Obscure Batman villain Red Claw makes her first appearance in DC Comics

The final page of this week’s CatwomanFans were surprised by a surprise Batman: The Animated SeriesRed Claw first appears in DC Comics continuity.

What, you don’t remember Red Claw, the vaguely Eastern European terrorist leader, voiced through a delightfully sneering G.I. JoeA pre-Star Trek VoyagerKate Mulgrew In three episodes, she was there!

Ok, perhaps not EverywhereFans Batman: The Animated SeriesRemember Red Claw. But an imperiously severe woman voiced by Kate Mulgrew who kicks Batman’s butt wearing a bright red off-the-shoulder bodysuit and a perfect winged eye? We remember her. Very well.

Were there other things happening within the pages of comics we love? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Monday Funnies, Polygon’s weekly list of the books that our comics editor enjoyed this past week. It’s part society pages of superhero lives, part reading recommendations, part “look at this cool art.” There may be some spoilers. You may not have enough context. However, there will be many great comics. You can also read the previous edition if you haven’t seen it yet.

Image: Tini Howard, Bengal/DC Comics

It wasn’t just Red Claw who upgraded my feelings for writer Tini Howard’s Catwoman from like to love — the whole thing is an interstitial arc where Harley Quinn and Catwoman go on a quick weekend away to ignore their problems, get attacked by assassins, and join the roller derby.

There are a lot of great moments, loud and soft, in the issue, but Harley’s InstantTurn your heel to get absolutely DisposeThis man, which she assumes to be a creep trying to scare women on the roads alone, might be her favorite. Bengal Artist draws the car chase.

Image: Kieron Gillen, Esad Ribić/Marvel Comcis

We kind of had an idea why the Eternals would have beef with the X-Men leading into Marvel’s summer crossover — Eternals exist to protect the human species, and Mutants are preparing to become Earth’s dominant hominid. But this week’s issue makes it explicitly clear: Mutants are the results of Deviants gettin’ down with the ancient human population. The Eternals have all the necessary tools to eliminate Deviant characteristics.

Image: Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo/DC Comics

This quick and understated tribute to the late George Pérez (and his New Teen Titans collaborator Marv Wolfman) in this week’s Nightwing was probably drawn several months ago, but in the wake of Pérez’s death, it rings particularly sweetly.

Image Credit: Kyle Starks/ArtyomToplin/DC Comics

It was a deep dive. This Place I HateI was expecting to see a Kyle Starks-type comedy. Instead, it turned out to be a straight horror story, which intrigues me more.