I first encountered DC INK with Mera: Tidebreaker, a pretty standard fantasy teen romance. I’m also on the lookout for strong new works by and for women readers, and that are young reader friendly, so I decided to return to DC INK and check out Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale. This was an interesting read, although I also found myself confused on who it was intended for.
Selina Kyle is stuck watching her mom bounce through different boyfriends, before she finally ends up with one who is the worst of the bunch. After a final act of abuse from her mom’s boyfriend, Selina runs away. Living on the street, she struggles to balance the relationships she made in high school with her new life and her created family of acrobatic thieves, let alone the remnants of the traumas she experienced when she was living with her mom.
This book is fantastic, but first I want to delve into the trick of uncovering its intended audience. DC INK, to my understanding, is generally aimed at teens. Mera: Tidebreaker was a safe entry for that demographic, and its safeness is what impacted its ability, to an extent. Under the Moon might be taking the other extreme. It contains far more difficult situations and f bombs than any DC comic not labelled as being for mature readers. In a lot of ways, I worry that the language used will be a sticking point that will keep this out of the hands of readers.
Under the Moon feels like a book that young women readers need but parents of young women readers will not want them to read. There is a lot of power here, and frank discussions of cutting, abuse, and living with an abuser. Those are all heavy topics, and ones that need to be in the public discussion much more than they are. I hope that Under the Moon does just that, and gets people to take these important health issues seriously.
The story itself is gripping and well-paced. Myracle has made an excellent transition from novelist to comic writer. I loved the art, as well. The pastel, mono- or duotone color palates that DC is using in their DC INK line may not appeal to everyone, but they are surprisingly effective, streamlining the focus and stripping away distraction.
I really enjoyed Under the Moon, and I think that it could be a very important book for a number of readers. I just hope that it doesn’t inadvertently keep itself out of the hands of those readers.

I was excited about this, both because of the author and the subject. I'm sad that "Gotham" is ending on TV and excited that these properties are being expanded in print. But this is dark, and not just in a Dark Knight way, but graphically dark. Selina's life of abuse is not pleasant to read about and not age appropriate until you get to older high school readers. I just found it a real downer overall.

While I liked the overall tale, I wasn't sure how (or even if) it fit into DC canon as a whole or Catwoman canon.

'Under The Moon: A Catwoman Tale' by Lauren Myracle with art by Isaac Goodhart is a YA version of a possible Catwoman origin story. It's a pretty good read.

At 14, Selina Kyle has seen some things. She lives with her mom and her mom's series of deadbeat and often abusive boyfriends. She is a bit of a loner at school and has a crush on Bruce Wayne. They used to be friends in preschool, but drifted apart for various reasons.

When things go really south in her homelife, Selina runs away and finds herself living on the streets. She makes a series of friends who teach her skills and look out for her. When a heist involving a rare book goes wrong, Selina wants to make it right.

I really liked this version of the character. It feels authentic enough to feel like it's the same character I'm familiar with. I really liked the art with it's subdued color. This was a read I can recommend.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Ink, DC Entertainment, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

What’s It About: Before she was Catwoman, Selina Kyle was just a fourteen-year old girl living street. Selina will have to form relationship and do whatever it takes to survive even if that’s cutting off old friends like Bruce Wayne.

Review: This book was filled with contradictions for me. I really enjoyed the art. Isaac Goodhart created a beautiful world filled with depth and gorgeous detail. However, I wasn’t really moved by the story. Myracle did a good job a starting to create Selina’s backstory however I felt like the story needed to go deeper. The entire story felt like Selina was just reacting to things being done to her and lacked any real character development. Also, we are introduced to a lot of characters that we never really get know beyond their initial introductions. This is a story that should make me feel for the characters but unfortunately I do not know them well enough to care. Also, the plot was a little choppy and jumped from scene without a lot of transitions which was slightly jarring. Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale has a lot of potential and I will read any other graphic novels released in this series however this was not my favorite retelling in the DC Universe.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for giving me the chance to read Under The Moon. The following is my honest review.

I really enjoyed the overall look of the book. The blue on blue is very pleasing to the eye.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy much else. This character didn't feel like Catwoman to me in anywzy. Not even a high school version. I'm also not sure who the target audience is. I think the overall story is too juvenile for yeens, but inappropriate for kids.

