Issue Three

Characterisation

1. There are two situations where cats are relevant to the plot. What are these situations? Individually, what is the purpose of each scene? How are they linked?
2. Holly (the young sex worker) has an unusual speech pattern. How is it presented and why? What does this suggest about her personality?
3. Selina lives with a child prostitute & cares for her and her many stray cats. Is she a bad person? Justify your position.
4. Who is the most important character in this chapter? Justify your position.

Plot

1. Page 64 is presented as though it were a montage of flashback events – how is this done, and why?
2. What are the effects of splitting the story between the three narratives of Batman, Selina & Gordon?
3. What happens to Gordon in this chapter? Identify the impact of three major moments.
4. If you were to translate this chapter to film, how would you do it? What (if anything) would you change, or focus on?

Techniques

1. What are the most powerful techniques Miller and Mazzucchelli employ in this chapter?
2. Why do you think these techniques were utilised?
3. Choose two techniques: what specific information do they communicate to the reader, how and why?

The Superintendent

1. What is a superintendent, and what is their role (in this context)?
2. What impression are we meant to have about the person who lived here?
3. How is this impression created?

Page Analysis: Pages 67

1. In what way is this page about changing relationships?
2. Each setting has its unique atmosphere. In what ways are the red light and the rain contextually important?
3. Could Selina’s statement be considered a metaphor for the whole page, or even the whole book?

Page Analysis: Pages 70 & 71

1. Compare pages 70 and 71. Why are these two pages facing each other? (hint: Taoist iconography)
2. What information is the reader meant to glean from these opposing images?

Note: These pages are very specifically set next to one another in the graphic novel.