InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "my heart aches for you"

espanolbot (espanolbot) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-04-24 21:05:00

Entry tags:

char: black mask/roman sionis, char: catwoman/holly robinson, char: catwoman/selina kyle, creator: cameron stewart, creator: ed brubaker, creator: pete woods, creator: will pfeifer, publisher: dc comics, title: catwoman

Selina vs. Black Mask, Parts 1, 2 and what happened to him afterwards
Contains Spoilers

Their feud began back in 'Crooked Little Town', when Selina stole $28 million worth of diamonds from some corrupt cops who had framed Holly Robinson for the murder of an undercover cop they'd killed. Unfortunately for Selina, they happened to be working for Black Mask, who got his revenge in the next big storyline, 'Relentless', by enlisting the help of one of Selina's childhood friends.

The former friend of Selina holds a massive grudge against Selina due to a bad experience they'd had when they were homeless teenagers, and as a result gave Black Mask just enough information to hurt her without actually giving him her name.

These things involved having her friend Slam Bradley run over, Holly beaten up and kidnapped, and Selina's newly-returned-to-Gotham sister Maggie getting fed pieces of her husband while chained to a wall.

When Selina finally found out where Black Mask was, she offered to let Black Mask kill her if he let Holly and, the now catatonic, Maggie go. This is where we start off,
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Selina explodes a bomb she'd hidden on top of the lift leading to Black Mask's penthouse, and in the confusion breaks free and starts kicking Roman and her ex-friend's asses,

We then skip forward a few years, the Brubaker/Cooke/Stewart run is over, and Black Mask has returned and , post-War Games and the Spoiler/powerdrill incident, decided to get into the Society of Supervillains by making Selina is archenemy. He does this by having Slam's son put into the hospital, Slam put into the hospital with a message carved into his chest amongst other things.
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We then skip forward even further, to an One Year Later storyline where a cop is doggedly trying to solve the murder of Black Mask despite the fact that no one cares and he's even told repeatedly by his superiors to just drop it.

Eventually he arrests Holly, who doesn't know that Selina shot Roman, and give a lot more proof than what we normally get when supervillains die.
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The detective kept that skull on his desk.

So that all in mind, who the heck is that guy in Battle of the Cowl meant to be? Has he moved to Africa all this time, somehow managing to ironically pull the same trick that Stephanie Brown did, fake autopsy photoes and all? Has Superboy Prime begun smacking Time around in that last issue of that Final Crisis Legion of Superheroes series that seems to have dropped off that map?

Or is it someone pretending to be Roman? My votes are either Jason Todd, though him pretending to be two people wearing black masks with glowing red eyes is kind of silly; or the Joker, who has yet to appear in Battle of the Cowl yet.

(Post a new comment)

	batcookies 2009-04-24 06:57 pm UTC (link)
	I don't think I'll ever really get over just how damn STUPID Black Mask was. Oh, and my money's on "Black Mask" turning out to be Orpheus. With Battle of the Cowl it's best to assume the most idiotic things possible. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	espanolbot 2009-04-24 06:59 pm UTC (link)
	Aw, he can't really help it, he was dropped on his head as a baby after all... seriously. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	ashez2ashes 2009-04-24 08:34 pm UTC (link)
	Still pretty damn stupid, imho. I wish a little genre savy would come up the next time someone kills him. "Oh you killed Black Mask? Eh, don't worry about it. After six or seven times it should really stop counting as murder." (Reply to this) (Parent)

	thokstar.livejournal.com 2009-04-24 08:36 pm UTC (link)
	Black Mask is actually Black Manta in disguise, who's bored because there's no Aquaman for him to hate? Or is that not idiotic enough? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	kitty_tc_69 2009-04-25 03:07 am UTC (link)
	I have a question, does anyone know which one predates the other, Red Skull or Black Mask? Because I'm finding it very hard not to see this character as a palette-swapped wannabe. Even down to the multiple deaths that never stick, though from what I've seen the Skull is a much higher class of villain. Any clarification on this issue would be appreciated. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	tacobob 2009-04-25 11:13 am UTC (link)
	Red Skull by a mile. Black Mask popped up in the mid 80's. Red Skull was introduced in the 40's. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	psychop_rex 2009-04-26 01:32 am UTC (link)
	Plus, the whole 'blackened, skull-like features' thing is fairly recent; for quite a long time, Black Mask was just, well, a guy wearing a black mask. And I must say, I liked him better that way - he was much more distinctive-looking with the orange suit and the scowling wooden facial features. I mean, he doesn't even wear a mask anymore! Talk about false advertising. (Reply to this) (Parent)

sailorlibra
2009-04-24 06:59 pm UTC (link)

or the Joker, who has yet to appear in Battle of the Cowl yet.

