As I did with "The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told" discussion, I borrowed the title from a tpb collection but I plan to go beyond the actual contents of the collection itself. Catwoman has the unique distinction of appearing in the first three consecutive issues of Batman.
BATMAN #1 - "The Cat" - Kids who bought Batman #1 certainly got their money's worth, and you can take it from me because I was one (if you count the Famous 1st Edition TE, which I do). Not only did it contain the first appearance of Hugo Strange and the first two appearances of the Joker, but it also had the first appearance of the Catwoman, known then as simply "The Cat." Mrs. Martha Travers is hosting a high society get-together on her yacht, the Dolphin, and she will be wearing her emerald necklace worth a half million dollars. Batman is busy on another case, but he uses his contacts as Bruce Wayne to get Dick Grayson a job as steward. Sure enough, the necklcae is stolen almost immediately. The suspects are...
- Denny - Mrs. Travers' nephew
- Miss Pegg - Denny's elderly guest who has a sprained ankle
- Roger - Mrs. Travers' brother
- Dr. Wallace - Mrs. Travers' doctor
All of these people (except Miss Pegg) have motive. Just prior to the theft being discovered, Dick recovers a note from "The Cat" implicating Denny. Just after the theft, the "Coast Guard" arrives, but it is really just another gang of thieves after the necklace. They are disappointed to learn the emerald necklace has already been stolen, but content themselves with robbing the rest of the guests and speeding away in their launch. But Dick had changed to Robin and sneaked aboard beforehand. By this time, the trail had gone cold an Batman's other case and he catches up with the criminals. He and Robin subdue them, and return to the Dolphin with the stolen loot.
They arrive in the midst of a costume party, and Batman wins the prize trophy cup. He dumps the recovered jewelry into it and reveals that he is the real Batman. then Robin sets off the ship's fire alarm, and Batman observes that "Miss Pegg" is running pretty fast for an elderly woman with a sprained ankle. He also notices her shapely legs. After he and Robin catch her, Batman removes her wig and make-up revealing a beautiful young woman: The Cat! She is wearing the emerald necklace beneath the badage wrapping her supposedly "sprained" ankle. then Denny arrives, pulls a gun on Batman, and is quickly knocked unconscious by a left uppercut. Batman and Robin personally take the Cat into custody, but Batman allows her to escape from the boat on their way back to the harbor.
"Lovely girl!" he muses. "What eyes! Say... mustn't forget I've got a girl named Julie. Oh, well... she still had lovely eyes! Maybe I'll bump into her again sometime..."
"Hmmm..." observes Robin.
BATMAN #2 - "Joker Meets Cat-Woman" - An item in the Gotham Herald reveals: "E.S. Arthur to Ship Priceless Pharaoh Gems to British Museum - Collection Valued at $10.000.00." Knowing that the Joker will be her primary competitor, the Cat, disguised as an old woman pedling gum, stakes out the hospital in which the he is recovering after accidentally stabbing himself in issue #1. Crime Syndicate, Inc. breaks the Joker out of the hospital and, as the Cat doffs her disguise, Batman scoops her up in his arms and whisks her into the Batmobile. Fearing that Batman will turn her in to the police, she offers to reveal all she knows about the Joker in return for her freedom. Batman agrees, and she tells him that the Crime Syndicate has taken Joker to Weasel's hunting lodge. Batman lets her go, but sends Robin to track the "radioactive substance" her shows picked up from the floor of the car.
Batman get to Weasel's hunting lodge just in time to witness the Joker betraying his men. Batman captures the other criminals, bit the Joker gets away. Meanwhile, Robin has followed the Cat to E.S. Arthur's castle. she had previously "won his affections," but she arrives to find him already dead, poisoned earlier by the Joker. As she is stealing the jewels, the Joker arrives. As he holds her at gunpoint, Robin swings through the window and disarms him. after a brief fight, the Joker knocks Robin unconscious. As the Joker is about to inject him with lethal Joker venom, the Cat offers him the jewels in exchange for the boy's life. Suddenly, Batman arrives, swinging an a chandelier. He and the Joker start to dual with two swords hanging on disply above the fireplace.
