Catwoman vs. Black Mask, Pt. 2

Catwoman’s entire supporting cast has been kidnapped or hospitalized.  Everyone Selina cares about has been methodically taken out by mob boss/supervillain Black Mask and his goons as revenge for $28 million worth of diamonds that she snatched in an earlier issue. Luckily for us, angry Catwoman’s like angry Batman without boring stuff like a moral code.  So this’ll be fun.

As we pick up from where we left off, she still doesn’t know who took all her buddies/family.  Though first, because of the target audience, she has to wash off her emotional baggage in the obligatory shower scene.

And they don’t.  Catwoman’s not exactly feared in the Gotham community.  Well, not if she has anything to say about that.  Time to get some answers the only way a superhero does – bursting through a moving train window.

While Bruce Wayne came from immense wealth, Selina came from the opposite.  Her mom committed suicide and her dad drank himself to death very soon after.  She spent her youth either inside juvenile detention or out homeless on the streets.  The superhero Wildcat taught her boxing, she mastered several forms of martial arts, and Catwoman has a crazy natural talent for gymnastics and acrobatics.  Yes, she didn’t travel for a decade studying with the finest fighters in the world like Batman.  But in the absence of globetrotting, she makes up for it with instinct and brutality.  Especially brutality.

As she breaks into the penthouse for her confrontation with Sylvia and Black Mask, the scene plays out exactly like every good action movie finale.  You’ll see.  All the cliches are there, and you would be disappointed if they weren’t.

Former best friend sold out our protagonist to the arc’s antagonist?  Check.  Time to put that traitor down?  Also check.

I know there’s a fiery inferno behind Black Mask.  I skipped some stuff.  But the narrative still holds strong, right?  Plus, every good fight takes place surrounded by fire.  Builds suspense and whatnot. Oh, and did I mention that Catwoman’s pissed?  Like really pissed.

The biggest difference between Batman and Catwoman?  This:

He survives, as all supervillains do.  Maybe his henchmen deployed a trampoline before he fell, I don’t know.  But Batman would have helped him up.  Heck, one story once involved the Joker arrested for a crime he didn’t commit and Batman worked tirelessly to prove his innocence.  That’s just Batman.  After his resurrection, a main reason Jason Todd (the second Robin) turned to crime was that he saw the Joker still laughing freely around town after the clown horrifically killed him.  Not a drop of vengeance from the Bat.  We as readers should respect Batman’s decision to some degree, if just because it’s one more way that Bruce Wayne is a better person than us and deserves that whole superhero title.

But not Catwoman.  You mess with her family, then the punishment will reflect accordingly.  A final loose end to clean up:

Safe to say, there’s going to be some lasting PTSD from everyone involved.  I didn’t show it, but Maggie Kyle’s husband met his demise at Black Mask’s hand.  And Black Mask made Maggie eat her husband’s eyeballs.  Yes, I’m serious.  So she’s now institutionalized, as she should be.

Despite the permanent, lasting damage to everyone involved in the series, at least one silver lining emerges.  And in one of the bleakest stories I’ve ever read, it ends properly.  With a happy ending.

Tomorrow we’re going to cover Black Mask’s return and his final battle with Catwoman.  Heads up, Black Mask’s still a huge jerk.

Catwoman vs. Black Mask, Pt. 1

In my last Black Mask article a week ago, I mentioned his eventual downfall at the hands of Catwoman.  Well, we’ll get to that.  The rest of the week involves Black Mask’s attempts to take over Gotham’s East End and Catwoman’s attempts to stop him.  Also, they’re both insane, vengeful people.  So it’s going to be fun.

Catwoman (real name Selina Kyle), I believe, is Batman’s soulmate, y’know, if he wasn’t already married to crimefighting.  So with her head held high in the early 2000s, she heads back to the slums of Gotham she grew up in and declares herself its new protector.  Like any good comic character, she quickly gains a fun, emotive group of sidekicks and side characters, and fights everyone from mobsters to ancient Egyptian death cults.  Most importantly, her life hasn’t been this good in a very long time.