It's not really the Joker's style to let someone else take the credit for the crimes he commits. That said, however, I must admit that the idea isn't without precedent. Dini just recently had Joker pretend to be a magician. And the Joker is likely to be even more unhinged than usual after the death of his rival, so who knows what he's up to?

I generally default to thinking that Black Mask really is just Black Mask, since we all know that consistent continuity in comics is just a myth.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	uadlika 2009-04-24 07:41 pm UTC (link)
	Hmm, I wonder if the Joker has made good on his promise in (what I think was) Batman Cacophony, where he said that when Batman died he would stop committing crimes and spend the rest of his days drugged up on so many anti-psychotics that he was unable to function. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	uadlika 2009-04-24 07:49 pm UTC (link)
	Yes it was Cacophony: Thank you s_d (Reply to this) (Parent)

	bluejaybirdie 2009-04-24 08:40 pm UTC (link)
	I think, left to his own devices, he would (he's broken-hearted about losing Bats after all); but we all know DC Editorial wouldn't stand for that. They aren't going to sideline him anytime soon. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	uadlika 2009-04-24 09:03 pm UTC (link)
	It would be an interesting story if for the next few years (you know, until Bruce comes back) the Joker was not used as a Bat villain. Then when Bruce comes back he wonders where the Joker went, finds him, frees him from his drug-induced state, and is thus partially responsible for the Joker's newest reign of terror. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ebailey140
2009-04-25 01:44 pm UTC (link)

Well, when Smith had him saying those things, he was using Miller's Dark Knight Returns, as the Joker was catatonic during the years Batman was gone. It's when Bruce has taken up the mantle, again, that the Joker recovers. That's where Batman was shifted into being the Joker's main motivation. In pre-DKR comics, he'd just been doing crime for the sake of it, though he enjoyed his confrontations with the Bat.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	ebailey140 2009-04-25 01:46 pm UTC (link)
	I generally default to thinking that Black Mask really is just Black Mask, since we all know that consistent continuity in comics is just a myth. One of the editors (Don't remember which) said it was a different guy in this one, since the original was dead. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	icon_uk 2009-04-24 07:03 pm UTC (link)
	So that all in mind, who the heck is that guy in Battle of the Cowl meant to be? A better question is who the heck is this guy from War Games onwards that everyone kept saying was Black Mask, because he had bugger all in common with Roman, and was basically the Joker with a skull mask. (Reply to this) (Thread)

ebailey140
2009-04-25 01:51 pm UTC (link)

A better question is who the heck is this guy from War Games onwards that everyone kept saying was Black Mask, because he had bugger all in common with Roman, and was basically the Joker with a skull mask.

He and the Joker were both psycho, but other than that, different. The Joker isn't quite into long torture for it's own sake. Black Mask was also more of a straight up crime boss aside from the sadism.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	ex_octopusso248 2009-04-24 07:35 pm UTC (link)
	I simply love Cooke's art on the Catwoman run, he's got Selina down. The scene where Black Mask feeds Maggie's husband to her was probably the most disturbing scene in comics I've ever seen. And yes, I've read Maus. That's the main reason I don't want Black Mask back, he's just an excuse for creepy author gorn. Ew. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	bluejaybirdie 2009-04-24 08:41 pm UTC (link)
	Motto on the Cooke artwork, and I would like to add that Cooke-drawn Holly is adorable. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	scottyquick 2009-04-24 11:01 pm UTC (link)
	See, this beauty here is Cameron Stewart. Still as gorgeous, though! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	runespoor7 2009-04-25 06:38 am UTC (link)
	Double the motto on Cooke's art. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	daningram 2009-04-24 07:36 pm UTC (link)
	Gah, the Catwoman writer was trying way too hard to be meta with Black Mask. "We're arch enemies!" Teah, this isn't Venture Brothers and you're not the Monarch, Maskie. Shame that stupid "I need an arch enemy and you're it, Catwoman!" lived on in Angle Man. (Reply to this)

	warpedhand 2009-04-24 07:38 pm UTC (link)
	So was that cop on Black Mask's payroll, or what? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	espanolbot 2009-04-24 07:41 pm UTC (link)
	No, at least he doesn't seem to be from the issues I've read. He just thinks that everyone deserves to be avenged if they're murdered by someone. Even people who feed innocent women their husband's eyes, and who torture teenage girls with scapels, powerdrills and broken glass. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bwmedia.wordpress.com 2009-04-26 03:27 pm UTC (link)
	You know, ordinarily I'd join that mindset on principle, but in Black Mask's case (who created this worthless piece of trash, anyway?), I'd be willing to make an exception. Why was this guy ever considered a good idea? Oh, right, vulgarity trumps writing nowadays. (Reply to this) (Parent)

retro_nouveau
2009-04-24 08:08 pm UTC (link)

I'll just say what I said last time: So many of my favorite girlz is killers and two of my favorite boyz has a problem with that. Is she is or is she ain't? Watch and see that Selina didn't kill Black Mask, and Bruce will smugly tell her that he suspected all along, so that's why he gave her the benefit of the doubt...

