Catman Question!

[Gail Simone]

Now, don't get me wrong, I have plans for kitty.

:)

But I'm curious...what would you like to see happen to Catman after VU? Bad guy, good guy? Where would you like to see him, assuming he survives SS?

Just wondering.

Gail

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

I'm tempted to say "villain"...


...but "hero" could open up some possibilities. This is a toughie.

[Rik Levins]

Anti-Hero.

Someone who fights for the good, but might use somewhat ruthless means to an end.

Kind of a superhero Jack Bauer.

Of course, if he's really going to be like a cat, he'll have to stop in the middle of a fight or chase to lick and scratch himself.

[stealthwise]

I don't care if he's "good" or "bad," just want to see him kick some ass.

However, I do like the lack of restraints that are placed upon the behaviour of villains. It didn't make me wince to see the characters in Villains United act as they did because they're not the JLA/Outsiders/Avengers, etc.

[Jeff Brady]

Villains-with-a-conscience are kinda cool; you root for them to hurt others.

[blackcanary_416]

I would say Villain, to me he was the anti-Batman, still is.

[mistervader]

For some reason, Catman reminds me of Adam West... :p

[TCJohnson]

Yeah, like a cat knows the difference between good and evil.

He does what he does to survive, and to survive he needs to keep ahead of the law, and he needs money to do that. Not much money, but ne needs money.

He becomes a mercenary. Sometimes he works for the good guys. Sometimes he works for the bad guys. His most common clients are some of the more insane eco terrorists or industiral espianoge against companies with bad environmental records. Occasionally, if the cause is right, he will work for free.
He is deffinitely not a good guy, however. His methods are too brutal and he knows very little loyalty. There are a few he has bonded with, the rest he would turn on in a moment.

[heystacy]

I'd say anti-hero. Like Catwoman in a certain respect. I like that he may do something noble, then turn around and do something dastardly. keeps him from being Batman.

[Crinos]

Personally, I'd like to see him sit down with Arsenal, knock back a few brews, and talk about their past experiences with Chesire.

Roy's still alive OYL isnt he?

[The Xenos]

Have him walk the line. Not sure how that will work with the unionization of good guys and bad guys.

[Crowley]

i like the way the Six was straddling the fence...

we need more grey in comics.

I'd call him a Villro.

[Night Swordsman]

I want him to stay true to how you have written him so far. In otherwords: D) None of the above.

He is his own man.

Am i the only one disturbed by Gail calling him "kitty"?

And by the way Gail..three questions: Lying in the Gutters mentioned that John Byrne was working on the Atom. Is this true?
Second,did you see the scene in JSA:Classified this week with Scandal and her Father? Were you consulted or have any input?

[shrike]

Now, don't get me wrong, I have plans for kitty.

:)

But I'm curious...what would you like to see happen to Catman after VU? Bad guy, good guy? Where would you like to see him, assuming he survives SS?

Just wondering.

Gail

Anti Hero. His mission from the early days has obviously changed, and its not for the same reasons he began his career.

Heck, people change, and the anti hero route fits the bill for where he stands now.

[Michael P]

Bad guy who deep down wants to be a good guy, but even deeper down knows it'll never happen.

[PatrickG]

Eco-Terrorist/Freedom Fighter.

I'd love to see a team of people with, say, a strong ecological agenda get together. And not in a Saturday Morning cartoon "Captain Planet" kinda way.

Imagine if you had, say...

Catman
Black Orchid
Swamp Thing (I know, I know -- they're Vertigo, BLAH! They haven't made serious waves there in a long time and BOTH Animal Man and Cliff Steele found their way back to the DCU proper)
Animal Man

Those four sound like the core of a really cool team. And when was the last time people were really excited about NEW stories with Buddy Baker? I mean, people love it when he does show up but I'm thinkin' that Buddy can breakout the way Power Girl did this last year.

And don't make Buddy a cult leader/shaman/etc. Keep him as the nice, family man hero. Who happens to have a political agenda entirely outside the law. He doesn't kill. He tries to keep his teammates in line... But he could actually be pretty good friends with Catman, I think, and participate in acts of property destruction.

I think it could be a potentially edgy book without aping the Authority/Ultimates bandwagon.

[Crinos]

Eco-Terrorist/Freedom Fighter.

I'd love to see a team of people with, say, a strong ecological agenda get together. And not in a Saturday Morning cartoon "Captain Planet" kinda way.

Imagine if you had, say...

Catman
Black Orchid
Swamp Thing (I know, I know -- they're Vertigo, BLAH! They haven't made serious waves there in a long time and BOTH Animal Man and Cliff Steele found their way back to the DCU proper)
Animal Man

Those four sound like the core of a really cool team. And when was the last time people were really excited about NEW stories with Buddy Baker? I mean, people love it when he does show up but I'm thinkin' that Buddy can breakout the way Power Girl did this last year.

And don't make Buddy a cult leader/shaman/etc. Keep him as the nice, family man hero. Who happens to have a political agenda entirely outside the law. He doesn't kill. He tries to keep his teammates in line... But he could actually be pretty good friends with Catman, I think, and participate in acts of property destruction.