Under The Moon: A Catwoman Tale Review
May 11, 2019
shadowhuntingwizards
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Fourteen year old Selina Kyle has not always liked every new boyfriend that her mother brings home but her most recent one could possibly be the worst one yet. He is nothing short of cruel and Selina just can’t deal with it anymore. After a particularly traumatic episode Selina finds herself out on the streets, happy to be in charge of her own life.

In an effort to disconnect herself from her old life she changes her identity from Selina to Catgirl. After a while of living on her own ( and finding out that this street life is much harder than she originally thought it would be) she meets a charming group of street kids who invite her to work with them on a heist they have planned. Against her better judgement she agrees and with the help of an old ( and familiar) friend learns some hard lessons along the way.

I really loved seeing this early version of Selina. In all of the other versions of Catwoman I’ve read or seen I didn’t feel I related to the character as much as I did in this book. The story is very engaging. The character growth feels natural and I appreciated the struggles Selina went through to achieve that growth. This book gives you such a mix of emotions and I loved it. Also the art in this book is just stunning.


There is a particular page that has a scene with Selina and a cat in the sky that I need as a print to hang on my wall. Beautiful.

Overall I gave it 4/5 stars and I look forward to more books this year from DC Ink. The book is on sale as of May 7th 2019 and I highly suggest you pick it up.



** I was provided a free ebook ARC from NetGalley and DC Ink in exchange for and honest review.

The graphic novel gives life to the epic character that is the Catwoman. It follows Selina’s life as a young woman deciding who and what she wants to be. It also explores the trauma of her youth dealing with abuse, homelessness, suicide, and self-harm. It’s all about how she fits into the world.

I really enjoyed this take on the Selina and this incarnation. She’s a character that has taken the bad and turned it into something good. I can’t wait to see more of this if there is a plan to do more of these books. My only suggestion would to be to put a mature content warning on this due to the content and some of the language.

I have received this wonderful ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I don't know what happened when I first got this ARC because I couldn't see it. No matter what I did - nothing worked. Then I just kind of let it be.. simmer a bit if you think about it - THEN BAM! It worked and I could read all it's gloriousness.

Now I don't think I've read many graphic novels in my lifetime. Okay, hold up - I know that this is a fact because I think I've only read two graphic novels. Well, this would make my third one - so yay! First superhero one, which is kind of liking popping my virginity all over again (with graphic novels).

In this, you meet Selina. If you don't already know she's Catwoman - oops did I spoil something major? Her character is so freaking interesting because you get to see so many different versions of her. I really liked this book because it's her little introduction - her prequel to bad-ass-ness. However, I liked it.. but it just felt way too short and a little all over the place. I kind of kept thinking I was missing some key factors but just kind of ended up going along with everything. Again, not really used to reading GN's so maybe other people were like - heck yeah! this is awesomesauce!

ALSO, it had Bruce freaking Wayne in it and I was so freaking happy. I honestly love these two so much but Bruce definitely stole my heart even if it wasn't his book.

Other than all of that, I enjoyed reading it and I feel like I should probably stop dipping my toes into the GN pool and just full on belly flop into it.

UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE, written by Lauren Myracle and illustrated by Isaac Goodhart is geared toward young adults, but I think anybody interested in the Catwoman mythos would enjoy reading this book. UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE is divided into three sections -- "The Dark," "The Light," and "Under the Bright White Moon." Each section covers a different point in Selina Kyle's teenage years and shows what helped make her the future sometimes hero/sometimes antihero that she becomes. I've never read anything by Lauren Myracle before, but she details a very authentic female perspective and gives voice to this classic character.

In "The Dark" readers get a slice of Selina's abusive home life. Her negligent mother drifts in between scumbag boyfriends who are varying degrees of awful. The "keeper" makes Selina's life especially awful, but she sticks up for herself even when her mother won't. This burgeoning toughness is something that you can see the character takes with her into adulthood. For readers with triggers, the abuse that's touched on in UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE is not sexual in nature. Readers follow Selina as she gets her first taste of some much needed, and lifesaving, independence. This story is framed with all the usual trappings of adolescence -- bullies, cute-boy crushes and forming friendships -- along with some life or death situations. As Selina makes friends and toys with a possible flirtation with a young Bruce Wayne, she always struggles with whether to trust and take a chance on somebody or not. It's particularly poignant when Selina takes a young girl, who is out on the streets like she is, under her wing and acts like the mother she never had.

UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE is a very character- driven and emotionally charged story about the early days of a comic book legend. This story leaves you wanting to know more about Selina's life and the friends she meets along the way. Although I hadn't read many Catwoman- centered stories in the past, I'm loving this resurgence for the character.