Until Black Mask shows up.  Unfortunately for Selina, she recently and successfully masterminded a plot to steal 28 million dollars worth of diamonds from Black Mask’s men.  Big mistake.  Where our story currently picks up, in Catwoman #12-16, volume 2, written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Cameron Stewart, Catwoman’s days are currently filled with lively, fun heists and running into delightful old friends.

With her diamond money, Selina decides to open a community center in the East End.  Being a hero and all that.  And I have to introduce Catwoman’s supporting cast, as they’re fairly vital to the story.

First up, the old man next to Selina is Slam Bradley, a grizzed old-fashioned detective who enjoys cigarettes and bar fights, like all private eyes do.  And despite his cliched attitude and background, understand that he’s been around since 1937.  As in a year before Superman.  As in he was the star of Detective Comics #1, the comic Batman would make his premiere in 26 issues later.  After a spattering of appearances since his comic run ended in 1949, he’s most recently hanging out with Catwoman in her solo series, as you’ve just seen.

The girl with orange hair is Holly Robinson, former runaway, prostitute, and junkie, now living and helping Catwoman with information gathering and girltalk.  Also, in 2004, Catwoman won a GLAAD award for Holly’s positive portrayal as an openly gay character.  Plus, she’s upbeat and feisty.

Enough of that though.  Catwoman is investigating some child crime in the area when she finds their hideout, which just so happens to be the exact hideout she was raised in as a child.

So as children, Selina, Sylvia, and a bunch of other children, were raised to steal, rob, and pickpocket from unsuspecting bystanders.  Very Oliver Twist-like.  Of course, their caretaker was a terrible, horrible woman and they eventually escaped.  Now, Sylvia runs the child thief group, but y’know, with not beating kids or crushing them emotionally.  So like half better.

Still, nice to run into her childhood best friend, right?  Oh, the happy surprises don’t end there.  But we should probably check in with Slam and Selina’s adult best friend Holly first.

Oh yeah, so Catwoman has a younger sister named Maggie.  Fated down the same demeaning and soul-crushing path that Selina went down, she eventually joined the nunnery to escape.  Well, not anymore.  Now she’s married and living that white picket fence life she dreamed about.

Community center opening!  Always the hottest ticket on the Gotham social scene.  Also, doesn’t hurt that Bruce Wayne showed up and made a speech.  He and Selina have a history.  A dirty history.

You see Catwoman’s smile?  No, seriously, go look at it again, because that’s the last happy moment you’ll see on this website for the next three days.  From the next image on, everything is just one horrific problem after the other.  I’m excited too.

Of course, first up to get revenge on Catwoman, you have to ruin months of her time and money.

The community center gone, the bad guys can now concentrate on Selina’s friends and loved ones.

With Maggie’s husband sufficiently kidnapped, might as well go for the matching pair:

Trust me, while they don’t show it, she’s as good as snatched.  Two buddies left.

There goes Slam.  Three down, one to go.  Though you’d probably want to know what’s going on, right?  Of course you do, you’re a curious individual.  Heads up, it mainly involves torture.

Well, you don’t become mob boss of Gotham without some sort of sick streak.  I mean, you know who he has to compete with.  Slam’s in the hospital, and the Kyles are hung up in Black Mask’s medieval torture dungeon, but Holly’s still around.  One for four ain’t bad.

And that’s the complete set.  Betrayals hurt even when not beaten by a large group of kids with skateboards.  By the way, you think you’ve seen Batman when he’s angry?  He’s a sleeping puppy compared to Catwoman’s rage.  Our story continues with the action packed second part tomorrow, where Catwoman beats the crap out of everyone who dared intrude in her life.

Superman and the Supermen war, Pt. 2

Where’d we leave off?  Oh yeah, Lex Luthor’s missile turned Earth’s sun red and all the New Kryptonians (along with Superman and Supergirl) suddenly reverted back to their normal non-Superman states, now suffocating in the vacuum in space.

To solve our new dilemma, we have to go back to Superman’s pals back on Earth.  Namely Flamebird.

