Catwoman #9

This volume is issue #9 of the New 52 Catwoman series, the single-issue story "Mirrors Come in All Sizes" from the "Night of the Owls" crossover, written by Judd Winick and drawn by Guillem March. The story opens in 1665 Gotham: the Court of Owls sends its Talon assassin Ephraim Newhouse to eliminate targets obstructing its expansion. Out of a sense of honor, he gives his prey one chance at a fair fight, but is spotted by English soldiers as a result, is forced to kill ten men, and loses a dagger he carries. The Court strips him of his five sacred blades and uniform for "dereliction of duty" and seals him away in slumber. Returning to the present, Catwoman Selina Kyle and her partner Spark set their sights on the Penguin, Oswald Cobblepot, planning to steal a jeweled dagger bearing an owl crest from his collection—the "final piece of the puzzle" alongside the four daggers they previously obtained. Meanwhile, the Court of Owls fully awakens its Talon army and assigns Newhouse to assassinate the Penguin. Just as the heist is about to be carried out, the Talon bursts through the door and slaughters the Penguin's bodyguards. Selina could slip away, but instead leaps down through the skylight and stops the assassin with her whip, fighting alongside Spark against an unkillable opponent. In the struggle, she realizes Newhouse's true obsession is not the mission but the five blades that represent his honor; she negotiates with the assassin, offering to return the other four. The story closes with a shot from the Penguin's gun, and Selina preserves the last dignity of this "monster," laying his body alongside the blades by the Bat-Signal. The whole issue begins with a planned theft and arrives at the theme of "how monsters are made," showing Catwoman's unique position between thief and vigilante within the ensemble crossover of the Bat-family.