Being a huge fan of Catwoman and obsessing over all things Selina Kyle, I tried going into this with eyes wide open and not set too high expectations. Well, I succeeded at the first and failed miserably with the last.

I obviously couldn’t pace myself worth a smidge because I read this one in one sitting and then (because I needed more) read through it a second time to make sure I didn’t miss anything because Mr. Goodhart did a bang up job of illustrating this comic. I love this guy’s work and I loved everything about his version of Selina Kyle.

The story itself was short and over far too quickly. It’s basically a short intro about Selina and some side characters, a bit of chalky background info and vague leads into a bigger on-going plot. It felt choppy at times, jumping from one mood or scene to the next without any flow to it and left things a bit blurry. Not what I was expecting and the dialogue could use some work but I’m still hooked on this series and will definitely be reading the next installment.

Would I recommend? I liked it, but will see what the next installment brings *fingers crossed* I’m still giving this one the benefit of the doubt.

***Recieved an e-Arc from DC Ink via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

I have always been fascinated by the story of Selina Kyle. I see her as being a complex and interesting character that I am always looking for stories that gives more of backstory about how she became Catwoman. This is the first graphic novel that I read which focus solely on Selina and how she slowly becomes into Catwoman. This was an interesting origin tale of Catwoman. The story is told when Selina is 14 years old and is going through many obstacles such as issues with her mother and her violent boyfriend.

If you are looking for a sweet story of Catwoman, then this would not be story for you because it is actually telling the story of all of the intense and abusive moments that molded Selina into becoming Catwoman. This story does have subject matter that can be triggering such as cutting, bullying and verbal/physical abuse. The author did a great job with writing about the triggering subjects in the comic.
I have enjoyed this telling of Selina aka Catwoman because the characters were well developed, the writing, and story was done very well.

The best part of the whole comic is the artwork is amazing because you didn’t need a lot dialogue to follow the story and to know what was happening in the scenes. It was nice to see diverse characters in the comic but I would have like to seen more of some those characters. I thought it was great to see all of the stray cats following Selina around because it was showing her connection with them.

The backstory between Selina and Bruce was interesting part of the comic. It showed how Selina became friends with Bruce when they were small children and how they friendship change when they became teenagers. They do reconnect in the story and shows how much they both care about each other. I thought it was a nice touch to the story between Batman and Catwoman instead of them meeting as adults but as teens.

The other part of the story I thought was interesting was Selina’s “friendships” with the group of runaways who live in a warehouse and doing “jobs” for money. She finds the group when she befriend Ojo who teaches her how to scale/climb walls and building. After living on the streets was not working for her, she decides to take up Ojo offer to stay with the group and work with them. She meets a young girl name Rosie, who does not speak because of tragic event that happens to her and her family. It was nice to see how Selina’s personality changes from hard-ass don’t care person to someone who is kind and taking care of someone else that needs her help. This group becomes Selina’s family more than her mother was because they all look out for each other.

Overall, I enjoyed the comic and the only things that I would have like to have seen was more development of the other characters with a little bit of background story and have a trigger warning in the comic so that teens are aware of the subject matter.

Even though this might not be the type of Catwoman story you are looking for and you might have seen some not so good reviews, don’t let those things from stopping you from reading it and make your owe opinion on the story. I hope we get continuation graphic novel to see what other adventures the teenage Selina takes.

Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale is an original story about a young Selina Kyle, the girl who will eventually become the iconic Catwoman, who leaves her turbulent home life for the streets of Gotham. I wanted to like this so much, and I just didn’t.

Following the rather disappointing Mera: Tidebreaker is the sadly equally disappointing Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale. The second entry from DC Ink, DC Comics’ new YA publishing imprint, this story of the girl who would become Catwoman is a fresh take that doesn’t really follow established canon, which is fine. Characters get rebooted and retconned all the time in comics, and I will never argue with trying to bring iconic characters to a new audience by giving them modern, more relatable stories. It’s an interesting look at a younger version of the character that does a fairly good job of establishing how she became the woman you know and love.

There are some excellent themes in Under the Moon, such as the idea of a found family (or pack) – which is a favorite of mine – and the question of “what is right?”, and I love the look at the concept of loneliness. However, the story is full of abuse (on people and animals), self-harm, and violence, just to name a few things. Anyone familiar with the character of Selina Kyle knows that she has led a rough life and should expect any glimpse into her past to be dark; these events are necessary to her growth as a character, but it is virtually impossible to deal with all of those heavy subjects in the brief amount of time given to a graphic novel. If you’re going to introduce them they should be dealt with appropriately and not handwaved or existing just to pile on more trauma. The way some of these issues are dealt with comes across as tone deaf, and it’s irresponsible to do this in a book meant for teenagers.

