Catwoman #63 (1998)

Catwoman is in the lion enclosure at the fairgrounds, searching for a microchip. She wards off the lion with pastrami and rummages through the straw until she finds the microchip in a little plastic bag. She takes the tunnel of love, thinking about how weird this job was. Why hire her to move an item from one end of the fairgrounds to another? She suspects a setup, but she checked with all her usual sources, and Zee said it was on the level. She jumps off the boat at the Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn exhibit where she is supposed to meet her contact, but no one's there. She calls out and hears two clckt in response as banana cream pies are launched from springed platforms at her. They hit her in the hips as Ann Boleyn is decapitated and she hears maniacal laughter. Three henchmen appear, and Catwoman fights them off as the executioner in the Ann Boleyn exhibit pulls off his mask to reveal the Joker. The Joker tells her the pies that hit her were made with a radioactive chemical called "tagyurit." It doesn't wash off, and now that she's been hit, he can find her anywhere. Catwoman asks what the Joker is doing out of Arkham, and he tells her he's playing Cupid for her and her boyfriend. Catwoman thinks it doesn't make sense, but the Joker rarely does. She runs, but the Joker is unconcerned--if she didn't, who would they chase? His henchmen open-fire on her as she swims away. Catwoman pulls herself out of the water and runs through the fairgrounds. She doesn't notice the missile following her until it's almost too late. She dodges right before it hits the ground and explodes, but another missile is already incoming. Catwoman steals a motorcycle and races off. The missile explodes behind her as she drives the motorcycle over the fence, out of the fairgrounds. The Joker and his henchmen chase after her in his car. Catwoman doesn't understand why he didn't kill her in the tunnel of love when she wasn't expecting it rather than in a public street, but she realizes he's not trying to kill her... he's trying to kill everyone around her. The more people he kills while he's chasing her, the funnier he'll find it. Catwoman doesn't have a boyfriend, she doesn't believe his radioactive chemical story, and she doesn't play these kinds of games. She races ahead, evading the Joker and his goons, but she doesn't get far before the street explodes underneath her. She realizes he does know where she's going. She knows all she's doing is endangering civilian lives by trying to evade him on the streets. She dives into Gotham Bay. Commissioner Gordon flings that day's edition of the Gotham Globe onto the table with its headline "Catwoman Blows Up Bridge." He says this is just what they need after the Joker's escape. The whole city will be panicking by noon. Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya bicker over whether this is really Catwoman's M.O., and Montoya wonders if Catwoman and the Joker could be working together. Gordon doesn't know, but he knows who to ask. Catwoman breaks into a hotel. She now believes the tracking chemicals are real, but she does wonder whether the bay water washed them off in spite of his claims. She changes out of her costume as the Joker and his henchmen notice she's been staying in one place for a while. One of the henchmen comments that it's a good thing the Joker stole the chemical before the warden at Arkham Asylum began to use it on the inmates like he'd planned. The Joker shoots one of his men for suggesting they use another missile on Catwoman. He's bored of missiles. He asks Skippy what else they have. Catwoman wakes up when the fire alarm goes off in her borrowed hotel room. The entire building is on fire, and she quickly pulls on her Catwoman costume and jumps out. Catwoman watches the blaze from a safe distance and thinks, "Thanks to the Joker, you get anywhere near me, and you can kiss your life goodbye."