Flamebird (real name Thara Ak-Var) is one of the citizens of the Kryptonian city Kandor that became New Krypton.  Kandor’s religious guild made her the new Flamebird, giving her pyrokinesis and few other nifty abilities.  Bad stuff happened and she ended up on Earth as a local superhero.  Oh, and she can do this:

Tragic, yes, but that’s how superheroes are supposed to perish.  Superheroes don’t die plopping over after a riveting game of Scrabble at the nursing home.  Nope, sacrifice and redemption are the only two ways to go.

With Superman and Supergirl being the only two survivors (maybe their time on Earth increased their lung capacity or something?), the armies now stand as follows:
Earth: 5,999,950,000
New Krypton: 7,000
Superman: 8

The battle shifts to Earth, where the New Kryptonians are going to town on the planet’s defenses. Well, except for Earth’s massive Kryptonite weaponry arsenal, powerful Kryptonite robots, and of course, Frankenstein.

The war of Earth vs. New Krypton lasts for an entire issue and has like seven side plots, like this one involving Supergirl and Zod’s wife Ursa:

But you have to read the book to see them all.  I’m scared if I post more than a third of the pictures from any issue or arc, angry DC goons will come to my house and break my legs with a replica Aquaman trident.  And besides, we’re focusing on the boy scout and the evil goatee’d general anyway.

Let’s be fair to our hero, Superman’s definitely a better fighter and more skilled with his powers than the other Kryptonians.  Fighting Metallo and Parasite twice a week for twenty years will do that. Unfortunately, the New Kryptonians were trained by Superman.  So that sucks.

If Metropolis would just clean up after themselves and stop leaving their battleships around, this wouldn’t have happened.  Luckily halfway across the world, Superboy had an epiphany beyond deciding to wear jeans into battle.  The Phantom Zone ghost prison would certainly be a better place for these alien invaders instead of them chucking cars at buildings.

This article and the last one, I’ve neglected most of what General Lane (Lois Lane’s father) has said and done.  After all, he’s the real architect of attacking New Krypton that caused this war in the first place.  And it wouldn’t be a Superman comic without arguments over moral issues and responsibilities.

With that threat taken care of, only one final obstacle stands in the way of Superman.  Remember when I said superheroes are supposed to die by sacrifice or redemption?  We’re going to get a big slap of the former.

When Nightwing says humankind, he really means Bruce Wayne.  That man broods enough as it is, how much more can he possibly fit into his day without his best bud around?  Before Superman makes sacrificial life altering decisions, he really should remember to ask himself, how will this affect Batman?  It’s the nice thing to do.

You want an epilogue, right?  You deserve it.

I’m going to chalk this up as a happy ending.  Because after thirty-ish issues from when the New Krypton stories started, Superman really needs a break.  A romantic flying off into the sunset break.

Superman and the Supermen war, Pt. 1

The most powerful hero in the DC universe!  So strong!  So handsome!  So righteous!  And he just made a huge mistake.

One day, Braniac (the super intelligent alien) attacks Earth and Superman saves the day.  As he always does.  But among Braniac’s trophies was the shrunken Kryptonian city of Kandor, neatly placed in a bottle.  Well, not anymore.  Now back to full size, Kandor and its population got their own nice little planet on the other side of the solar system.  Good and bad news.  Superman now has a hundred thousand of his own people, thought forever lost in Krypton’s explosion.  But because they now also live among a yellow sun, they all get Superman’s powers.

For those not in the know, to explain how Kryptonians are normal people on Krypton yet have crazy powers on Earth, writers decided that it was the sun’s yellow solar rays the triggered all those abilities.  Y’see, Krypton has a red sun, which keeps them at civilian strength.

Well, just because there are a hundred thousand Supermen running around, Earth should be safe as long as some power-hungry vengeful supervillain doesn’t take control of New Krypton and start a war with our lovely blue planet. Oh, except that’s exactly what happened in War of the Supermen #1-4, written by Sterling Gates and James Robinson and drawn by Jamal Igle.

