Chris Dee's Blog: Chris Dee's Cat-Tales Blog, page 21

Spotlight – World’s Finest: Red Cape, Big City

This one tops a lot of Favorite lists, especially the Favorite Comedies.

And why not?  The back story involves the Roxy-Ivy catfight from a previous tale – a catfight that took place in the middle of the Iceberg Lounge, in front of TV cameras – and not surprisingly became the #1 download on Kazaa, and the editing project for hundreds of teenage boys whose efforts went on to set download records of their own.

The Roxy-Ivy Catfight from An Iceberg Tale

As the star of this humiliating internet sensation, Poison Ivy is less than thrilled.  Her efforts to fix the situation coincide with Clark Kent’s visit to Gotham to finalize a publishing deal.  Along with Lois.  And oh yes, he really thinks it’s time Bruce and Selina tie the knot.

Add in Miriam Nash, practicing witch and proprietor of the finest covert magick shop north of New Orleans, an underworld goddess with two faces, and a city full of gargoyles who could really do without Batman’s grapnel slicing into their tender parts every time he swings from building to building…

“Goodnight, Kitten.”

“Goodnight, my Dark…”

Something was wrong.  I felt a cold shiver.  I didn’t know what at first.  Something was just… wrong.  I thought of Azrael for some reason, the Imposter, in that cowl, pretending he was Batman.  It was that same sick feeling, a crazy kind of panic sparking deep beneath the surface, ready to erupt any second but held in check for the moment by the cold shiver getting colder by the minute.

My fingers were so cold… against the warmth of Bruce’s chest… and then the realization came, right underneath those cold fingertips, I knew what was wrong.

“When did these heal?” I whispered.  “Bruce, the scars on your chest…”  Four parallel scratches. Mine.  They’ve been there for years.  Now suddenly—

I’ve never been afraid of him.  Not of Batman and certainly not of Bruce.  But at that moment, I couldn’t even know if this was Bruce.  He got out of bed in icy silence, walked into the bathroom and turned on the light.  I only saw a bit of color reflected in the mirror, flesh tone, blur of movement, more flesh tone.  Then he came back.  With the additional light from the bathroom I could see at once, the scars were all gone.  His chest, legs, back… all completely unscathed.

Oh yeah, did I mention the magick runestone?  I’d say we’ve got us the makin’s.

You can read World’s Finest: Red Cape, Big City online on the Cat-Tales website or download it to go as an ebook or in high-quality pdf for printing.

Mr. Wayne, A word in your ear

A few chapters back, in Wayne Rises, Chapter 3. Bruce committed, nay perpetrated the only proposal since 1813 to have been compared unfavorably to Mr. Darcy’s end of Book 1 declaration to Elizabeth Bennet.  (Darcy was proud, tactless and insulting, but he did manage to actually word it as a question and he didn’t mention Ra’s al Ghul.)

Bruce, I’m just saying, this approach… would have worked better.

Black Friday Protocol

Comic book fans know Batman has a plan for everything – which is lucky because Christmas Shopping in Gotham is not something to be undertaken lightly, by amateurs or without a plan.

This idea began in the Cat-Tales forum several years ago.  Full text of the original protocol and a full size graphic is now in the gallery.  Enjoy.

Thanksgiving at the Catitat

In the earliest Cat-Tales, it was established that much of Catwoman’s activities funded a Big Cats preserve called the Catitat.  We met her favorite, the ocelot Nirvana in CT#2: Normal, but it wasn’t until this week’s featured tale Polishing Silver, that we got such a detailed look at the preserve and its residents.  Much of Selina’s Catitat, her cabin there, her ocelot, tiger and caracals are based on the Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida, whose residents are featured here enjoying some Thanksgiving turkeys.

Spotlight: Polishing Silver

One is pleased to usher in Alfred Pennyworth week.  All week long, I’ll be spotlighting elements from Polishing Silver: The Journal of Alfred Pennyworth

Adopting Alfred’s addictively understated voice to tell an entire story from his unique, deeply personal point of view was probably the most challenging fun I’ve had writing the Tales.  He has such amazing insights into all of the Bat Family, and he can offer up details of their lives and his own that we can credibly learn in no other way.  He is simply a wonderful mind to get inside.

Excerpt:

A short while ago, the master’s partnership with Superman obliged him to travel to a nether dimension called Apokolips.  They were victorious in so far as defeating that realm’s overlord, Darkseid—due in large part to the master’s own strategy and resolve.  One could not help but feel proud of the accomplishment.  Neither could one help noticing that the aura of that vile place had permeated the master’s costume.  In the end, it had to be burned.

One naturally did one’s best to launder the garment before taking so drastic a step.  In those few days before we determined the entire costume did, in fact, have to be replaced, the revolting stench, best likened to rotting eggs and gasoline, congealed in the close air of the costume vault.  I have been battling it ever since.

