Catwoman: When in Rome
From Pop-Cult Guides
| ||||
 | ||||
| Fictional biography: Contemporary · Golden Age · Silver Age | Abilities | ||||
| Supporting characters | Enemies: Major · Minor · One timers · Henchmen · Mobsters · From other media | Locations | ||||
| Bibliography | Publication history | Writers | Artist | CCA issues | Batman in other media | ||||
Catwoman: When In Rome is a six part miniseries comic book about Catwoman published by DC Comics, written by Jeph Loeb and pencilled by Tim Sale in 2004. The story focus on Catwoman's trip to find out her real link to the Falcone family.
The story is set after Batman: The Long Halloween in parallel with Batman: Dark Victory, during the fourth year of Batman and Catwoman's career and it reveals the reason of Catwoman's involvement with the Falcone family. After Selina leaves Gotham in the sixth part of Dark Victory, she travels with Edward Nygma a. k. a. the Riddler to Rome where with the help of Christopher Castillo, the mafia's top hitman known as the Blonde, they search for Louisa Falcone, Carmine "the Roman" Falcone's wife and the woman she suspects is her own mother. During the whole trip, Selina has recurring nightmares featuring Batman.
The series is divided in six books, each named after a day of the week from monday to saturday, even though the story is not actually in real time, one day per issue.
For the series Tim Sale modified his trademark drawing style to add some influence from Rene Gruau, a French/Italian fashion illustrator, which is also refected in Selina Kyles comparatively more fashionable wardrobe. The story is also characterized by a relatively more sugestive and teasing tone, having the protagonist naked, barenaked or in small clothing and in intimately compromising situations (although most of them accidental and ackward to her) with her companions at some point every issue but the last1.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
- Selina Kyle / Catwoman - Travels to Rome to find out if Carmine Falcone is her father.
- The Riddler - Helps Catwoman in her search.
- The Blonde - A hitman of Don Verinni that guides Catwoman and the Riddler in Rome.
- Batman / Bruce Wayne - Appear in several nightmares of Catwoman.
- Louisa Falcone - Wife of Carmine "the Roman" Falcone, the late head of the leading family of Gotham City's organized crime Italian mob, and possible mother of Selina Kyle.
- Don Verinni - The cappo di tutti cappi of the global Italian mob. He knows the whereabout of Louisa Falcone but is killed with Joker poison before he can tell Catwoman, putting her at odds with the mob.
- Guillermo Verinni - The new don and possibly the killer of the old. He knows the whereabouts of Louisa Falcone.
- Cheetah - Wonder Woman's archenemy, she attacks Catwoman in the middle of her thievery with no apparent reason.
- The Scarecrow - His support is being used to induce Catwoman Batman-related nightmares.
[edit] Backissues
In Batman: Year One, Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory Catwoman is often seen stealing from Carmnine "the Roman" Falcone, the head of the organized crime in Gotham City, crossing paths with Batman while doing so and being present as Selina Kyle (her secret identity and alter ego) in events related to the Falcones. In the sixth part of Dark Victory, Selina breaks up with Bruce Wayne and leaves indefinitively Gotham with no track for him.
[edit] Plot
[edit] Monday
Catwoman is having one of her recurring Batman-related nightmares when she wakes up to remember she is on a plane traveling to Rome with the assistance of the Riddler, both in their regular identities as Selina Kyle and Edward Nygma. When arrive, they meet The Blonde, a hitman and their contact, who sets up a meeting between Selina and the capo of the Italian mob, Don Verinni, who due to his rank might have the information she seeks. Before the meeting she pays Verinni an early visit as Catwoman after neutralizing all of his security, but in the middle of their talk, the cappo is poisoned with some of the Joker's venom hidden in his wine. Catwoman is blamed by the Don's surviving son, Guillermo, and the three protagonists are beset by Verinni's henchmen.
