Chris Dee's Blog: Chris Dee's Cat-Tales Blog, page 13

Caper

Back in Trophies, a flashback revealed that in the early days of Harvey Dent’s career as Two-Face, he and Selina got together for the occasional movie night of Chinese takeout and double features.  Not surprisingly, her taste ran to heist films.

Catwoman is, after all, a thief, and not the small-time variety.  She is the best cat burglar in the world, she chooses among the most valuable prizes in the world, and it is her choice that makes a prize Cat-worthy.  As one who glamorizes the unsavory business of taking other people’s property, she would naturally favor the movies that do the same.  As one who exemplifies the fun of being bad and getting away with it, she would be drawn to those films that get that elusive dynamic so well they are able to theft as entertainment.

The heist movie was a staple long before comic book superheroes broke into the mainstream, so consider what her delight will be when she discovers Caper a new webseries from Felicia Day’s Geek & Sundry.

Set to be released as a part of the YouTube channel’s slate this year, it’s hard to believe it’s not tailor-made to catch the cat-lady’s eye and win a Catwoman endorsement:  Superheroes turned thieves.

Another heist offering in the works is a feature film based on Sony’s Sly Cooper.  Confession time, I am not familiar with the game, but Sly is evidently an orphaned raccoon thief.

“In the film, Sly learns of his birth family’s secret legacy; that he comes from a long line of talented and international thieves. Endowed with this

knowledge, Sly and his friends are catapulted into a global adventure as they race to reassemble pieces of an ancient book holding The Cooper Clan’s family secrets before it can fall into the hands of Clockwerk – an evil Russian metallic owl bent on ending the Cooper family line. From romantic Parisian

backdrops to the lush mountains of China, gritty film noir meets bright, colorful graphic novels in this origin story of the world’s greatest

thief-turned-hero.”

While it looks like kiddie fare, and while Selina is less fond of “the world’s greatest thief-turned-hero” notion compared to the reverse in Caper, it looks like a fun romp.

In other bad girl news, the final installment of Cat-Tales: NMK Inc. is now before us.  Lex Luthor and Poison Ivy sniffing around Bruce & Selina all of a sudden?  Sure, they’re attractive and all, but there has to be something else going on…

Cat-Tales: Secrets now an Audio Book

The Book 2 Audio Book is here:

Cat-Tales: Secrets read by Caroline Sharp

Harry Houdini’s “Tome of Secrets” is being auctioned by the Wayne Foundation.  Zatanna’s come to town especially to buy it.  Riddler wants it too.

And oh yeah, it’s cursed.  This will be fun.

It’s Cat-Tales: Secrets read by Caroline Sharp.

Cat-Tales Scenes

One of those facts of life certain creators would rather die than admit: some stories, some characters and some situations have more juice than others.  Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered and all of a sudden there are 78 proposals for Data-centric stories.  For Lt. Yar?  3.

In Cat-Tales, I’ve noticed the two stories that generate the most artwork and artwork requests are Not My Kink and The Gotham Rogues.  They’re the source for the chessmen and catarang that just went on display in the Virtual Visitor Center, as well as inspiring multiple images in the new Scenes gallery.

Yes, we have a Scenes gallery now, under Character Portraits, and let me explain why.  Consider Georgina Barnes, a cover that was introduced for Selina to infiltrate a few Wall Street firms in Not My Kink.  She resurrected the cover as part of the con in Electron 29 and maybe that’s what gave Bruce the idea to create Gina O’Malley in The Gotham Rogues.  Gina is a grifter Matches Malone was searching for who only becomes Georgina to get into places like BankLink and CashPulse.  Bruce said he only needed a few pictures for Matches to circulate as an excuse to get close to the Westies, but I think we all suspected the lady herself would be making an appearance before long at the Downpatrick Carpentry Club.

That’s a complicated history to sum up in a traditional portrait, and so — new gallery.  In addition to Matches and Gina, we have another artifact from The Gotham Rogues – that famous chess board again, this time with Eddie waiting…

Riddler waiting for Batman in The Gothamm Rogues

Did I mention that in addition to certain stories that keep turning up in the artwork, certain characters do as well.  You’d think it would be Harley or Poison Ivy but nope, it’s our anagraming Mr. Nigma.  Two wallpapers he appears in – scenes from Not My Kink (again) and The Gotham Post – are also linked in the new gallery.  As is… oh dear.

Zatanna and Riddler vying for Houdini’s Tome of Secrets in Cat-Tales: Secrets

Those Wonderful Toys

A chess set fashioned after the Gotham Rogues, undoubtedly a creation of The Z.  Riddler used it as a snappy little prop/conversation starter for a sitdown with Batman in (fittingly) The Gotham Rogues when Joker, Poison Ivy, Clayface and the others were his weapons in the war with the Gotham mobs.

The Chessboard from The Gotham Rogues now on display in the Cat-Tales Virtual Visitor Center

“Interesting choice. Most people would have made him the king.”

“Most people are idiots,” Riddler observed. “King is not only the weakest piece on the board, he’s the most predictable. Moves one square, can’t put himself in check, and because he’s so gosh-darn important, he doesn’t move at all until there are no options left. Bishop, on the other hand, can wreak havoc just by existing. Move the pawn sitting in front of him, it’s a whole new game board.”

Behind Batman’s mask, Bruce looked up sharply. It was a shockingly brilliant analysis.

“Diagonal moves,” Batman noted. “Psychologically more erratic, amidst the squares and straight lines of the board.”

Eddie shook his head, dissatisfied with the idea.

“No, to play that game, the most psychologically irrational movement is the knight’s… I didn’t want to do that. You were going to see it. That seemed… needlessly rude.”

Too tantalizing to retire, it showed up again in Inside an Enigma, and now it’s back again – this time on display in the Cat-Tales Virtual Visitor Center in Second Life.

