Catwoman #12

Issue Details

Synopsis

IT'S NICE TO HAVE SOMEONE I CAN RELY ON. Having just witnessed the kidnapping of numerous street kids and prostitutes from a Gotham City street - along with Detective Carlos Alvarez, who was on the scene - Catwoman receives a call from her fence Gwen Altamont. Unfortunately, Catwoman is too busy to listen to what Gwen has to say.   Now that Alvarez has been kidnapped, their accomplice Spark is recommending that they abandon their plans and stay under the police's radar. Catwoman, though, will not let the case go. Instead, she asks a very big favor of Spark. She has him go to Gotham City Police Headquarters, and replace the Bat-Signal with a cat-signal. While Catwoman had found the receiver for the GPS signal Alvarez had secreted on himself, Batman would find a cell-phone with which to track her.   At Dollhouse's mansion, Alvarez expresses his disgust with her obvious psychotic behavior. She becomes angry and knocks him out, but not long before Catwoman arrives and ambushes her. Their battle sends them crashing through rooms upon rooms of human dolls. These, Dollhouse claims, are an extension of the work of her forebears. She is Matilda Mathis, daughter of Barton Mathis, the Dollmaker. Her art has been ruined now, by Catwoman's interference, and as such, she cares little if more destruction is caused, firing automatic weapons after Catwoman, as she rushes from room to room, looking for Alvarez and the other kidnapped kids.   Alvarez recovers and tries to arrest Dollhouse, but as she turns on him, and prepares to bring the butt of her gun down on his head, the loud revving of engines becomes a distraction. Suddenly, the Batmobile smashes through the wall. In the confusion, Dollhouse makes her escape while Batman rescues Alvarez and the kids. Catwoman also makes a run for it. The two men express some confusion as to their erstwhile ally's motivations.   Later, Catwoman takes a bath and wonders whether working on the side of good is really for her. It seems so thankless to her. Spark certainly doesn't seem to want her to continue vigilante activities, and she trusts him.   Elsewhere, Spark responds to a message from Catwoman, and is surprised to find a gun pointed at him. The gun is held by Gwen Altamont, not Catwoman. Gwen has discovered Spark's ties to the corrupt policemen in Alvarez' precinct. Spark begs for his life, claiming that his ties to these policemen are a front. Coldly, Gwen shoots him through the head, knowing that if she had been Selina, she would have bought his lie. Afterward, she thanks Penguin for the tip-off, and he warns that it will come at a price.