NML Crossing, Episode 016 - Catwoman #57 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Sixteen

Catwoman #57 (May, 1998)
“Cataclysm, Part Fifteen: Reap What You Sow”
Writer - Devin Grayson
Pencils - Jim Balent
Inks - John Stanisci
Colors - Buzz Setzer
Letters - Albert De Guzman
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.95

All's I can tell ya is that today's issue happens... at some point after 7:03pm on the night of the verybadthing.  It's Catwoman vs. Poison Ivy, with Harvey Bullock as special guest referee... even though he's supposed to be in the middle of a Hard-Bock Hostage situation.  Oh well!

In addition to that, we'll be going through all the Cataclysmic bits from the 1998 Wizard Batman Special!  Lots of fun (though nebulous) data and information to comb through... lots of food for thought and room for me to baselessly speculate on what might've been going on in the Bat-Offices during the build to No Man's Land proper!

Big thanks to Adam for hooking me up with the Batman Wizard Special.  Please check out WIZARDS: The Podcast Guide to Comics at https://www.wizardscomics.com/

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NML Crossing, Episode 007 - Catwoman #56 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Seven

Catwoman (vol.2) #56 (April, 1998)
“Cataclysm, Part Six: Claustrophobia”
Writer - Devin Grayson
Pencils - Jim Balent
Inks - John Stanisci
Colors - Buzz Setzer
Letters - Albert DeGuzman
Edits - Jordan B. Gorfinkel & Denny O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.95

Putting the C-A-T in Cataclysm, today we find out where Selina Kyle was at 7:03pm when the verybadthing happened!

Plus: Another dip into the NMaiLbag!

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Bonus Book #8 - Power of the Atom (1988)

Bonus Book #8 - Power of the Atom (November, 1988)
"Skulduggery"
Writer - Joe Calchi
Pencils - Jim Balent
Inks - Dan Schaefer
Letters - Helen Vesik
Colors - Matt Webb
Edits - Joey Cavalieri
Executive Editor - Joe Orlando

Ya know, I expected to come into these next few days lamenting the fact that we'd be getting into some rather B-Tier (if we're being generous) territory.  Surely, nobody's going to rush over here to read about Power of the Atom, the Blue Trinity, or Bronze Tiger, right?  Welp, I felt the same way about that Doctor Light story we looked at earlier this week... and, somehow it's become one of my top viewed posts of the month!  Heck, I thought that Doom Patrol ditty was going to do really well views-wise, and that one seemed to slip under everybody's radar.  Weird, wacky stuff.  Further proof that I don't know what people find interesting... and, likely couldn't even spell the word, even with an eight-letter head start!

Anyhoo, this here Power of the Atom story was included with... hey, wouldja lookit that, Power of the Atom #4 (November, 1988), and it features the work of a Bonus Book "All-Star", Joe Calchi!

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We open with a Skul-Rider bursting through the window of Ray Palmer's home.  Now, the Skul-Riders, if I'm remembering right, are from the Sword of the Atom era... where the Atom briefly became a sorta-kinda swords and sorcery type book.  I read through those specials... man, I was going to say "not too long ago", but in reflection, it's probably been ten years.  Yeesh.  Anyhoo, this bird-mounted bugger is looking for Ray Palmer and Jean Loring... however, they ain't home.  In fact, their home is currently being occupied by Norman Osborn Brawler, the fella who wrote Ray's "farewell" book.  The Skul-guy ain't buying it, and proceeds to rifle through Ray's belongings... at which time, he discovers that Palmer's been spending a lot of time at "their" alma mater, Ivy University.  Back on bird-back, our baddie SKREEEEEEES away.

But then... The Atom swoops in, and starts beating the holy hell out of him!  Even cuts the bad guy's head off!  Well, okay, not really... turns out, this is just another violent nightmare for Ray Palmer.  Seems like this sort of thing is happening with regularity these days.  Makes him wonder if he's become more barbarian than civilized man.

Later, Ray is filled in by Norman Brawler, regarding his avian visitor.  The house looks as though a tornado'd come through it... and our little hero is rightly ticked.  The search, however, is cut short by the ringing of a phone.  Ray answers, and wouldn'tcha know it, it's ol' Golden Face!  He makes some threats, prompting our man to shrink down and hop into the phone line...

... by the time he reaches the other side, however... the baddie's nowhere to be found.  That's because he's currently hanging out in some bar with a random broad.  Ray tries to call his ex-wife to warn her that she might be in danger... but she's in a meeting.

Now, check this out... it appears as though our bad guy has himself some insecurities.  He takes his "date" back to his Ambassador Suite... and goes to reach a bottle of vodka from a high shelf... when, he begins to shrink a little bit.  The floozy makes fun of him for his inability to reach... and jokes that he's "becoming a shrimp"...

... so, he kills her.  Like, dead.  Yikes.  From here, he heads over to Labtech Research, Incorporated to chat up a Dr. Phariss.  Ya see, our bad guy's been getting treatments to make him be taller.  He's looking for one "proper" dosage so he'll stay tall forever.  The Doc warns him against it... stating that such a dose would very likely kill him.  Oh, we also learn that our bad guy's name is Cal.