I think it could be a potentially edgy book without aping the Authority/Ultimates bandwagon.

Can we add B'wanna Beast and Maybe Vixen to that lineup?

[Kyuubi]

He'd be great as either one, even if he's a B-Lister.


He's like the Bruce Campbell of Comics.







OOH! Have him Say "Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the claws."


I'll name all my future children after you if you do.







Even the boys.

[hshaukat]

I like the anti-hero angle, but not the term. I'll admit, I've never liked the term anti-hero, which in itself is frustrating because I have a hard time articulating why I don't like the term. But I digress...

I would love to see Catman continue (?) to walk the line between good and evil. It's not just black & white out there. What I'm trying to say is that I'd like to see something like Magog in Kingdom Come, but to a much less extreme. He was a madman, obviously. But when --SPOILER-- Kansas was annihilated and Supes tracked him down, his grief, guilt, and remorse consumed him, broke him, and made him more "human." I found the scene to be heart-breaking.

Like I said, to a much lesser extreme, that's where I'd like to see Catman go. The ends will justify the means for Catman, but there is a line he won't cross. Too bad he doesn't know where that line is.

[Stephane Garrelie]

Both Villain and Hero.
I like characters who cross the line.
Very catlike.

[Gavin Higginbotham, BotF]

I like the "walking the line" angle. He's a villain but he's got a conscience, that's great. He wants to do good, but he finds it hard. Kinda like Deadpool at the start of his regular series when Joe Kelly was on the book, I suppose.

It's also one of the reasons that Deadshot is my fave villain. He's clearly a villain, he's a contract killer who will shoot someone dead without remorse, but he also wants things done right. His recent miniseries where he wanted to keep his ex and their daughter safe, so he slaughtered all of the criminals in the area. Brilliant.

[Charles RB]

Bad guy who deep down wants to be a good guy, but even deeper down knows it'll never happen.

So, as he was in VU then.

Sounds good to me! Rock on, messed-up Catman!

[jadrax]

I Dont know.

What makes a charicter compelling is there motivation, and so far Catmans main motivation seems to have been survival. Assuming he survives Secret Six and assuming hes no longer a fugative from every side, i think the logical place for him to go would be to join Deadshot/Killer Frosts lose confederation of villens for hire...

However, just because that makes the most sense to me dosent mean its necceseraly the most compelling answer. Personally i would love to see him tangle with Batman again, if only to prove he can still fight him to a standstill. I would also like to see him to get a few blows in on green arrow in payback for the trteatment over his funeral. (Note He knows Green Arrow is Ollie, which could be interesting.)

[Ian Boothby]

I liked him calling Green Arrow on his behaviour. We've got a lot of bad guys willing to cross the line to get the job done. How about keeping him a bad guy who is more honorable than some of the "good" guys and not afraid to call them on it.

[WhiteRose]

He heads his own team and names them 'The Pussy Posse'.

That is all.

[heystacy]

He heads his own team and names them 'The Pussy Posse'.

That is all.


You made me laugh out loud with that suggestion. Good one! :D

[Tad Sivana]

I think he's on the line whether he wants it or not.
Since he re-invented himself to be 'out of the game' it's been nothing but the game dragging him back in.
Let's say he just wants to hang on the Serengeti with the Pride....he's not going to sit back when the hunters come, when the developers come, etc....
If he has a protection agenda for the environment he loves? Well, that takes money and he only has one way to get it. Plus now he owes favors from VU (and presumably the new series) to others. These chips will be called.
I think he's kind of like the character Dini was setting up for Catwoman: someone who takes her activism out of the chat rooms and into the streets,
who pursues her own morality, not the conventional morality and thus is dangerous.

[Spackling Compound]

Mercenary and Adventurer...

Each tale maybe involving the hunt, capture and/or execution of lost and forgotten C listers. Sort of what a cat does, catches rats in hard to get places....

[Crinos]

Also, I think you should do an issue that explains (Via flashbacks) how Catman went from this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/tetsuboprod/GreenArrow020pg10.jpg

To this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/tetsuboprod/Untitled-Scanned-08.jpg

I know I'd like to know, I have my own idea on how it happened, but I'd like to see what Gail could come up with.

[Spackling Compound]

I know I'd like to know, I have my own idea on how it happened, but I'd like to see what Gail could come up with.

Soloflex....

[JeffreyWKramer]

Bad guy who deep down wants to be a good guy, but even deeper down knows it'll never happen.

This works for me.

[Super Sonic]

Not bothering to read the other posts, so if this has been said already....shut up.

Catman/Deadshot --> Heroes/Villains for hire, depends on the mission.

[Greg Blackman]

Now, don't get me wrong, I have plans for kitty.

:)

But I'm curious...what would you like to see happen to Catman after VU? Bad guy, good guy? Where would you like to see him, assuming he survives SS?

Just wondering.

Gail

I kinda like the new status quo set up for him in VU. I'd like to see him as a lone operative bouncing around from one corner of the DCU to another, always driven by his own motives, but becoming more and more sought after and hunted as his notoriety increases and people start to realise that this guy is NOT the mort we remember from days of old.