[edit] Tuesday
She has another nightmare to which she wakes up to realize she is not fighting Batman dressed in her Catwoman costume but uncontiously fighting the Blonde naked on top of him. Suddenly Nygma interrups the already ackard scene to urge all to jump through the window because the hotel is on fire. After Selina's hotel room burns down, the threesome escape to the Blonde's yacht. Then, in a pitched fight with the Don's son, Guillermo, Selina is freezed with Mr. Freeze's ice gun, but is freed by her traveling companions. Once recovered from the fever, she goes up as Selina, talks to the Blonde and they resolve to get Guillermo particular tribute that would definitively prove she is not intending to Attack the Verinni family. Nigma then retreats back to Gotham City for a short time (in which he attends the Hangman Trial conducted by Two-Face during the parallel events of Batman: Dark Victory) and Catwoman goes to the Vatican's museum to steal a hidden, centuries old ring that is supposed to originally belong to the first cappo di tutti cappi and to make its bearer the current one.
[edit] Wednesday
After their unsuccessful meeting the Blonde and Selina resolve paying Guillermo an ultimate tribute as a way to ask for forgiveness by having Catwoman stealing a valuable ring from the Vatican, but she is attacked by Wonder Woman's archenemy, the Cheetah.
[edit] Thursday
With the help of the Blonde, Catwoman defeats Cheetah and gets away wit the ring. Back in the yacht, while she is healing her wounds, she finds herself in the middle of another nightmare involving Batman. In this one, he ends up kissing her, but as she wakes up she realizes she is actually kissing the returned Riddler in her room.
[edit] Friday
Catwoman throws the Riddler out of the board and moves on to negotiate as Catwoman with Guillermo. She lures the new don with the ring, set him a trap, reveals him that she thinks he is the actual killer of his father and makes him reveal the whereabouts of Louisa Falcone.
Still as Catwoman she goes to the convent where Louisa lives and meets her. To her surprise Carmines widow is a blind beautiful woman with a striking resemblance to herself, but to her dismay she tells her that she never has a second daughter. Then, the Blonde and Louisa met and she tells the hitman to kill Catwoman.
In the Blonde's boat Catwoman is attacked by Batman, but she realizes she is under fear gas and reveals her attacker she knows both that he is the Riddler and that since he is the only one around with the connections to get the Joker's venom, Mr. Freezes gun, the Scarecrow's fear gas and Cheetah, he is the only possible responsible for the attacks suffered.
[edit] Saturday
The Riddler reveals then that he believes that Selina knows the secret identity of Batman, which he considers the greatest riddle. Catwoman defeats the Riddler, the Scarecrow, Cheetah and Guillermo Verinni but the Blonde's boat ends up exploting. After the adventure, without seeming to mind the Blonde gives away that he knows her secret identity and reveals that he, as godson of Carmine Falcone knew part of the mystery all along. Carmine and Louisa had a daughter after Sofia, but in order to get Verinni's blessing to rule Gotham's organized crime, Carmine needed a boy, so he ordered to Milos Grappa, one of the gangsters killed in Batman: The Long Halloween, to get rig of her. However, Louisa intercepted him and gave him something (unknown to Blonde) in exchange for having her for adoption in the United States.
Flattered by the trust of the Blonde Selina kisses him and they tour a while in Palermo. The Blonde reports to Louisa and she kills him in response for his actions. The Riddler returns to steal the ring from Catwoman, but in his flight back to Gotham he learns it is fake after taking it out of the box releasing fear gas Catwoman placed. Catwoman waits for the Blonde to go back to Gotham, but when he doesn't show returns to Gotham alone, with no substancial proof of her connection to the Falcones but with an acient ring that makes its bearer the world's cappo di tutti cappi.
[edit] Repercutions
In Batman: Dark Victory, Selina returns to Gotham City and informs Batman that Sofia Falcone traveled to Palermo for reconstructive surgery to repair the scaring Catwoman left her after the events of Batman: The Long Halloween. This hints Batman that Sofia is possibly the Hangman killer, which she actually is.
In Batman: Hush, a story set sometime later, but written before (also by Jeph Loeb), the Riddler revealed that after a bath in a Lazarus pit, he realizes Batman is Bruce Wayne, and therefore has his obsession to uncover Batman's identity is finally satisfied.
[edit] References
- 1Although the art is not graphically explicit, Selina is shown nude sleeping, bubble bathing and fighting (twice), sunbathing topless, being accidentally nude in public and accidentally kissing the Riddler in (apparently) compromissing underwear. She is always bothered by her companions taking peeks at her, but she enjoys the reaction of the Blonde while she is tanning with a "bathing suit she wasn't wearing".