Also on display, a Catarang.  In Not My Kink Catwoman takes over Batman’s patrol while Bruce recovers from an injury (in Armchair Detective).  By Week 5, she’s earned a little gift.

I never realized he made the first batarangs himself. I’ve used Kittlemeier from day one for my things. But this, he made it himself.

Such a sweet scene. Of course the deceptively idyllic moment couldn’t last, but that year the chapter that was “a short and sweet taste of life in the Batcave” made a Christmas present for readers who hadn’t had a holiday tale for quite some time.

Both items are on display for a limited time Virtual Visitor Center.

NMK Ink. Part 4: Mercy

NMK Ink. Part 4: Mercy

New chapter day!  It would never occur to Lex Luthor that his being in Gotham affects someone other than him. NMK Inc Part 4: Mercy

Robin: Unfinished Business – A New Cat-Tales Spinoff Begins

I always liked it when Stephen Colbert introduces a guest or reports on a former guest’s latest with the formula ‘award-winning actor and friend of the show…’

Today I actually get to use that, because if there is a Friends of the Tales distinction, one of those who has earned it is certainly the Poser artist known as Thundering Monkey.  The 3-D/CGI gallery is filled with his creations, which display a real sense for the psychological moment that is the essence of visual storytelling.  But can he do it with words?  Turns out, the answer is yes.  Today, a new spinoff begins

With both Batman and Nightwing out of town the timing couldn’t be worse…

When an overzealous Civil Rights Attorney frees Stephanie Browns killer from Blackgate, it’s only a matter of time before he kills again. Now it’s up to Robin and Batgirl to solve a string of murders that have baffled the FBI for years, and put him away for good. It’s time to settle some Unfinished Business.

Set after Cat-Tales: Polishing Silver

Ask Catwoman; Ask Chris

It’s readers and fans that make Cat-Tales what it is. I love hearing from them in the forums and social media, and occasionally even Selina gets involved through her Ask Catwoman feature.

Catwoman’s Costume: The First Fitting in Kittlemeier’s Back Room

Most recently, a young reader asked about her costume, her flexibility and training. Catching her in a good mood (eh, possibly creating the good mood by mentioning their own cats), Selina was moved to reply here: Ask Catwoman #15: About her costume, training and origin.

Quite a lot of her answer is familiar to long term readers from her origin story: Cattitude so to give those fans a little something extra too, we made up some new artwork: Catwoman’s Costume – The First Fitting.

And finally, there have been a few questions for me over on Tumblr.  Check out The Continuity Fallacy and if you haven’t heard the Cat-Tales origin story before now (you have), I’ve gone and told that again right here.

Welcome Fathers of the Dark Knight

Cat-Tales is pleased to welcome Fathers of the Dark Knight and the photography of Roberto Williams to the Cat-Tales gallery.  Now featured in our Cosplay section, you’ll see a spectacular collection of photos from the team of the ambitious 2014 New York production that made its costumed debut at NYCC last month.

Gyomara Phillips as Catwoman, Fathers of the Dark Knight. Photo by Roberto Williams

Fathers of the Dark Knight will feature the fictional heroes & villains, obviously, but also the real-life men who created them, seeking to correct the failure of history to recognize the contributions two men, writer Bill Finger and artist Jerry Robinson, made to the world of Bob Kane’s Batman. The audience will get to watch the creative process of Kane, Finger and Robinson brought to life in two different ways: On one side of the stage, we see the three men in Kane’s apartment, gradually bringing Gotham and its colorful cast of characters into being. On the other side, those very characters will fight the never-ending battle of good versus evil, as Batman takes on villains such as Joker, Riddler and Catwoman with the help of heroes like Batgirl and Robin.

Hey, the Bat Signal is Lit!

Yeah, it took me to Chapter 2 of Cat-Tales #68 to figure out I could FLASH A BAT SIGNAL to announce a new chapter.

It’s been a long time coming, but the Bat Signal is finally lit in Cat-Tales with Commissioner James Gordon standing there beside it.  It’s a big deal to Batman and Jim as much as it is to us readers, but unlike us – well unlike me who went and made a special graphic just to celebrate – they’re not going to spend a lot of time on it.  Expect a small gift and a manly exchange of grunts, then on to the business of the night.  More than a few plot points were dropped in the last chapter, one was bald.

For those who’ve forgotten, Lex Luthor was President when Cat-Tales began, just as he was in DC Comics.  His resignation as reported in Strange Bedfellows and credible papers like Gotham Times didn’t quite jibe with the Gotham Post’s more sensational coverage.  What both accounts agree on, however, is that after Luthor was elected, he turned LexCorp over to Talia Head (aka Talia al Ghul) to run in his stead, which ended in the end of LexCorp.

You can’t keep a Luthor down for long, however, and when magic failed him in String Theory he set about building his empire – both financial and criminal – the old-fashioned way.  The way he’d done it before.  The way that worked the first time.

In War of the Poses, he was plotting against the League again with all the ingenuity and scientific knowledge we’ve come to expect from a Luthor, but he was reduced to using chartered planes, rented limos, and a moth-balled government installation as a base rather than his former Lex-Branded Everything.  By Comedy of Errors, Superman reported that Luthor’s resources were back to  pre-Headache levels, lacking only the trappings.  There was no longer a corporate HQ that was the iconic silhouette on the Metropolis skyline.  There wasn’t a fleet of LexCorp-manufactured jets, and so on.  Clark said it like it was unimportant, as the lack of ‘trappings’ would be to him.  To Lex, however, we knew he would not be content until he has his status back as well as the money that buys it and the power it represents.

Which brings us to NMK Inc.  Chapter 2: Positive Carry

Batman is my Copilot