The Joker drives the him off the balcony, but Batman manages to save himself. By the time he climbs back to the balustrade, the Cat and the wounded Robin have barricaded themselves in the library, and the Joker has set it afire with burning arrows fired from a crossbow. The Batman knocks the Joker out and leaves him behind as he rescues the Cat and Robin using a rope ladder from the Batplane. As soon as they are clear of the fire, however, the Cat leaps into the water below with the jewel cask, but the Batman managed to slip the jewels out while they were still climbing the ladder. Is this "The end of the Cat-Woman?" Bill finger wants to know. Apparently not, because she's back again in...
BATMAN #3 - "The Batman vs. the Cat-Woman!" - In the story, the Cat (also referred to as the "Cat-Woman") wears an orage dress, red cape, and life-like cat-head mask. As the story opens, she is looting a penthouse. The public is up in arms, and Police Commissioner Gordon appoints McGonigle of the plainclothes squad to bring her in. When Bruce Wayne gest word of the manhunt, he too sets out after her, but pointedly leaves Robin behind. He soon comes upon three men attacking another in an alleyway. Two of the men flee, but he brings down the third. The victim is D. Calvert, secretary of the Diamond Syndicate. He is mortally wounded, but manages to relay a cryptic warning about an upcoming diamond shipment before he expires. He doesn't have any diamonds on him, so robbery wasn't the motive. While Batman is seeing to the dying man, his attacker recovers, knocks Batman out from behind, and is picked up by his tweo confederates.
When Batman awakens, he is wearing handcuffs, placed there by McGonigle. Batman knocks the detective unconscious, then frees himself. when McGonigle awakens, he decides not to mention anything about the Batman in his report. Bruce Wayne visits police headquarters just as Commissioner Gordon is about to leave to interview the managers of the Diamond Syndicate, Darrel, Blake and Hoffer. They are planning a show in which the diamonds are to be displyed by professional models. the night of the show, the first model wears a ruby necklace. the second models a diamond clip. the third is wearing an arry valued at close to a million dollars. Suddenly, the "model" reaches into her handbag and hurls a flashbomb at the stage.
In the confusion, she darts into the elevator. On the way down, she takes off her blonde wig reavealing herself to be the Cat(-Woman) in disguise. Then she puts on her cat-head mask (because there's noting less suspicious than a woman in an evening dress wearing a cat-mask). As soon as she is outside, however, she is forced into a car by four men who were expecting her. Then, out from behind, darts a miniature racer driven by Robin. Robin trails them and notifies Batman by wireless where they have gone. On his way there, Bayman stops off an Darrel's penthouse and forcibly takes him along. When they arrive, Darrel is surprised to see Hoffer holding a gun on the Cat.
"You rat!" accuses Darrel. "When you and I decided to hire the Cat to steal the diamonds because we needed money, I didn't expect you to double-cross me!"
"I suddenly decided you and the Cat would be taking too much of a cut!" confesses Hoffer. "I'm going to get rid of both of you!"
Before he has a chance to, though, Batman and Robin burst in and capture the whole kit and kaboodle of them. Unfortunatley he has to turn in the Cat as well, but she understand, and thanks him for saving her life by kissing him on the lips. Batman is so nonplussed that she is able to shove him away and dart out the door. She takes off in the gangsters car, but Batman stops Robin from following in his mini-racer, explaining that "she's too far away for you to catch up!" Later, Batman drops all of the stolen jewelry and the evidence in from of McGonigle, but it still doesn't win him over to Batman's side. Meanwhile, the Cat muses, "I sort of wish the Batman were driving this car -- and I were sitting beside him... and we were just another boy and girl out for a ride on a moonlight night. that would be sort of... of... nice!!"
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BATMAN #291-294 - "Where Were You the Night Batman Was Killed?"
The word is out on the street: BATMAN IS DEAD! But the details of how he died and who killed him are sketchy and contradictory, so a hearing is convened at the secluded estate of Col. Jake "The Claw" Van Cleeve. The judge is Ra's al Ghul, the prosecutor is Two Face, the jury consists of the Mad Hatter, the Spook, Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow, Signalman and Mr. Freeze.
Catwoman is called to testify.