Joker's sitting in a dark corner somewhere, muttering "not dead yet" over and over and over...

(Reply to this)

	seawolf10 2009-04-24 08:13 pm UTC (link)
	About that last page... Points for trying to put some muscle on Holly, but...does anyone else think her proportions look off (most noticeably in the first panel), even accounting for the odd "camera" angle? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	toasty_fresh 2009-04-24 08:17 pm UTC (link)
	What, that she suddenly has about as much muscle as Batman and boobs to match Pamela Anderson? Because that struck me as weird, too . . . (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	espanolbot 2009-04-25 04:44 pm UTC (link)
	I thought that she was wearing a padded suit to try and look like Selina or something. Though it looking kind of odd in that panel. (Reply to this) (Parent)

toasty_fresh
2009-04-24 08:19 pm UTC (link)

Ugh, I hated that run on Catwoman with the Black Mask. Not only was it gross and entirely unnecessary, it wasn't enjoyable. I like gore when it's well done and has a good story behind it, but this was just stupid. And while the art was beautiful, why that particular haircut? It is possible for a woman to have short hair without looking like a man, and I'd love a Catwoman with an Audrey Hepburn-type hairstyle, but that mullet/80s/skunk on her head is so not attractive and a far cry from the femme fatale vibe Catwoman's supposed to have . . .

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	scottyquick 2009-04-24 11:03 pm UTC (link)
	She had to cut it herself while on the run with a pair of scissors in a gas station bathroom in 5 minutes. (Reply to this) (Parent)

bluefall
2009-04-26 12:03 am UTC (link)

Not only was it gross and entirely unnecessary, it wasn't enjoyable.

Yeah, motto this. There was just no point to it, and it so thoroughly had nothing to do with Catwoman. It was not classy, it was not subtle, it was not graceful or decadent or clever or any of the things one reads a story about Selina to see. It didn't require her to be smart or stealthy or suave in order to win out. It was grotesque brutality, for the sole purpose of making Selina engage in coarse, artless further brutality. So of course, let's do it again!

Though I will say I like the hair when Woods draws it. The Cooke take is just weird, but that panel in the hospital when she's talking to her fake babydaddy... very sexy.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	merseybeatler 2009-04-24 09:24 pm UTC (link)
	Selina's newly-returned-to-Gotham sister Maggie getting fed pieces of her husband while chained to a wall. ....EW. On a totally unrelated note, it pleases me to no end that in those first scans Selina's got my precise haircut. I feel geekishly more favorable towards it now. (Reply to this)

	thandrak 2009-04-24 11:57 pm UTC (link)
	I love Brubaker/Cooke as much as the next person... but there is NO WAY she stayed inside that outfit during that fight. Even with double sided tape. (Reply to this)

killermoth1
2009-04-25 06:20 am UTC (link)

Apart from open-front Selina, that first one is really neat. I know Brubaker's run is great on Catwoman, but I think the torture scene went too fa,r but I'm glad Brubaker killed the barstool in the same story. The panel of Black Mask begging also makes me grin from ear to ear, he definitely raped the dog in that story.

Not that it lasted, I'm so sick of seeing Black Mask being promoted by DC. He's not cool, never really was, except the awesomely snarky Winick version and the awesomely prepared The Batman one, complete with a set of commandos and a sweet catchphrase: *shoots Number 1 and points to nearest ally* "You! You're my new number one!"

Thanks for the scans Espanolbot. I'm hoping the new Black Mask turns out to be Hippolyta so DC will have to retcon the thing like Amazons Attack :p

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	runespoor7 2009-04-25 06:36 am UTC (link)
	He's not cool, never really was, except the awesomely snarky Winick version This, so much. It helps that Winick likes his snarky villains, but Black Mask was a real joy to read in UtH. It also probably helps that Winick didn't make him do anything gruesome either. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

killermoth1
2009-04-25 07:22 am UTC (link)

This, so much. It helps that Winick likes his snarky villains, but Black Mask was a real joy to read in UtH. It also probably helps that Winick didn't make him do anything gruesome either.
Ha, thanks. Winick is not my favourite writer, but damn if he can't write some cool snarky villains. While I agree with Batcookies that he kinda HAD to die, if the characterisation was Winick's before and after, then I would have loved the character. Seriously, who get lines like "It's like trying to run an evil organisation with my Mother!" these days?

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	batcookies 2009-04-25 07:05 am UTC (link)
	Winnick should have created a new villain then, because Black Mask just HAD to die. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	roboshrew3000 2009-04-26 06:13 pm UTC (link)
	I love Cameron Stewart's art. His Selina is sexy and badass, and his action sequences are so dynamic! I never bothered to read War Games, so I wonder if they tried to explain how Black Mask survived falling off a skyscraper... (Reply to this)