Catwoman (Volume 4) #17 is an issue of the series Catwoman (Volume 4) with a cover date of April, 2013. It was published on February 20, 2013.
Synopsis for "Rat Tales"
While out one night, Catwoman spots a gang of kids called the Rat-Tails, who are obviously waiting around in a playground to make a drug deal. Sure enough, a man in a black suit arrives and buys 20 dollars worth. However, he turns on them, demanding his employer's cut of their unsanctioned deals in the Badlands. The young boys call for help from an older member, and Selina decides that she needs to get involved as Catwoman.
Before long, she knocks the kids over and ties the man in the suit to a post. She condemns him for using kids to deal drugs, and demands to know who his employer is. All the man will say is that there was a big fat guy in a tux, and now there's a skinny man in a suit. Turning to the younger boys, she promises she won't bust them if they will lend her their eyes on the streets. The older boys she sends running, warning that if she sees them using kids again, she'll come for them, as she pockets the drugs.
During the day, Selina and Gwen Altamont do some reconnaissance at the Gotham Museum for a job stealing paintings. Since her last encounter with the Black Diamond, Selina has gone off gems for a while. They determine that Selina could remove one full canvas from its frame in a minute, which makes it a 20 minute job. Back at her penthouse, they do a practice run on a flea-market painting, and Selina pulls it off in less than a minute. Gwen intends to be waiting outside in the van during the job, timing her. In the meantime, Selina asks Gwen if she's ever seen the logo on packaging for the drugs she confiscated - a rat. Gwen claims to know nothing.
Gotham City Police Headquarters is overcrowded with crooks, and Det. Carlos Alvarez is uncomfortable with his new partner Tammy's tough-on-crime attitude, in that it is tough on crime, but light on justice. They are still working the B&E that Carlos was called to recently, having found three sets of prints on a stolen idol they recovered. One set of prints belongs to the doorman who tried to fence it, one belongs to Gwen Altamont, and the third is incomplete, but the identification points have brought up no results. When Carlos discovers that it was two women who pulled the job, and one of them was Gwen, he realizes that that he saw them, and that the unidentified other woman was Catwoman. This time, he won't let her get away from him.
Later, Selina visits the Foundling Hospital, hoping to become a mentor to the young boy named Milo who was a victim of the Joker's attack on her. One of the nuns there suggests that Milo has done something very bad, and lies, referring to his claims of having met a cat woman who gave him a stuffed teddy - which he did, in fact.
That night, Selina begins robbing the museum of its paintings, but can't seem to get Gwen on her phone. Meanwhile, a hopelessly inept thug is trying to pull a job in the museum at the same time, but his ineptitude poses a risk to Catwoman. She recognizes his suit as the same one worn by the drug pusher she saw earlier, and questions him about his boss, too. Sadly, he is too low in the chain of command to know anything, and she takes pity on him, suggesting that they could make a getaway together, since her ride is missing. She is disappointed, though, when she sees that his getaway vehicle is a Vespa. Sadly, she lets him go on his own, and finds herself stranded on the roof with several stolen paintings in rolls.
Gwen, meanwhile, has been brought in for questioning by Carlos and Tammy, but she has someone with a lot of power protecting her, and all it takes is one very short phone call to get her out. Alvarez' plan to make her give up Catwoman doesn't seem to be working.
Elsewhere, the inept thug's employer is pleased with the haul from the robbery; a set of bird-shaped cane-tops. When he hears that a cat woman was also at the museum that night, he is given pause.
Appearing in "Rat Tales"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Gwen Altamont
- Gotham City Police Department
- Carlos Alvarez
- Tammy Keyes (First appearance)
- Milo
Antagonists:
- Rat-Tails
- Rat-Tail (First appearance)
- Volt (First appearance)
- Emperor Penguin (Behind the scenes)
- Penguin (Mentioned only)
- Fishnet (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Sister Darcy
- Sister Sarah
- Sammy
- Batman (Mentioned only)
- Trip Winter (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Gotham City
- Gotham Museum
- Gotham City Police Headquarters
- Foundling Hospital
Items:
- Drugs
- Black Diamond (Mentioned only)
Vehicles:
Notes
- The Catwoman story in Young Romance takes place after this issue.
Trivia
- Carlos and Tammy's office has a baseball signed by Alex Rodriguez.