The fact that Catwoman has never killed is mentioned twice in this story, lending creedence to Philip's assertion that The Brave & the Bold #131 takes place in the "Haney-verse." Ra's al Ghul "objects" to Catwoman's display of mourning, but the claimant "overrules" the judge's objection. I would be curious to know Bob Ingersol's thoughts on this hearing. (I call it a hearing, but it is referred to in the story as a "trial.") Catwoman testifies that "some time ago" she dropped from sight, adopted the identity of "Madame Claudine" and went legit. Three weeks prior, she had hosted an exlusive fashion show in the rotunda of her salon. the show was held up, but the Batman arrived and took care of the would-be thieves. One of them implicates Two Face.
This time Two Face objects. Ra's al Ghul aks for his coin and the judge flips it, overruling the objection. "Madame Claudine" becomes Catwoman again at this point in her testimony to clear her name, and it turns out that she wasn't quite as "legit" as she said. A car chase ensures, which results in both the Batmobile and the Catwoman's car going over the Gorge Bridge and plunging into the ravine below. The only thing Catwoman had taken with her were a chest filled with her treasures, a jaguar and a cage made from a Brazilian pepper tree. Batman soon surfaces, but the cage will not support him and her and her cat and her treasure. She must choose between the cat, the treasure and Batman, and she chooses to sacrifice Batman.
Then Two Face has a large glass tank wheeled into the makeshift courtroom along with the jaguar's cage. Two Face tells the jury that wood from the Brazilian pepper tree has a density one-and-a-half times that of water, and proves it by dropping it into the tank of water. It sinks, thereby disproving Catwoman's testimony. (I don't know what the charge for perjury is in this "courtroom.") Two Face maintains that, although she did not kill Batman, she wanted to take credit for it to enhance her reputaion. Poison Ivy leaps to her feet and shouts, "Not guilty!"... apparently without deliberating with the rest of the jury.
NEXT: "The Testimony of the Riddler!" (see the "Riddle Me This!" discussion).
Some other Catwoman appearances:
Adventure Comics #419 (My'72) (versus Black Canary)
Wonder Woman #201-202 (Au-O'72) (a really weurd one with Fafhad and the Gray Mouser!)
Secret Society of Super-Villains #1 (Ju'76) (mentioned in a caption but not there!)
The Batman Family #8 (D'76) (vs Catgirl aka the Joker's Daughter!)
DC Super Stars #17 (D'77) (the tragic fate of the Golden Age Carwoman)
I can cover all except the Wonder Woman ones, if you like.
And just to be complete, here's how Catwoman looked in "The New Adventures of Batman" Filmation Saurday Morning cartoon show from 1977.
Also note that Clayface II has replaced the Riddler as he would appear in 1978's "Challenge of the Super Friends".
I have Secret Society of Super-Villains #1, DC Super Stars #17 and Wonder Woman #201-202. I didn't plan on including DC Super Stars #17 in this discussion because it's an alternate version of the character (like Alfred's "imaginary" Joker stories), but I would have missed Wonder Woman #201-202 if you hadn't reminded me. I'll get to those presently, but in the meantime, if you're volunteering to take on Adventure Comics #419 and The Batman Family #8, please be my guest.
ADVENTURE COMICS #418-419 (Ap-My'72) starring BLACK CANARY by Denny O'Neil and the incredible Alex Toth.
Dinal Lance needs a job and sees an ad in the newspaper for someone to teach self-defense to women. She decides that she'll be more impressive going as Black Canary and rides off on her motorcycle. She arrives at the headquarters of the WOMEN'S RESISTANCE LEAGUE (WRL) and meets its predident Bertha Kane who immediately has a man attack the Blonde Bombshell who handily defeats him with judo.
Hired on the spot, Black Canary instructs some tough-looking gals about judo then calls fall a break. Walking into the basement, she strange figures in gruesome masks apparently attacking Bertha so she takes them out, only for Bertha to struke her from behind!
She gets tied up and thrown into a van as the WRL go to free their true leader as she is being transported to a maximum security prison.As she learns about their plans and how well armed and now trained to fight, Black Canary finds a jagged edge in the van and starts sawing through her bonds.
When the WRL reach their destination, they don the gruesome masks and are about to kill the Canary when she breaks free and uses the van to scatter the WRL then stops Bertha from freeing their leader who turns out to be CATWOMAN who fumes at the Girl Gladiator!
Some note: The Alex Toth artwork is beautiful. I wish that he drew more Black Canary and Green Arrow stories.
Did Dinah open her florist shop in Green Lantern? Or did she wait until Action Comics?
