Batman Confidential #18 Review

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #18
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Kevin Maguire

This issue was just plain, old fashioned fun. There's no continuity bogging this down, no need to worry about where it fits or how it ties into Batman RIP or other DCU events. You just need to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Picking up on the previous issue, Batgirl is chasing Catwoman, who has stolen her father's coded notebook. It was a great cat and mouse chase through Gotham that played off each character's inner dialogues and their verbal interactions were equally catty. Okay, I'll quit with the cat puns now. The issue ended with Catwoman fleeing into a nudist hedonist club, pretty confident Batgirl won't strip down to follow her. How wrong she was as Batgirl strips down, save for her mask, teasing us as the issue ended.

This issue continues with the fun as Batgirl strips down, mortified as can be, and chases after Catwoman. After some hilarious inner dialogue and "is that your finger" comments, she finds Catwoman and manages to recover her dad's notebook, but not before starting a riot and fighting her way out of the club, just narrowly escaping Catwoman.

Catwoman catches up to Batgirl in another fun fight scene that sees a small puppy snatch up the notebook as Catwoman gives chase. A mysterious shooter fires at them, but Batgirl elects to chase after the notebook, given that the shooter never bothered to fire a second shot.

Watching Batgirl attempt to get the dog to drop the notebook as Catwoman is occupied with the other junkyard dogs was gold. "What would Batman do? One punch. Right to her cute, wet nose..", just as the dog drops it. Look for it in the Moments of the Week, along with a whole lot of scenes from this issue.

Before Batgirl can escape with the book, we finally get some insight on why Catwoman needs this book so badly. She screams out she needs it to save someone's life after Barbara questions what the going rate is on a book like this that she needs it so badly. Before she can convince herself Catwoman is or isn't lying, Catwoman is shot in the shoulder by the mysterious sniper, causing her to fall from the building.

Verdict - Must Read. This is part two of a five part story and it's been nothing but fun and games for me. Love the Catwoman / Batgirl dynamic and you can see how much fun the creators are having writing and drawing this book. It just shines through in every page. On top of all the fun, there's an interesting mystery developing with regards to this notebook and Catwoman's motivation for needing it. Great stuff all around.

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