Under the Moon Catwoman
Art by Isaac Goodheart

It’s fast-paced, as most graphic novels tend to be, but the plot is kind of bizarre and nonsensical while also managing to be contrived and predictable. There are several side-plots that are built up with no resolution, and occasionally things go from Point A to Point B with no logical connection between them. I had to reread sections just to make sure I hadn’t accidentally skipped a page. It’s a stereotypical “badass chick” survival story. There is a diverse set of characters who are frustratingly underdeveloped, where it seems as though their diverseness are their only personality traits (the gay best friend, the character of Asian descent who is good at computers). Even Selina’s characterization is inconsistent.

Bruce Wayne makes an appearance, though why ultra-wealthy Bruce Wayne would be at public school is something that doesn’t really jive with his backstory; still, it’s interesting to see what their relationship would have been like at a younger age.

The art is lovely and flows beautifully. Isaac Goodhart did a fabulous job. Similar to Mera: Tidebreaker, Under the Moon is very monochromatic, colored in mostly shades of blues and blacks that give it an ethereal quality. Considering the title, the color scheme is obviously meant to evoke the feeling and appearance of night and in this matter it succeeds quite well.

I acknowledge that I’m not the target audience, and I can appreciate what DC is trying to do. I hope that when they continue Selina’s story, they flesh out the characters more fully and tighten up the narrative. There is potential to be found.

Considering the excessive swearing and the mature content, I would not recommend this for younger readers, unless you are planning to read it with them and use it as a learning experience.

Catwoman as a teen would be interesting to read - is what I thought and went into this book for. I imagined a YA story about a girl who gets knocked down by the world but still tries to thrive in some way. But holy shirt, this book has a lot of upsetting content for a book aimed at teens. And I really don't say it in the form of 'oh no kids should be kept away from that content' but more like 'what place does this have in the story'? So, Selina is being beaten up at home (a lot) by her mom's abusive boyfriends, and her mother doesn't protect her much; this trend is shown over and over again because apparently we didn't get it the first time around.

She is used to shoplifting to get things she likes, and likes to protect her friends (who are forgettable and just there to build up her character, tbh, like when she saves her gay friend from bullies) and has a soft spot for cats and Bruce Wayne (who, inexplicably, is in <b>public school</b>?). She then adopts one (the cat, not Bruce) and hides it away - you can see where this is going, and honestly using that cliche hurt this book more than it hurt me (and it hurt me a lot). Anyway, she then run away, joins a group of heist-ers (is that what they are called) who are - you guessed it right - about to heist the Wayne manor. The group becomes her family, including the little girl who was separated from her little brother and is clearly traumatized, and whom she develops a soft spot for. I wish I could tell you what the story is like, but I honestly didn't feel like this had one? It was like - Meet Selina the Catgirl Episode 1: We will Traumatize Kids

One thing that was good, though, was the artwork - it was entirely in blue tone, and the linework was quite good. It feels wasted on a plot that was trying too hard to be edgy and emotional.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and DC Ink for an e-arc of Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed learn a little bit of back story on Selina Kyle and how she became Catwoman. The author really showed how Selina helped others before she helped herself and how she was treated as a young adult. I enjoyed the book, but I wish we would have found out what Catwoman was up to next after leaving Rosie.

I am really loving these early tales of "superheros". I, especially, liked this one. There is something about Selina's story that has always tugged at heartstrings. She's a tough woman who can match angst with Batman.
This version was just slightly less angsty. The emotions felt real and I liked that she was coming into who she was without any "supernatural" elements.
This is a very clean version of a Batman universe graphic novel which means it is appropriate for most readers. The animation is fairly monochromatic but still engaging.
I think my only complaint is that I really wished there was more.

Under the Moon was a really good graphic novel. I liked how it showed new sides of Gotham, and told a story readers might not have heard before. It was gritty, intense at times and yet did a wonderful job showing how a girl became a well known character in the DC universe. If you are a fan of this character then you will definitely want to read this graphic novel.

This book was amazing, the characters were diverse. I really loved Salina! I thought she was amazing! It talked about mental illness and abuse and I think it was handled well. I thought the art and writing styles complimented each other. I couldn't put this book down I had to know what happens next.

