This is a bookend (or rather a filler?) to Loeb and Sale’s The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. When Catwoman disappears partway through Dark Victory, she goes to Rome to do some “research.” She is accompanied by The Riddler, and receives assistance from an Italian hitman known as The Blonde (guess why?). While there, she discovers that other DC villains may have followed along. Catwoman is also linked to the murder of a Don and gets to steal from the Vatican… which should be on every tourist’s list of things to do while in Italy.

I liked this book, but I have a bias towards Catwoman. And the artwork is excellent, though not in the same style as Long Halloween/Dark Victory. The story is so-so. We all know what Selina/Catwoman is in Rome to find out, but it’s still treated like a mystery, and it certainly didn’t have the drawing power of figuring out who was the Holiday murderer. I also never found the Riddler as ominous as some other reviewers have said… mostly, I just thought he was pervy.

So the final verdict is… if you like Catwoman and/or really enjoyed Loeb and Sale’s other Batman stuff, you’ll probably enjoy this. It works as a stand-alone, but I didn’t think it was a must-read.