Meet General Zod.  Back when Krypton was not exploded, Zod served as military leader until he committed treason (by siding with Jor-El believing Krypton’s imminent destruction) and he was shipped off to the Phantom Zone.  It’s a weird dimensional place, like a prison, but where people sentenced there lose their physical attributes.  Like ghosts.  It’s complicated.  Anyway, because Zod was in the Phantom Zone, he survived the destruction of his home planet and now spends his life escaping his prison and trying to kill Jor-El’s son, Superman.  Strangely, Superman’s rogue gallery isn’t fairly well-known, but he’s definitely one of the bigger names that battle the Man of Steel.

So why are the New Kryptonians looking to destroy Earth?  Mainly General Lane (Lois Lane’s father) and Lex Luthor’s fault.  They’ve been trying to kill all the Supermen.  After a few successes (and killing a fifth of the population), time for Zod and the entire military to retaliate.  Oh, and duh, supervillainy:

A war between Earth and New Krypton is inevitable.  The casualties will be enormous, so being the superhero he is, Superman decides to prevent this from happening in the first place.  Gotta save both his original and adopted home.  Which means our armies are as follows:
Earth: 6,000,000,000
New Krypton: 80,000
Superman: 1

Not good odds.

Before the war begins though, we should check back in on New Krypton itself.  There, Supergirl and her mother are interrogating one of Luthor’s supervillain henchmen they captured.

You can argue all you want that the Joker is a far more interesting and dangerous DC villain than Lex Luthor, but the Joker never did this:

After this, doesn’t look like negotiations are going to solve the war.  Nope, Superman just got himself involved in a massive bloody rumble with zero hope of slowing down the momentum.  At least he does the responsible thing and goes to look for survivors.  I’m sorry, I meant survivor.

Tasked with a near impossible task, Superman at least isn’t alone.  Nope, because when you’ve been around for 74 years, you’re bound to pick up some superfriends.  Not the Super Friends.  These guys:

With the addition of, from left to right, Flamebird, Nightwing, Guardian, Jimmy Olsen, Steel, Krypto, and Superboy to our team of Superman and Supergirl, our armies are now as follows:
Earth: 6,000,000,000
New Krypton: 20,000
Superman: 9

Still not good odds.  Though 20,000 angry Supermen remains more than enough to take down Earth. And trust me, no holding back anymore:

Now, Earth’s not stupid.  Trust me, as strong as the New Kryptonians are (very), Earth has a few trump cards up its sleeve.  Including one that’s downright cruel, horrific, and genocidal.  Y’know, the one Lex Luthor thought of.

What a jerk!  But also, what a brilliant military move.  Are Superman and Supergirl doomed?  I still have 20ish images left, so we’re going to save the rest for tomorrow.  But don’t worry, because there’s plenty of punching to come.

Wonder Woman’s Batman dilemma

Just another normal night in Gotham City:

No costume or gimmicks means this young girl’s getting locked up in normal prison.  No psychiatric treatment and padded walls for her.  Being well aware of her options, she chooses the smartest one.

Except in our little adventure today, Batman’s the antagonist.  Yup, we’re rooting for that girl with the cool leather jacket and fancy motorcycle.  Just because she offed some dudes doesn’t mean she can rumble with the Dark Knight, so she goes to seek help from someone who can.

Thus starts Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia, a graphic novel written by Greg Rucka and drawn by J. G. Jones.  The success gathered from this one-shot became so great, that Rucka was hired to become the writer for the Wonder Woman series the next year.  Y’see, Wonder Woman (Princess Diana of Themyscira) comes from the Amazonian island soaked in ancient traditions and rituals.  Our young girl protagonist, revealed as Danielle Wellys, memorized one of them.

Hiketeia, explained in the first few pages of the book that I didn’t show you, is an oath which once made, forces the supplicated to protect the supplicant.  No matter what.  With extreme penalties for either party breaking the oath.  Penalties that involve those hooded ladies with the smeared lips.

While Diana ain’t scared of some demon ladies, they do kick her butt in the battle before this talk. Magic and whatnot.  So this trial they mention?  Later, because gaining Wonder Woman’s assistance also means being her assistant.  Two way street in Hiketeia.