Unlike the master’s decisive routing of Darkseid, my own fight against the lingering stink of his realm has been a prolonged war of attrition.  Tonight’s careful sniff did reveal a faint hint of the foul smell returning where the cape had hung.  I went at once to the chemistry lab and poured a few tablespoons of a particular clear liquid into a small flat petri dish.  I returned this to the costume vault to evaporate.  By morning, no trace of the odor will remain…

Polishing Silver goes ‘downstairs’ at Wayne Manor to first establish the routine of the man running Batman’s house, and then to follow the story of Stephanie Brown’s death and its aftermath.  It’s in nearly everyone’s top 3 favorite Cat-Tales, and I heard a good few complaints when the 10th Anniversary “Look Back” featured Identity Element instead.

You can read Cat-Tales – Polishing Silver: The Journal of Alfred Pennyworth online on the Cat-Tales website or download it to go as an ebook or in high-quality pdf for printing.

Comic Book and Movie Reviews: Catwoman Cat-Tales Say Hello to the Theater of Comic Books

The awesomeness that is Comic Book and Movie Reviews interviewed me about Catwoman, Theatre, Comic Books, and of course Cat-Tales.  It was a wonderful meeting Jay who got me to open up about not just my first comics but my first comic shop, the music of Cat-Tales and banana mash lasagna.   (Go read the interview. It will make sense when you read it.)

Spotlight: Riddle Me-Tropolis

 

So… This happened.   Comic Book Geeks of the Internet – and particularly She-Geeks Lacking Complexity – galvanized yesterday to demonstrate how fast we can stage a Social Media Happening / Spontaneous Demonstration / Party.   Now it’s 24 hours later, and as much fun as “Cosplay Appreciation Day” was, and as many uber-cool comic book people we all may have waved at or connected with, the last thing I want to do today is dive back into the gallery and spotlight another picture.  I think we can all do with a palate cleanser, and since it is Cat-Tales and not Catwoman-Pictures-R-Us, I thought I’d focus on the actual stories for a while.

First in the spotlight, because it’s one of my personal favorites and top of the Best Comedies list picked by readers, is Cat-Tale #51 Riddle Me-Tropolis.

Cat-Tales Riddle Me-Tropolis by Chris Dee

What’s it about?  After working out Batman’s identity in Strange Bedfellows, Edward Nigma became what we in CT circles call “Fate’s Bitch.”  He couldn’t seem to catch a break, and after Batman broke his legs in the previous tale, he decided he’d had enough.  Enough Batman, enough Gotham, enough disappointment, enough bullshit, enough all of it.  He was getting his act together and taking it on the road–to Metropolis!

In the Cat-Tales universe, Metropolis is Chicago, the largest and richest city close to farm country, with a history embodying the kind of can-do optimism of early industrial America that is a perfect fit for Superman and Clark alike.  I had a ball making Metropolis a character in this story as much as Gotham is in regular tales, and playing with the wonderful dynamic of Gothamites like Eddie, Bruce and Selina in another city not their own.

You can read Cat-Tales: Riddle Me-Tropolis online on the Cat-Tales website or download it to go as an ebook or in high-quality pdf for printing.

Cosplay Appreciation Day: Batman

From one professional to another, pick a better spot, because from this height a fall won’t kill me

I know we’ve already had one spotlight today, but then, well, there was an ass hat, as one is apt to encounter on the Internet.  And rather than responding to trollish asshattery in kind, Gail Simone put a wonderfully positive spin on the whole thing by declaring it

#cosplayappreciationday is trending

#CosplayAppreciationDay.  Head on over to twitter and see the feed, it’s amazing.  (It’s also trending!)

So I returned to the gallery to dig out the best darn Batman Cosplayer I know: I wish I could shout out to him properly, but, uh, I only know him as Matches Malone.

Yes, really.  But he made every bit of that costume himself, and the love shows in every  pixel of every pic.

Gallery Spotlight: Birds of Prey Catwoman

Catwoman from The Brave and the Bold: Birds of Prey

Today’s feature is a stylized Classic Catwoman from the Birds of Prey episode of the Brave and the Bold cartoon, by artist Anya Uribe.

Those who know her are familiar with a number of images, poses and body types homaging Jessica Rabbit, and that’s particularly relevant here since the Birds of Prey episode from which this Catwoman and one other is taken  drawn had our heroines singing in a nightclub that was also rife with homages to the Ink and Paint Club where Jessica performed in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Gallery Spotlight: Classic Catwoman

Cosplay: Classic Catwoman – the sexy skirted costume now familiar to fans from The Brave and the Bold cartoon is the classic Golden Age Catwoman

Rather than focus on an artist or medium this week, I thought I’d feature some of the Classic Catwomans we have in the Cat-Tales gallery.  Known to some as the Golden Age or Brave and the Bold Catwoman, it’s the skirted costume that showed off her legs.   This beauty is from the Cosplay Gallery: she has the looks, she has the cattitude, and she absolutely has the knack for demonstrating why Selina’s legs were such a feature in the days when she wore that skirted costume.