I'm not familiar with Catwoman's origin story, so I'm not sure how this one compares, but Myracle's version was dark. Selina's mother dates abusive men, although date might not be the right word. They cycle through Selina's life, all of them assholes, until one stays longer than the rest. He might be worse than the others combined, yet Selina's mother defends him and doesn't do anything to protect her daughter.

I hate parents like this. If you want to let someone abuse you, that's horrible, but you should never let someone verbally or physically assault your child. Selina is only fourteen, but she was forced to grow up a long time ago. She had to in order to survive. Despite her living situation, she's not a different person at school. She has "friends" that we see for a page or two, but she was able to dismiss them without much thought. She barely communicated with them, and their roles were basically nonexistent.

I really dislike it when animal cruelty is used to further a character's story. They are completely innocent, and often used against their will for things they don't understand. Selina finds a cat, a cat she's probably not supposed to have since she keeps it a secret, but her newfound happiness is quickly discovered and removed. Her mother could have saved them both, but she allows her abuser to lock her daughter away and endanger the cat. Eventually, her mom lets her out of the closet, but only in time to watch her beloved friend die horribly. Why didn't her mom save the kitten first? It would have been a simple thing to do, and her daughter wasn't in immediate danger. She shouldn't have allowed either thing to happen, but she was shitty parent.

Then there's everything that happened with Bruce Wayne and Ojo. It was hard to remember Selina was fourteen based on what she was doing with her life, but then she would do something completely childish to remind me. Bruce offered his home to her, and she never even considered what that would mean for her future -- a place to stay, food, friendship. Instead, she's sleeping on the streets and "showering" in fancy stores (also stealing clothes to avoid the issue of doing laundry). She steals and lies to survive, but it could have been avoided.

Ojo was a random guy she met on the streets, but he promised to teach her how to parkour. Eventually, he confides in her and we meet Yang and Briar Rose. It all seemed to happen really fast, and there were too many variables that didn't make sense. When Selina didn't show up for school (we're talking weeks, maybe a month), her parents would have been notified, or the police called. That likely would have led to an investigation, if she was labeled a missing person, or someone discovered the abusive nature of her home. Selina wouldn't have been able to waltz back into her school without consequences, and Bruce wouldn't have been so nonchalant about her disappearance. His concern seemed to be genuine, and they were friends once, so his behavior felt uncharacteristic.

Everything that happened with Rosie (previously Briar Rose) was weird. How the author chose to leave things was also weird. Selina, someone that's been trusting her instincts from the start, knew there was something fishy, but chooses to ignore it because a nine-year-old knows how to make her own decisions. The "home" had fliers inviting lost children to stay... c'mon, that's unsettling. I doubt it's legal, safe, or anything other than shady.

Honestly, I'm feeling pretty blah about this one. I enjoyed Myracle's Shine a few years ago, which is why her name was familiar, and I've always been curious about Catwoman, but a lot of things rubbed me the wrong way. There was no resolution with her mother, the abusive Neanderthal, the school, Ojo or Yang, and her treatment of Bruce was cold. He only wanted to help her, and Rosie when he had the chance, but Selina wanted nothing and no one. That's her prerogative, I guess, but I don't feel like there were many positives to take away from this story.

Originally posted at Do You Dog-ear? on May 7, 2019.

Non-spoiler review -- full review linked:

This past year DC (DC Ink) has released (or will release) a series of teenager-themed graphic novels for your favorite characters. The first to be released was Mera, a wonderful story about a teenage Mera: Tidebreaker, how she met Arthur, and how she discovered her destiny. In the same token, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Raven from Teen Titans will have graphic novels out sometime this year. Today we will be talking about Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale by Lauren Myracle and illustrations by Isaac Goodhart. Teenage Catwoman is rough around the edges, but who isn't? It's a lovely story for anyone of any age to jump right into to get to the background of who Catgirl is. (Yes, her name is Catgirl in this, not Catwoman.)

DC Ink's version of YA anti-heroes is wonderful. Most of these "anti-heroes" tier on the edge of superheroes and villains (when they want). If you don't know the lore behind them, it is nice to have a novel such as this that explains it in an understanding way. Many of these superheroes and villains don't have the best upbringing in the comics, so it's appreciated to see a YA novel like this. I would recommend this to anyone who loves Catgirl (Catwoman). One of my favorite anti-heroes and I couldn't wait to see what they did with her teenage version. It may not be your cup of tea (if you don't like YA versions of your favorite comic icons) but we thoroughly enjoyed it!