s Zero issue). It’s also a prologue for the Joker’s New 52 coming-out party, the huge “Death of the Family” Batman event. That’s some pretty deep water Nocenti lands in right from the start. Does she sink or swim? Here’s the official description of Catwoman #13 from DC:

• New series writer Ann Nocenti takes Catwoman deep under cover!
• Catwoman is the best thief in the world, but stealing another person is a new challenge!
• The true origin of Selina Kyle revealed!

If I had to describe this issue in one word, it’d be “confusing.” Some parts are extremely disjointed and it’s often difficult to tell what the characters are talking about.

First Selina is harassed by a silhouetted figure (presumably the Joker) who taunts her with a toy from her dead friend Lola’s apartment. Selina gives chase, but quickly gets caught up in what I assume is a hallucination. It’s never really explained. Next she shows her handler, Gwen, her new apartment. Gwen tells her they have a new gig, and Selina changes into her Catwoman costume, stripping down to her underwear in front of her friend and commenting “I hate skin”. Eventually I figured out she was talking about the chicken they were eating. Seriously. Chicken skin. Finally, Selina meets her new client, who tells her what she’s supposed to steal using a chess metaphor. Only it turns out it’s not a metaphor. The guy’s talking about moving actual human size chess pieces around the city. Selina doesn’t seem to think this is weird, but she’s not too happy when she finds out there are people inside the chess pieces.

Like I said, confusing.

There are some positive aspects of this issue: despite gaping holes in the writing, Nocenti still succeeds in giving Selina a sense of purpose, something that’s been lacking for much of the series. The other plus is Rafa Sandoval’s art. His Catwoman is sleek, lithe, and sexy without suffering a broken back. Even stronger than his character work are his backgrounds; the city perspectives are gorgeous, with every window on every building painstakingly rendered. The layouts are a problem: in some cases they make the story even more incomprehensible.

Last but not least, Jordi Tarrogona’s inks are strong, but not overpowering. Theyexcellently support the pencils, and I particularly like the solid black mop of Selina’s hair.

Catwoman #13 is definitely one to leave off you list this week; even those fantastic cityscapes can’t save it. There’s always a slight chance that future issues will suddenly make this one make sense, but I’m not optimistic. I just have to hope things will improve as Nocenti settles into the book. Fingers crossed.

2/5