Cal ain't happy with the Doctor's advice... and so, he pulls out a gun and kills him.  Wow, two for two!  Cal hops into the "make taller machine", and takes in a whopper of a blast.  This leads to a flashback to Cal's days as an Ivy U student.  Ya see, he only had eyes for... you guessed it, Jean Loring.  He came on... uh, kinda strong, and wound up getting shoved off by Ray Palmer.

Cal zaps his bird with the beam for good measure, so they can both stay tall... before heading over to 1 Thornton Tower... the home of the fantastically wealthy Thornton family.  Oh, did I mention that Cal's last name is Thornton?  Anyhoo, he bursts into his parents' bedroom... and, you guessed it... kills them.  Four murders in three pages!

The next day, we join a Ray Palmer lecture... already in progress.  He's using a "simul-tank" to illustrate environmental hooziwhatsits in Mayan lands.  One of his students stands up and asks Ray to quit it with the Academic drudgery and start spouting about his exploits as the Atom.  Right on!  Worth noting, that Ray was trying to separate himself from his super-hero persona... and even went as far as to go under the name "Jones".  Ain't nobody buyin' that though... nor should they.

Before Ray can respond, however... Cal Thornton, all painted yellow SKREEEEES through yet another window!  It freaks this one girl out so bad, she goes cross-eyed!  Orrr, maybe that's just the art.  What's pretty weird... okay, even more weird, is Cal... who's been trying to be as tall as possible throughout this story, is now tiny like the Atom!  Did that zap cause him to be able to change his size at will?  Who knows.

After some pleasantries are exchanged... Ray and Cal begin fighting... and, heyyy, as luck would have it... there just so happens to be a miniature Mayan landscape they can do battle in!  That's exactly what they do for the next fourteen pages.  The Atom gets the upper-hand... and even breaks Cal's arm with a deflection.  Not sure if this is supposed to depict Cal's skeleton as having been weakened via his "growth spurts"... or just show that Ray has a brilliant amount of control over his extremity-density.  I guess it doesn't much matter.

It looks as though Ray's going to actually finish Cal off... perhaps an opportunity for our man to "play out" his violent nightmare fantasy... but, he chooses against it.  Good thing for Cal, our li'l hero wasn't quite ready to Cry for Justice!  The police arrive and take the bad guy away... never to be seen or heard from again?

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Eeeeeeeee... not great.

I feel like this era for the Atom was flailing and floundering to find an identity and purpose, even in the main story.  It just didn't feel like it mattered... and, this... well, it's more'a that.  Heck, this Bonus Book story might've had higher stakes than anything to come out of the "main" Power of the Atom series!  Did you check out Cal Thornton's body count?  Ay yai yai.

Still though, not great.  It uses the "fill-in month" trope of introducing an antagonist from the hero's past... and, I guess it does so well enough, even if I didn't find it especially engaging.

The art?  Is it fair to say it's "rough"?  I think so.  This doesn't look much like what we'd come to expect from Balent... in fact, it looks more like more recent Jim Calafiore... who, I'm not really a fan of.  The square-faces really make me think of Calafiore.  So, yeah... this story wasn't terribly interesting... or all that pretty to look at.  What is was, was violent!  If you want violence for the sake of it... then, this is the Bonus Book for you!

Over to our creators... we've already met Joe Calchi.  He wrote Bonus Book #1 from Action Comics #599, which was another mostly "meh" outing.  According to the DC Wiki, this story is his second... and final for DC Comics.

Across the table, we've got Jim Balent... who we might all best know as being the dude who drew Catwoman....'s boobs during the 90's.  This Bonus Book actually isn't his first DC work... he'd contributed art for a Sgt. Rock back-up strip in 1984.  I think it's safe to say he's improved a great deal since this outing.  It might also be safe to say his style has changed a great deal too!  You can check out some of his current day stuff over at his website!

Overall... this was inoffensive, but also uninteresting.  Sure, there's a body count... but, at the end of the day, it amounts to very little.  Probably only worth reading if you're looking for additional late-80's Atom flavor... though, I'm not sure why anyone would be!

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(Not the) Letters Page:

Catwoman #18 (1995)

Catwoman #18 (February, 1995)
"Catfile, Four: Here Comes the Bride"
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Penciller - Jim Balent
Inker - Bob Smith
Colorist - Buzz Setzer
Letterer - Albert DeGuzman
Assistant Editor - Jordan B. Gorfinkel
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $1.50

Whattaya mean "Wrong Wedding Issue"?  Has there been another?

Yeah, yeah, yeah... just a little (very little) "funny, ha-ha" to start off today's piece.

I actually have read the Wedding Issue, and actually guested on the MCDC Podcast last week to discuss my thoughts about it.  Long story short... didn't love it, didn't hate it... didn't really have strong feelings about it either way.  Listening back, the only thing I really seem to feel strongly about is the rather unfortunate "10/10 Reviewer Culture" the comics industry is currently suffering through.  Remember folks, if everything's a 10 outta 10... then, nothing really is!

