Catwoman's nine lives are running out fast

Selina Kyle's life has taken a very different turn of late. Last year's Gotham War storyline saw Catwoman and Batman come to blows over her radical plan to reduce violent crime in the city by turning the city's goons into elite cat burglars who only stole from the rich. It didn't quite work out, especially when Vandal Savage used it as an opportunity to try and seize power.

That storyline came to a head in the Gotham War: Scorched Earth one-shot when Savage summoned an immortality-giving meteor (don't ask). His plan went wrong, however, and Savage and Catwoman were caught in the resulting explosion - though it rapidly became clear that both had, in fact, survived.

Or had they? Because while Vandal Savage has spent the time since worming his way into Gotham's high society, Selina Kyle discovered that she really did die that day, but has been resurrected by a mysterious figure with cats eyes. What's more, she now has nine marks clawed into her back by cats - a literal tick list of the lives she has left.

Now, if most of us learned that we had nine lives, we'd probably use the opportunity to, I dunno, get into skydiving or something moderately dangerous that we were too scared to try before. But Catwoman being Catwoman decides that this is a great chance to throw herself into taking on all the missions that she'd previously written off as too dangerous.

The 'Nine Lives' storyline has been playing out in the Catwoman solo book since November's #59. Written by Tini Howard, drawn by Stefano Raffaele, colored by Veronica Gandini, and lettered by Lucas Gattoni, it reaches its third part in Catwoman #61, published today - a terrific issue that brings some weight to what has been a slightly goofy arc so far.

In Catwoman #59, Selina left Gotham behind. There's still a Catwoman in the city, but it's Eiko Hasigawa, subbing in for Selina while she's travelling the world. This has given the book a fun travelogue feel as Kyle moves from one location to the next, taking on a series