Writer: Andrew Cartmel
Creator: Ben Aaronovitch
Penciler: José María Beroy
Inker: David Cabeza
Colorist: Jordi Escuin Llorach
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Cover Artist: VV Glass
Publisher: Titan Comics
Price: $17.99
Release Date: December 4, 2024
Kitty distributed homegrown marijuana along the river. But after getting busted, Kitty looks after her bedridden Uncle Jake and does community service at Her Haven women’s shelter. One day, her uncle’s neighbor calls with a problem. Gina Penlaw has heard reports of foxes attacking cats and is worried about her canal boat pet. But before Kitty can visit her former accountant, Gina photographs someone tangling with foxes on her boat. Who is this Cat Protector? And who will protect the foxes from her wrath? Let’s sink our claws into the Rivers Of London: Stray Cat Blues TP and find out!
Story
Kitty Butchart led an exciting life as the notorious Hoodette. While confined to her wheelchair, Gina helped Kitty with her finances. Now, instead of growing marijuana in the hull of Jake's canal boat, Kitty grows organic tomatoes using her uncle’s magical light. Things are tighter now, as she must pay for Jake’s medical care. Still, Gina’s photo intrigues her.
The foxes of London also need help in the Rivers Of London: Stray Cat Blues TP. Lately, a Cat Woman has stopped them from chasing cats away from the trash bins in their territories. When the Cat Woman follows two foxes to Gina's canal boat, she is also drawn there by Uncle Jake's magical light. But then, Stephanie is an enchanted creature. Even if Kitty is fulfilling community service at Her Haven, she understands the plight of endangered and traumatized women.
The agents of the Folly know all about Martin Chorley, the magic practitioner who operated The Strip Club Of Doctor Moreau. He created Human-Animal Chimeras like Stephanie to entertain his customers. Now, a gangster and his blind mother hold Stephanie’s sisters captive. The Cat Woman needs help to set them free. What the agents don’t realize is that the foxes have enlisted one of their students to help Stephanie’s sisters escape from the high-security compound of a gangster and his blind mother.
In Andrew Cartmel's story, Gina and bedridden Uncle Jake are among those who have traded expensive flats and houses for life along the river. Kitty looks out for her economically and physically challenged friends in the Rivers Of London: Stray Cat Blues TP. How can Kitty say No when Stephanie requests her help, especially when a teenage magician offers to help the Hoodette rescue Cat Women trapped in a life of sexual slavery?
Art
A boardwalk covers the towpath where Gina Penlaw and Uncle Jake have tied up. Both have lined their boats with windows to enjoy the daylight and surrounding greenery. Uncle Jake has expanded his boat with a rectangular modernist design in Rivers Of London: Stray Cat Blues TP. The taller boat allows people to care for him in his hospital bed, surrounded by framed Bob Dylan posters. During her visits, Kitty descends a circular staircase to tend tomatoes in wooden beds in the hold.
Jordi Escuin Llorach fills José María Beroy and David Cabeza's art with vibrant color. When an orange Fox confronts a tiger-striped cat, an orange and red highlighted purple arm tosses it off the boat. The movement traces red, yellow, and orange through the air before the fox climbs from a river streaked with white, greenish-blue, and purple. After Abigail leaves the white and brown building, she kneels to speak with the foxes while people walk past the wrought iron fencing for a residents-only garden. As the moon shines in a dark blue sky, the pink street reflects the red doubledecker bus as Abigail and the foxes travel toward Gina's green boat.
Jim Campbell conjures black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes. The sparse sound effects help us hear the Hoodette extend her baton and a (Fantastic Mr) fox enjoy his cheese puffs. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
A former drug trafficker and a young magician join forces to help Human Feline hybrids escape a life of sexual slavery. The Rivers Of London: Stray Cat Blues TP tackles the criminalization of drug use, the human trafficking that flourishes in "civilized" society, and the socioeconomic factors that push the poor and disadvantaged out of economically prosperous areas.
Rating 9.2/10
To look inside see my preview at The Dragon's Cache.
