Friday, August 11, 2006

Catwoman's current direction

I just wrote an email to Scott Tipton regarding a couple of questions that appeared in this week's mailbag. Here's a transcript of most of it:

...
Holly's becoming Catwoman is actually right in character and has been hinted at since issue #20, when Selina had Ted Grant train her to fight. One year later, in issue #32 it is mentioned that during the month that Selina was missing - when kidnapped by the cult of Beti-Ma - Holly was, in fact, filling in as Catwoman on the sly. So for Pfeifer to take Holly and make her the new Catwoman is entirely within her character's logical progression.
I have likewise seen Will Pfeifer being given a lot of crap for having Selina blast the Blask Mask's head off. However, had Brubaker stayed on the title, all indications were that he would have done the same thing. Way back when, in issue #13, the Black Mask blew up the community center that Selina donated, and kidnapped her brother-in-law. In issue #14, he kidnapped Selina's sister Maggie, and subsequently tortured her by making her ingest part of her husband's body as he removed them. Black Mask killed Maggie's husband, and drove Maggie completely insane to the point of CATatonia, and so when Selina eventually met up with him in issue #16, she threw him off a ledge, and he was presumed dead until resurfacing during War Games. So after everything that Black Mask did to her, when he carved out a message on Slam's chest, that was the last straw, and Selina killed him. End of story, he soooo had it coming. And it is not a betrayal of the character at all. Selina was always a different type of hero, and has used methods that Batman would not. The only person who could get her goat would have been Black Mask, and so Pfeifer did not betray her character at all.

Regarding the parentage of Helena (which is
supposed to rhyme with Irena), it could very well be that Slam Bradley is her father. Proof of a sort: In Catwoman #53, page 11, panel 2, Selina says: "Things are different now, Slam. You know that." Why would the word you be bolded? Remember that from issues #17 through #19, Selina and Slam were very hot and heavy, so considering that she must have been very close to him while helping him work through the trauma of Black Mask's torture, it is conceivable that they ended up back together...if only for a night.
I can't imagine Batman being the father, as he was gone for the ENTIRE year prior to Helena's birth.
...

I anticipate writing a more in depth analysis of this title in the future, but this will have to suffice for the time being.

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