Review by Ian Keogh

One Bad Day is a series of hardcovers spotlighting the villains of Gotham and involving the idea of a single bad day, inspired by Alan Moore’s starting premise for The Killing Joke.

As with some of the companion graphic novels, the One Bad Day title doesn’t necessarily refer to the headline act, and here G. Willow Wilson keeps matters far smaller than the bombast and pyrotechnics supplied by others. At her simplest Catwoman is an extremely proficient burglar, and the required skills are those Wilson highlights. We see identification, precision, and adaptability, although that’s only half the story.

Elegance is a quality exemplifying Jamie McKelvie’s art, making him a fine match for the locations Selina Kyle infiltrates. He’s a deceptive artist as his backgrounds are relatively simple, but he spends so much time defining the cast and what they’re wearing along with the occasional emphatic decorative touch, this may need pointed out. It also helps that he colours his own pages and is always mindful of light sources.

This is extremely satisfying, not just a good story, but a great one. It’s tightly plotted with a very human core, it introduces an intriguing new character, perpetuates mystery, features solidly logical interaction between Batman and Catwoman, and raises interesting questions about value. Is it a bad day? In one sense certainly, but in another an extremely valuable one. If you’re only interested in sampling a single story in this series, this is the one.

All One Bad Day hardbacks are available with a standard cover, while the smaller comic versions feature four rarer alternatives, and despite being self-contained they’re all numbered as #1. The entire run is also available together as a boxed set packaged with a hardcover edition of The Killing Joke.