I think I'm falling in love with Cat-Man. Not the modern version from "Villains United" and "Secret Six." Although he ain't too shabby, either. (Love the stubble, dude!) No, I'm talking about the Silver Age version, and it's all thanks to his appearance in "Detective Comics" #318 (August, 1963). Why do I find him so appealing? Well, there's the obvious, that he's a hunky guy in a classically handsome costume. I'll even forgive the underpants-over-tights thing -- but only for him! Also, he's a "bad boy," which has a certain appeal. But the main thing I love about Cat-Man is his sense of style. Sure, he drives a car with a freakin' tail on it, but that same car has spring-loaded "legs" that can pop out and allow the vehicle to leap over crevasses and ravines. What else? Well, here's how he'd kill you.
Death with a smile. Might I suggest this as a suitable punishment for the Mad Hatter if he gets out of line in the current "Secret Six" series? (You're welcome.)
And the topper? He's a costume designer! You know how I normally feel about rivals, but I just can't stay mad at Cat-Man! He sure as heck chose a good candidate for a costume redesign, too... but I'm getting ahead of myself. First some backstory: On page two of this comic, Bruce Wayne and Kathy Kane are going through the same old rountine in their grotesquely unbalanced relationship:
Criminy, Kathy! Bruce is a first-class creep. Him and his sycophantic l'il ward. Kathy should dump his sorry ass. And Cat-Man agrees with me, because he wants to give Batwoman a total lifestyle makeover!
A ginormous granite throne in an abandoned subway tunnel? Apparently Shazam is subletting his old crib. But check out the new costume! Quite the improvement over Batwoman's frumpy old togs. The cheesy bat-ear mask has been ditched in favor of a feline cowl, and the cutesy pixie gloves have been replaced with sultry opera gloves -- if opera gloves can be though of as "sultry" and I believe that these certainly can be. Like the old costume, this one has a purse. Cat-Man thought of everything! Even new earrings! And they're Cartier, no doubt. Really, the whole look is sleek and sexy. I'm just not sure how he got Batwoman's measurements. Perhaps he made one of his thinner, more slope-shouldered henchmen act as a model. ("Hold still, blast you, or I'll seal your sorry ass behind a brick wall! Like I did with Bernie!") At any rate, I heartily approve of this costume design! But what will Batwoman think?
Why, she seems perfectly delighted! She can't wait to undress that shapely female mannequin! Er... anyway. She pretty much immediately betrays Cat-Man to Batman and Robin. And then Cat-Man seemingly dies in a boat explosion, but... where's the body? (Cat-Man, you clever scamp! *sigh*) So I guess Kathy didn't really take to the costume redesign after all...
...or did she? "Trophy room" my ass! Some Saturday night, after Bruce Wayne has stood her up for the umpteenth time, Kathy's going to get drunk on box wine, eat about a gallon of butter brickle ice cream, slip on the Cat-Woman costume, grab some battery-powered accoutrements from a secret compartment in her armoire, and... uh, reminisce.
Mark my words.
3 comments:
The coolest thing about Cat-Man's costume (and something no other artist ever carried through, as far as I can tell): The "CM" logo is styled so that it resemebles the tail and ears of a cat! Very clever touch.
Wow. In that sequence of Bruce Wayne gloating about his advantage over Kathy Kane, his expression in that third panel is such that I am suddenly able to imagine Brucie as capable of anything, no matter how sordid or creepy or just plain wrong. Chilling.
Nice new ensemble for Batwoman tho!
That was beautiful.
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