Keep his sense of honour and ruthlessness, as it makes him an interesting mix of 'hero' and 'villain' without descending into the well worn archetype of 'gritty anti hero'. And have him shower untold fuckry down upon his enemies like he did in the torture issue of VU, which i still one of the most messed up things I've ever read, and (I shit you not) the reason I started to look seriously at female writers of genre/horror fiction again.

[JeffreyWKramer]

My biggest Catman question is this:

Gail, are you gonna follow up on the not-so-subtle hints of man-love between Catman and Deadshot, as suggested in that gut-wrenching-funny VU spoof that made the rounds a few months back?

[Larry Dixon]

OOoooo, man-love.

*snicker*

Actually I have a bunch of neat ideas where things could go with Catman's future, and the company he keeps.

[OzBat!]

Bad guy who deep down wants to be a good guy, but even deeper down knows it'll never happen.I like this, but at the same time I question it. It implies an element of self-hate that he looks to have completely overcome since his transformation from overweight has-been/joke. He's also been proud to have fought Batman to a standstill, so there's that element of deliberately positioning himself firmly in the 'villain' camp, countering Bats and Green Arrow and anybody else he comes up against.

Maybe it's still true, but his definition of Hero is completely different from the norm. His idea of Hero is more like the strong defender, leader of the pack, that survives for itself and nothing else. To be a Hero is to successfully live his life daily, on his own terms, defending his own interests the way he sees fit. In this way he'll have good days and bad days (deadshot killing his pride, Cheshire's presumably (?) losing their child after being shot, etc).

This way he's not confused with the common 'anti-hero', doing the right things the wrong ways. He's not even a noble mercenary with strong morals like Catwoman. He's more a force of nature, doing what he sees fit to suit the moment. And of course, that can change on any given day.

If he has a long term plan, I think it's just to remove anybody who's tried to manipulate him or gotten in his way in the past. He's got the resources and the mind to plan a lonnnng way ahead, but the wilfulness to take short violent thrusts off in other directions for seemingly unrelated reasons, which actually make sense once seen through his own world view.

[Corrina]

Catman strikes me as somewhat in the same position as Slade Wilson was back in the days just after his trial, when he was released and went back to Africa.

Catman doesn't have Slade's family background, but back then Slade had a very similar code of honor (which he broke with Terra and regretted--much of that was explained as due to the grief over his son's death and his failure to be a proper parent to him.)

After that, Slade still had his edge but he became more of the light side of the street than the dark. He didn't outright murder and he didn't take executions for hire. Since then, he's back to being an outright villain, which annoys the hell out of me because it reduces him from three-dimensional to one-dimensional. The Slade of Wolfman's era would never had pumped his daughter full of drugs and basically brainwashed her..

Er, didn't realize I had that rant in me until I got going.

Back to Catman--here's another guy with a code of honor, keeps his word, is capable of having family feelings, is capable of extreme violence, and yet also sees that he could have been more than he is right now. I don't see him as a hero, certainly, but I also don't see him as a out-and-out murderer right now either, unless he's heading off an attempt on his life or the life of those he cares about.

So, to answer....keep him all shades of gray, please.

[Cam63]

Stand up comedian.

Catman: " What's the story with hairballs ? "

Heckler: " Stop licking yourself ! "

[Night Swordsman]

After 36 other posts..not ONE of you felt weirded out by Gail calling him "kitty".


THAT PROVES IT! I know WHY i am different than ALL of you!
I am SANE!

You all are not!

Neener neener neener.


Can i have the white coat now,pretty please? oh! Belt buckles! Lots! SHINY! OooooH!

[Azrael52]

I think that Catman should join with Firestorm, be possessed by Parallex and then die and become the new, new, new, Spectre.

[Azrael52]

Or . . . there's always that whole anti-hero thingie.

[Night Swordsman]

I think that Catman should join with Firestorm, be possessed by Parallex and then die and become the new, new, new, Spectre.

Hmm.
The fury of THE ParafireCatman!
Staring in the Acts of Villans United against Rann/Thangarian Infinite Countdown to Identiy Crisis on Infinite Earths Project. Guest staring Ambush Bug.

[Night Swordsman]

Or . . . there's always that whole anti-hero thingie.

Um..if it is a anti-hero,she wouldn't have a thingie.
now if it was a UNCLE-hero,then thingies would be different :D

[Azrael52]

"G'night everybody, I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your weightressess!"

[Night Swordsman]

But if we tip the weightresses,won't they fall down and we will never get our food?

[Larry Dixon]

Acts of Villains United Against Rann/Thangarian Infinite Countdown to Identity Crisis on Infinite Earths Project.

THAT should be a new book.

I would so buy that.

Every DC Event writer each jamming a page of their favorite annoyances/jokes/gags/observations from their work on the big crossover/event/whatsits.

Doing To The DC Universe What The DC Universe Needs Done To It! *wide grin*

[OzBat!]

Guest staring Ambush Bug.NOW yer talkin!!