Absolute Catwoman #2 Review
Writers: Che Grayson & Scott Snyder
Artist & Cover Artist: Bengal
Colorist: Giovanna Niro
Letterer: Lucas Gattoni
Variant Cover Artists: Leirix, Mirka Andolfo & Jonboy Meyers
1:25 Variant Cover Artist: Eric Canete
Editors: Andrew Marino, Katie Kubert & Chris Conroy
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99 US/Variants $5.99 (cardstock)
Release Date: July 8, 2026
After her final job with the Calicos, Selina Kyle vowed never to work with other people again. Her solo career proved so successful that, at age 25, Selina decided to retire. Then Holly Robinson brought trouble to her door. And just like the day they met, Holly secreted something valuable inside a cake.
Now, a gang of vicious cat burglars holds Holly in their claws. The flames devouring Selina's London penthouse also incinerate her plans. Can Selina rescue her friend from whatever trouble she has gotten into? And why did Holly hide a mysterious orb inside a Red Velvet birthday cake? Let’s leap into Absolute Catwoman #2 and see!
Story
Selina lost more than her London penthouse. Sure, she felt the same violation that anyone feels when thieves invade their privacy. But she also failed to rescue a friend she didn't realize she missed from a woman with skills equal to her own. So as Selina Kyle recovers from a fraught battle amid a high-speed chase in the British capital, she seeks answers to the chaos that shipwrecked her plans. And they all start with the sphere that Holly snuck into her home.
In Absolute Catwoman #2, Selina’s success has ushered her into an exclusive world of the ultrarich, world-class power players, and professionals in select professions like hers. In a glowing infirmary, Selina receives the medical attention she needs. Then, as she recovers aboard a super yacht, Selina searches the internet for information about the orb. Despite Selina’s experience and Jonesy’s extraordinary abilities, the sphere remains a mystery. As Selina can’t find out why a woman abducted Holly Robinson to get the orb, she decides to see who might want to buy it.
As Che Grayson and Scott Snyder move the action to an auction house carved into a Swiss mountain, they also provide glimpses of Selina’s past. While Selina plans out her visit and mixes among potential buyers, she looks back on her time with Holly in Gotham. Selina was happy with things as they were, but Holly wanted more. So, her friend brought two more members into their team.
Selina grew up as a loner in Gotham. She always worried about getting trapped there. Holly’s actions threatened to bind Selina to responsibilities she didn’t want. Yet, when events in the auction house go differently than she anticipated, Selina realizes that she learned far more from Holly than she wanted to in Absolute Catwoman #2.
Art
Amid old brick buildings with failing stucco, a diamond-shaped gazebo rises from a rooftop. As darkness fills the skies over Gotham, the interior glows with light. Yet Selina looks unhappy as she slips a mask over her eyes, while a smile stretches across Holly’s face.
Bengal contrasts Selina’s youth with her more elaborate present. After visiting a doctor, she walks past her fellow passengers clustered around the bar on the main deck of the Wandering Rose. In her stateroom, she sits at her vanity. Her laptop loads the camera feed from her helmet via a cable. After studying the orb, she rises to stand before the sliding glass windows, as snowcapped mountains rise in the distance.
Giovanna Niro applies a limited palette to Absolute Catwoman #2. The immense indigo window in a dark room links the silhouette studying a wall of blue monitors with Selina's indigo catsuit. Yellow light fills the sunroom ceiling of the Calicos' clubhouse as Selina walks past the yellow wall windows of the Swiss auction house in a yellow dress. The clubhouse's orange furnishings link with the bar area of the super yacht. Yet they also bind a wig in Selina's room with a member of her former team. Switzerland's blue sky and snow-covered mountains connect with Selina's memories of a mission with the Calicos. Yet the rectangular blue panels of her smartwatch and glasses contrast with the organically shaped area where Selina initiates her plan, and a sphere to die for.
Lucas Gattoni slips black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons that grow bold for intonation. White uppercase letters in blue boxes reveal Selina’s thoughts on the stories we write, and the ones that get written for us. Medium blue boxes convey Jonesy's responses. Stylish black letters in light blue fields locate readers in time and space in a universe where despair crushes hope. Words enlarge, and balloons get red borders, when things don’t go Selina’s way. Sound effects accompany the Calicos’ extraordinary mission, and a battle when the past returns to haunt Selina Kyle. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.
Final Thoughts
Selina Kyle grew up without parents. She forged a new life on the streets by learning skills that could secure the lifestyle she wanted. Yet her fear of getting trapped in Gotham drove her to abandon Holly and the Calicos. The attack on her London penthouse threatened to derail the retirement Selina thought would bring her happiness. But when her search for answers delivers more than she bargained for, Selina Kyle discovers that her life may only be beginning in Absolute Catwoman #2.
Rating 9.8/10
To look inside see my preview of Absolute Catwoman #2.
For what happened last time, see my review of Absolute Catwoman #1.
For Selina Kyle's relationship with Bruce Wayne, see my preview of Absolute Batman #12,
My preview of Absolute Batman #13, and
My preview of Absolute Batman #14.
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