Catwoman #49

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE ONE YOU LOVE CONCLUSION Hammer, and Angle Man report in to Hugo Strange and Captain Cold: Catwoman is dead, and she isn't coming back. First Angle Man stabbed one of his triangles into her forehead, then they took her to the meat market on Fifteenth to be "dismantled," finally they disposed of the pieces one by one all over the city.  Strange approves, but where is Smart Bomb? Angle Man says he took off as soon as Catwoman went down. This was way out of his league.   Sam meets with Jim Lenahan and Carl Worth and tells them they have to bring them all in now. They can't believe that's what he pushed his panic button for. They want to nail these people for something much bigger than one murder. Sam insists that Catwoman tried to make this city a better place and that she deserves justice, but Commissioner Akins tells him he stays undercover. And that's an order.   Strange is making plans for the future when Captain Cold tells him he's out. This isn't how they do things in Central City. He can play rough when he needs to, but what they did to Catwoman was unnecessary. Strange knows Catwoman and Captain Cold were old friends, but times have changed. Hammer will teach Captain Cold the meaning of realpolitik.   Hammer grabs hold of Captain Cold, but Captain Cold blasts him away with his cold gun. It was only at medium, though, which won't kill him... but it will make him brittle. He could kill Hammer or cripple him for life, but he won't. And that's why he's leaving. He departs with a quip about eating borscht, either not knowing or caring that borscht is a cold soup.   Sickle, meanwhile, is threatening a man in a "Check 2 Cash" store. From now on, half of his proceeds will go to her. Then she reconsiders, thinking that the man's death might make a good example for the other lenders who resist paying her a share. She is interrupted by a very much alive Catwoman, who says, "Reports of my death... yada yada yada..."   They fight. Sickle sends Catwoman through the front of the store, but before she can finish the job, Smart Bomb fires a missile at her. It knocks her out. Catwoman is injured but still conscious, and she asks Smart Bomb what he's waiting for, a thank you? She's going to take him down too, the first chance he gets. Smart Bomb remains silent and flies off.   Angle Man is collecting payments himself in a bar before Strange calls him to ask where Sickle is. He doesn't know. He has just hung up when someone calls out his name. It's the ghost of Catwoman, taunting him for murdering her... Then the living Catwoman hits him upside the head with a baseball bat. He's unconscious.   Strange and Hammer are waiting in the warehouse when the phone rings. Strange picks it up and hears angry Russian from the other end. Sickle is at the police station, fighting off the police who have arrested her, and she's using her phone call to tell them that Catwoman is alive. Lenahan and Worth overhear and wonder if they should tell Sam before deciding that the knowledge will make him lose focus.   Strange hangs up and tells Hammer to go on the roof to take a look around for anything amiss. On the roof Hammer finds a paper with a cat drawing, and on another rooftop, Catwoman takes aim, riddling him with tranquilizer darts. Hammer goes crashing down into the warehouse, nearly hitting Strange.   Strange is unimpressed. Catwoman doesn't frighten him. She reminds him that it only takes once for death to stick, and when he pulls out a gun, she says "don't" before jumping through the window, kicking him in the stomach. She places her knee on Strange's neck and orders him to stay out of her neighborhood.   Catwoman goes to check up on Holly, who is sleeping on the couch in her apartment. She grabs something from Holly's drawer before promising her sleeping friend that she'll be back after she's finished one last thing. Catwoman leaves, and Holly opens her eyes, saying, "I knew it."   Black Mask asks Xavier Dylan whether Catwoman is dead or alive. Dylan is pretty sure she's alive. Dylan reports on the rest of the group. He believes that now is the best time to take Catwoman out after Strange's group got rid of the rest of the supervillains in the East End and she got rid of Strange's group. Black Mask doesn't think so. They're going to bring Catwoman back to Earth first, and they'll start by finding Holly Robinson.   Catwoman thanks Todd Russell for his help, but he can tell she's wavering on whether or not she should let him go. He acknowledges that he did horrible things to those women, but he's changed. Catwoman agrees. Someone did this to him, and he had no idea who he was before. Now he's starting to find out. She asks for one favor: Don't prove her wrong.   Russell leaves, but Catwoman doesn't have any time to drink her now-cold coffee before someone else joins her on the rooftop. Zatanna introduces herself and says she has some bad news for Catwoman.