I really just wanted to show you what Wonder Woman does in her free time when she’s not jump kicking cheetahs or whoever’s attacking that day.  And more urgently, she has a trial to deal with.  An angry, brooding trial.

Both Wonder Woman and Batman get to be moral compasses for the heroes of the DC universe. They’re original members of the Justice League and both fight crime amid the painful sacrifices and suffering endured.  But you know the drill.  Batman’s black and white.  He may pull off the wings and legs of a passing fly, but he’s never going to squish it.  Explanations for murder are meaningless, because the law states not to murder.  Done and done.

Wonder Woman tends to be more lax with that extreme.  That and she’s killed a whole bunch of people/monsters/bugs.  And normally, she wouldn’t harbor a fugitive considering that she’s a superhero and all.  But an oath’s an oath, regardless of Batman’s desires or intentions.  Though wouldn’t hurt for him to make a little bit of small talk first.

Danielle’s fear-stricken face is a testament to Batman’s reputation.  Criminals pee their pants even when Wonder Woman, who’s as strong as Superman but with none of the weaknesses, blocks Batman’s path.  Though that’s not going to stop him from being mean.

Not armed with any Amazonian kryptonite (pants?), Batman acknowledges his defeat.  For now, because it’s hard to peg the Dark Knight as a quitter.  More importantly, Danielle emotionally begs Wonder Woman to let her tell her what’s going on.  Y’know, to justify punching her teammate off a second floor balcony.  And while she’s absolutely a murderer, the men did deserve it.  Danielle’s sister, filled with hopes and dreams, arrives in Gotham City with promises of a new, happy life.  Oops. This is the least disgusting of all the pages of her sister’s story:

Unsurprisingly, Danielle followed her sister to Gotham intending to avenge her death by these pimps/drug dealers.  Mission complete, by the way.  Only thing she botched was the escape plan where the local superhero doesn’t yank her off her motorcycle.  Danielle understanding that she’s the reason two friends have to battle, she runs away.  Terrible mistake.

C’mon, that’s a super awesome line from Batman.  Notice the problem?  Batman won’t stop because his resolve won’t allow him.  But Wonder Woman can’t break her oath because tradition/witch claws won’t allow her.  No matter the outcome, it’s a loss.

Of course he’ll get back up.  That’s what superheroes do.  Poor Danielle, watching the whole time from the sidelines, realizes there’s only one way to end this fight.  The way the witches wanted from the very beginning.

Not to lessen the tragedy, but the Justice League cafeteria’s going to be pretty tense after this. Now go read Rucka’s run on Wonder Woman.  It’s about time you get acquainted with the warrior princess.

Black Mask: Gotham’s mob boss

Batman’s rogue gallery may very well be the most beloved in comics.  Also, it’s enormous.  Black Mask, while not known to casual fans, has been around since 1985 (eight years before Bane) and during the 2000s, he becomes the undisputed ruler of Gotham’s criminal underworld.

Black Mask (real name Roman Sionis), like most of Batman’s villains, has no superpowers.  Born to miserable socialites, Roman develops sociopathic tendencies and eventually turns to crime.  Later, a fire fuses his mask (to disguise his identity) to his face permanently.  Finally, during the Batman event War Games in 2004, he does some super horrible stuff and secures his place as the most powerful gangster in Gotham.  And as you know, villains are just as important as the heroes they fight.

More importantly, and the entire reason I’m writing this article, is his rockin’ personality. Yes, he’s a sick, twisted bad guy and I don’t recommend bringing him up during your church dinners or soup kitchen duty, but I became enthralled with his conversations and actions during the Under the Red Hood arcs that took place in Batman #635-41 and #645-50, written by Judd Winick and drawn mainly by Doug Mahnke.  We’ll take a look at three of those scenes.

Let’s introduce today’s focus:

As we read a few of his scenes from the arc, we also have to talk about the Red Hood.  The Red Hood’s an ol’ timey villain introduced in 1951, and actually served as the Joker’s alias for a while. Joker wore his Red Hood costume when he got knocked into the chemical vat by Batman (thus bleaching his skin, turning his hair green, and triggering his latent insanity).

