Catwoman: Soulstealer

A comic adaptation of a novel (which I haven't read) this is an out-of-continuity reworking of the Catwoman origin story. It sees Selina heading to Gotham for the first time in her masked identity, visiting it at a time when Batman is away, having entrusted the city's safety to Luke Fox as Batwing. While the story is mainly about her, almost as much is told from his perspective, and, crucially, her true motivations remain hidden until he works them out for himself.

It's a well-crafted story, with some great characterisation of its two leads and key parts for two of the other ‘Gotham City Sirens' as well. The atmosphere is aided by the decision to do most of the art in muted shades of grey, with dashes of colour for specific features (such as Catwoman's costume); I'm not normally a fan of this style, but here it complements the tone. The story itself, while using a lot of themes from the regular Catwoman backstory, is an original take on the character and one that works well, albeit as a one-off re-imagining.