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Selina Kyle can't die. Well, she can, but thanks to the god Bastet and a big rock from outer space, she can come back to life nine times. She's been burning through those lives at a rate of knots by taking on missions that would be too dangerous for her to tackle in normal circumstances. In the latest issue of Catwoman she decides to repay a debt to Amanda Waller by joining the Suicide Squad.
That's an irresistible hook for a story, but the issue has another twist up its sleeve. More after this cover by David Nakayama and a honking great spoiler warning...
Spoilers for Catwoman #62
The issue begins in the past with Selina Kyle attempting to steal a cache of weapons from Amanda Waller. She gets caught, but the two strike a bargain - Waller will let her go this time on the promise that, one day, Selina takes on a mission for her. A bold choice taking Selina on her word there, but sure, whatever.
Back in the present and it's time for Selina to settle that bill. She agrees to be a part of Task Force X for one mission only and joins forces with Ravager, Sportsmaster ("just an athlete with a tennis racket to grind"), Black Alice, Clock King, and Jeanette. Their assignment: steal an ancient artifact, the Royal Beard of Hatshepsut, from its current owner who is, whoops, Black Adam. It's not long, however, before he cottons onto the larceny happening under his nose and does battle with the Suicide Squad.
Briefly managing to escape their enemy Catwoman and Black Alice discover an altar to Bastet, at which point Selina is transported to another plane of existence and meets with the goddess. Bastet confirms that Selina's gift of resurrection comes from her and states that some of her fellow gods (Sobek, Hut, Ankh, Zoser, Aten, and Mau, who all appear in the form of cats) wish to offer her another mysterious gift - more on that at the end of the issue...
Catwoman is transported back to the fight with Black Adam but manages to outsmart him and teleport out of danger. Back at base, Selina confronts Amanda Waller, who notes that the other members of the Squad have been placed back in their cells until the next mission as it simply wasn't worth executing them. Catwoman is a different story... Waller flicks a switch and detonates the bomb that has been implanted on Selina, killing her instantly.
Now, that would be quite a big deal in any other run, but as previously mentioned, Selina has nine lives now. She immediately resurrects in front of a shocked Waller and, before she can be killed again, she remembers the gods' advice and shouts SHAZAM!, vanishing in front of Waller's eyes. The final panel of the issue is Selina back on the astral plane surrounded by cats once more.
Clearly this is the gift that the gods gave her earlier in the issue, though it's ambiguous just how permanent these new abilities are. We've got to assume that this is likely a one-time deal, otherwise Selina Kyle just got quite the power-boost! We'll find out for sure, one way or another, in the next issue when Catwoman heads beneath the ocean waves for her next mission impossible.
Catwoman #62 by writer Tini Howard, artist Carmine Di Giandomenico, colorist Veronica Gandini, and letterer Lucas Gattoni is out now from DC.
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