Now, in 2005, the Red Hood suddenly appears again.  Since it’s fairly common knowledge at this point, the Red Hood’s identity is revealed to be Jason Todd, the second Robin.  Y’know, the Robin who was killed by Joker after a crowbar attack and explosion in 1988.  The same Robin who was brought back to life because Superboy-Prime punched a hole in reality.  Not a joke.  He grew up in hiding, trained in secret, and re-emerged as a full-on supervillain.  The same supervillain who’s going to challenge Black Mask for control of his criminal empire.

Scene 1

How could you not love Black Mask’s nonchalant threats and bargaining?  No one could argue that it’s easy to run the entire underworld.  The lifespans are short, the stress is high, and the risks are great. But if you’re going into that lifestyle, why not enjoy it?  Black Mask certainly does.  Plus, check out his business chops:

You and I aren’t stupid.  No one climbs the bloody mountain to the murderous peak by making deals with fresh faces.  I mean, Black Mask has a reputation of cruelty, even to those trained by Batman and Ra’s al Ghul.  So, being the shrewd businessman, Black Mask finds a way to get his product without having to pay.  The Gotham way.

Want to see Jason Todd take on Mr. Freeze?  Gotta buy the comic, I’m pushing 30-ish pictures today already.  But the war between Black Mask and Red Hood heats up.  Turns out Jason Todd’s fairly successful at what he does: hostile takeovers of illegal businesses.

Scene 2

The joke here is literal.  Also, doesn’t it seem surprisingly easy for Gotham’s supervillains to get their hands on really powerful weaponry?

Just because the Red Hood doesn’t have any superpowers doesn’t make him any less dangerous than those who do.  And Black Mask and his goons can’t even put a dent in the guy.  Plus, after a dude blows up your office, it’s time to start accepting outside help, and luckily, that outside help comes to him.

If you don’t know Deathstroke, he’s the assassin who once took on the entire Justice League at once and almost won.  I think I’ll show that issue soon.

So what does Black Mask want help with?  Let him eloquently explain:

Unfortunately, Deathstroke himself is just the messenger.  His skills are way too valuable to take out a former Robin.  But for the small price of Black Mask’s agreement to become a Society member, the Gotham criminal will get a few supervillains of his own to sick on the boy wonder.  Though to be fair to Black Mask, the supervillains provided aren’t exactly Lex Luthor or Gorilla Grodd caliber.

Sometimes it’s just nice to see two deadly, amoral supervillains bond a little bit.  And how do the supervillains do against the Red Hood (and Batman)?  You’ll have to read it.  Though in the animated movie of this comic, Captain Nazi and Hyena are nowhere to be seen, sadly.

Scene 3

Because this arc takes place over thirteen issues, Black Mask and Red Hood brawl and fight a whole bunch.  But never each other, until the final two issues.  Which of course starts out innocently enough.

And that was the last page of innocence.

The battle between the two lasts most of the issue.  And even though the Red Hood’s a highly trained martial artist, the Black Mask holds his own surprisingly well.  As the two scream and hurl insults/philosophies amid breaking pool cues over each other’s backs, I’ve taken a few choice, super awesome things the Black Mask says to show you.  I’m way too good to you.

After the fight wraps up (though there’s still two issues after this for the amazing Batman vs. Red Hood finale that the whole arc has been building up to), the Dark Knight himself shows up for mystery solving/clean up.  Since Black Mask is a Batman villain, surely it’s important to see the two converse a little.  I mean, the series is called Batman.

Definitely the most adorable explosives I’ve ever seen, don’t you agree?  Coupled with a complete lack of fear of Batman and his own smarts, Black Mask totally realizes the truth about the Red Hood.  The truth that Batman doesn’t tell family members, much less supervillains.

After this debacle, Black Mask’s reign doesn’t last much longer once he targets Catwoman, who tends to be much less forgiving than Batman.  And for being a subplot within the main story, he totally rocked it, right?  Of course you agree, because you’re also awesome.