InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "sweet moses in a handbasket"

sailorlibra (sailorlibra) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-04-26 12:54:00

Entry tags:

char: batman/bruce wayne, char: catwoman/selina kyle, char: harley quinn/harleen quinzel, char: jim gordon, char: poison ivy/pamela isley, creator: devin grayson, creator: jeph loeb, creator: jim balent, creator: jim lee, creator: karl kesel, creator: terry dodson

Cats, and Poison Ivies, and Girls Named After Motorcycles, Oh My!
The long and convoluted history of Catwoman with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. This thing ain't dial-up safe, seeing as there is over fifty scans below.

Catwoman first runs into Poison Ivy after Gotham's had its big earthquake. Against her better judgement, Selina has take it upon herself to stop potential looters.

Selina manages to escape and track Ivy down.

Catwoman chooses to smash the formula in Ivy's face, thus defeating both obstacles at once.

While Selina can be said to the victor of her battle with Ivy, her relationship with Harley is a little bit more complicated.
When the two meet, Sel is currently in jail. She's not reacting well to being imprisoned, though it's not just the imprisonment making her act strangely. They end up in cells next to each other and Harley makes Selina tell her about her childhood.

Yes, the art is hideous, thanks for asking.

In case you didn't believe me about Selina being a little crazy. Her actions lead to a riot among the inmates, who capture a few of the guards. Those officials who are not captured decide to send a strange new guard in to negotiate with the prisoners.

Harley may be silly, but she's not at all nice in this story. She decides to torture Commissioner Gordon with Selina's help, because Catwoman holds a grudge against him for putting her in jail.
Both the Commish and Batman think that Selina is solely responsible for the torture, but they can't figure out why she's doing it.

When therapists go evil... It's not a pretty sight.

And thus ends the partnership of Harley Quinn and Catwoman. On a rather sour note, I must admit.
Their next meeting is much more friendly.

I really love the way continuity is used here. Those are familiar with Harley and Cat's past, get an added layer of depth, and those are not, aren't left confused.
While Ivy is also at the party, she and Catwoman never really get a chance to talk. At least, not until Jeph Loeb released the infamous Hush. (And while I actually really really like most of Loeb's work, it would nice if it felt like he was at least slightly familiar with Catwoman's past run-ins with Harley and Ivy.)

Gee, it might have helped Ivy a little bit if she'd used that trick on Catwoman the last time. Y'know the time when Selina kicked her ass?
Unless Dini's disregarding Hush, it would be hard to see how he could establish Sel and Ivy as friends.

Ivy manages to get away, so the BatCat team borrows Superman's dog to track her down.

Harley ends up attacking an opera in Gotham. Yeah, she has good taste.

The three gals of Gotham have a complicated history with each other. A really complicated, I'll-kill-you-type-history. Frankly, I'm looking forward to seeing them interact in Gotham City Sirens, though I hope Dini doesn't just disregard their past history. It's some interesting stuff. (Though not necessarily, good stuff...)

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a_trill
2009-04-27 04:07 am UTC (link)

You think it's out of character for Selina, I don't agree, but that's fine, different strokes. I was addressing other problems I had with what you said. I wasn't specifically talking about Catwoman. I don't think a practical costume has to be "androgynous" or "neutered," that's what I was getting at.

You said, "Who finds bald women attractive?" as if no one would, and that's what I meant by the universal standard remark. My point was that different people have different standards of femininity and attractiveness.

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kitty_tc_69
2009-04-27 03:29 pm UTC (link)

Well I think you'll find that bald women are pretty rare outside the punk scene and a brief flirtation in the 70's (which gave us both Moondragon in comics and the Lt Iria character in the first Star Trek film). And it's undeniably an androgynous look.

But really, that was meant as just an offhand bit of snark, I didn't intend it to be taken so seriously or as the core of what I was trying to get at. And I'm more than happy to apologize to any whom I mistakenly offended.

However, I stand by my belief of the overall effect of the current costume as androgynous. It reminds me of the Robert Palmer girls in his "Simply Irresistible" video, or of 80s era Annie Lennox. And I just don't think that fits what Selina Kyle as Catwoman is all about.

For the record, I don't at all like how B:tAS gave us short-haired, skullcapped Selina. Her characterization was great, but those elements of her look sat wrong with me. And IMO if you're going to hide the hair, at least give her the tail and claws to emphasize the catlike profile as compensation.

On the other hand, you're right that a practical costume doesn't have to be androgynous or neutered. For a good example, look at the new sketches for the Batwoman costume. It's undeniably feminine, but it also is arguably quite a bit more practical than what Batman himself wears most of the time. It's proof in my mind that they didn't have to de-femme Selina, they just chose to. And I think it's a bad choice.

And it really does depend on the character. I love Rachel Summers, who's look has been quite butch for most of her career, especially under Claremont. And I loved the mohawk-and-leather era of Storm, more than any other incarnation. It -worked- for her. It wouldn't work for Selina.

Again, I'd have been fine with the look for Holly. She's a different character with her own style. Selina Kyle to me has certain attributes, strong among them the Femme Fatale elements that sometimes get ignored. Like now. And I miss them and want them back, that's all.

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