Anyhoo... check out the podcast if you're interested.  Had a good time chatting up pals Joey and Bill Bere.  For now, let's take a look at another time Selina Kyle was someone's betrothed.

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We pick up with Selina's reaction to Prince Willem's marriage proposal.  A little (very little) background on the Prince... Willem Kapreallian is a self-appointed Prince of the European island nation Daumount located in the Mediterranean.  Catwoman was sent over by her federal "employers" to steal his prized "Swan Crown".  She ain't exactly diggin' the idea of becoming a Princess anytime soon.

Willem's bodyguards swarm, but stand down on his orders.  He tells Selina that she really doesn't have much of a choice.  She will indeed marry him, and what's more, she'll also steal back his Swan Crown.  He sics his two beefy female assistants on her... and they toss her into the bathtub to scrub up.  Selina begins to play along, and asks for a moment of privacy.

Nearby, two interested parties approach the castle.  It's Selina's employer Galiant and his crew... as well as Tito and the Corsican Mafia, both groups have a vested interest in what's going down.  Galiant's gang has, as mentioned, ties to Selina... while the Corsicans are rather ticked that Willem killed their brothers.  Either way, it looks like we've got some wedding crashers.

Inside the castle, Willem thanks a fella named Dreyfuss for the use of his castle for the ceremony.  Outside the castle, Catwoman waits in hiding for the "Schwarzenegger Sisters" to return so she might dropkick them into the bath.

It's not her most effective plan to date.

We shuffle on ahead to the wedding ceremony... and I can't help but wonder if my copy is missing a page or two.  As you can see, the last we saw of Selina, she was being held underwater by Hildi and Whatsherface.  Anyhoo, she does the wedding march, leaving a trail of wetness behind her.  At the altar, Willem removes her veil, revealing... well, Catwoman.  What's more, she's packin' heat!

But then... the wedding is crashed!  Twice... at the same time, even!

Catwoman uses this opportunity to ska-doo.  Meanwhile, Galiant's goons... well, slaughter pretty much everyone.  They then chat up the Prince... and let him know that they plan to kill Catwoman as well!

As Catwoman continues her poorly-planned escape... I mean, really it was just A. Jump out really high window, B. Hope not to die... Willem stabs Galiant in the shoulder with his epee, then he and his men prove not to be total pushovers when they start blasting away at the goons.

As Galiant lay bleeding out, he calls in a final airstrike to take everybody out.  Meanwhile, on the ground... Catwoman steals Dreyfuss' car and proceeds to speed away from the castle.  Unfortunately, that airstrike chopper is hot on her tail.

Lucky for her, Prince Willem is a crack-shot with his Jaeger rifle... also lucky, that he had it at hand... ya see, he was planning on spending their honeymoon on safari.  Anyhoo, Willem shoots the chopper out of the sky, and Catwoman is able to get away.

We wrap up with Selina having some fun in the Sun... somewhere.

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Having absolutely no context for the hows and whys of this story... I still had a heckuva good time checking it out!  Chuck Dixon does a great job at just giving us fun and wild action here.  While I think context would help... and greatly add to ones enjoyment of the issue, it might not be a requirement.

It's been a long while since I've read any solo Catwoman story, much less one from the mid-90's.  I don't think I started buying this title until they'd already announced its cancellation several years later... so, this whole era is new to me.  I might have to check out some more... I mean, I have most of the run sitting not a few feet away, if more of the stories are this much fun, I might finally have a reason to start flipping through 'em.

This book, at least this issue, kinda straddles the line between serious and silly.  I mean, look at our Prince Willem.  He's kind of a goofball... he literally called Galiant a "cad" and runs him through with a fencing foil.  On the face of it, that's kinda silly.  Then, just a couple of pages later, dude shoots down a helicopter with a single shot from a rifle!  We've got Selina wrestling underwater with a pair of overgrown gals... then later, leaping from a high window in a wedding dress.  I mean, c'mon... this is just straight-up fun.

The only place where I'm kinda left wanting is between the underwater wrestling and the actual wedding ceremony.  Feels like we missed a step of story there, doesn't it?  It's also like the lifting of the veil was supposed to be a "reveal" to the reader, but really... who else was it going to be, Hildi?  I just feel like that beat could've went a bit more smoothly.

The art was... a bit iffy now and again, and... no, I'm not talking about the boobies.  What I'm talking about is that some of the faces... looked a little squished.  I mean, look at the introduction of the Schwarzenegger Sisters... they look pretty horrid, and not in the way I'd assume they were intended to!  Definitely a few "candle-faces" here.  The action and movement, however, is pretty nicely "fluid".  Also, some really fun attention to detail on a soaking wet Selina, where, when outside... it looks as though the bathwater is starting to freeze.  I mean, she's got little icicles hanging off her!  Not sure if that was to add to the titillation, but I thought it was neat regardless! 

Overall... had more fun than I was expecting (which I seem to be saying a lot), and I'd say it's worth a shot.  This bugger's available digitally (currently priced at a buck!)... it's also been collected as part of the Catwoman: The Catfile trade paperback.

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Letters Page:

 

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