No Canary Cry here!
Was one session all the WRL needed to be trained?
"Bertha Kane" is a play on Robert "Bob" Kane, co-creator of Batman.
Not just here but in other early Bronze Age Black Canary stories, she seems to rely on Green Arrow's lessons on crimefighting despite all her years of experience.
Catwoman is seen in her classic costume.
And would she really have her gang potentially kill her guards to release her?
Catwoman is seen in her classic costume.
Changing her costume is a (cat)woman's purr-ogative.
Guess I'm up.
WONDER WOMAN #201-202:
Catwoman travels to a certain temple in tobet to steal the "First of Flame" ruby from the forehead of the Green Buddha idol. Just as she is about to snatch it, a woman in a white jump suit beats her to it. They fight and Catwoman becomes posessed by it, but is soon struck from behind and it is taken from her. When she awakens, she finds that both she and the other woman are hanging over a pit of flames. The high priest explains: "Behold! You are both suspended over a blazing pit and are provided with keen blades! By cutting the ropes which supend your opponent, you will be saved! A system of weights and pulleys will pull you to safety above! The winner shall have the honor of serving us!" So, their choice is either death or slavery.
The women begin to fight, but are pretty evenly matched. The other woman mentions that her name is Diana Prince, and Catwoman recognizes her. She knows Diana has lost her powers and will soon learn she is traveling with her mentor, the blind I-Ching. Diana convinces Catwoman to trust her, and cuts the rope holding Catwoman up. Then, just before the counter-weight sysyem pulls her up, she grabs Catweoman by the arm and saves her as well. Catwoman snatches the ruby, and all three of them flee, but the strange powers of the "Fist of Flame" opens a dimensional warp which sends them to the world of Nehwon, where they meet Fritz Leiber's characters Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
Issue #201 (written by Denny O'Neil) is pretty much all set-up for #202 (written by Samuel R. Delany). While in Nehwon, they learn that the "Fist of flame" has a sister gem, the "Eye of the Ocean" emerald. Through the ruby, they can see images reflected in the emerald, and they see Jonny Double, a friend of Diana's whom Ching's daughter, Lu Shan, has kidnapped. Both jewels are needed to operate the dimensional energy transfer matrix machine, and Lu Shan kidnapped Jonny in order to force her to find the "Fist of Flame." The jewels each separately have the power to open up warp gates between worlds, but at random; bring them together and placing them in the machine would allow the owner togo back and forth at will rather than chance.
The sorcerer Gowron has the "Eye of the Ocean" emerald and the dimensional energy transfer matrix machine as well, so the rest of the issue deals with the five allies defeating Gowron and obtaining both jewels, and thus control of the machine. To cut to the chase, they succeed, and all five are transported to Earth, but Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stay only long enough to determine they don't like it and return to Nehwon
You're up, Philip.
THE BATMAN FAMILY #8 (D'76) "The Copycatgirl Capers!"
This is billed as ROBIN's first full-length adventure and that's because it's really two stories!
The first "part" is the Teen Wonder being vexed by CATGIRL aka the Catwoman's Daughter who commits minor trangressions around Hudson University and New Carthage, based, of course, on cat puns like:
She also uses the traditional whip, biting "cat-nip", a giant cat's cradle and tranquilizing "Cat-nap".
She is also obsessed with unmasking Robin.
CATWOMAN reads about her "daughter" and is not happy about it yet does nothing. Later she gets mad that "Catgirl" is seen in Gotham instead of staying upstate!
The second part is that BATMAN has disappeared and Robin does not know if he was taken captive as Bruce Wayne or Batman. A guard had seen an unidentified man at Bruce's desk and that's all they have. Commissioner Gordon tells the Teen Thunderbolt that Batman was investigating a massive illegal poker game that was attracting a lot of criminals to Gotham.
(One nice bit was seeing Robin drive the Batmobile solo!)
It has interested Catwoman as well as she learns that it's taking place at THE KIT-KAT CLUB (will people in Gotham City ever stop naming things after clowns, cats and birds?) so she and her gang go there to rob it.
But Robin shows up as well, followed by Catgirl. The two battle Catwoman's gang and look rather cozy doing it. Catgirl is revealed as THE JOKER'S DAUGHTER wearing a full-face mask and wig! She then vanishes as Catwoman is apprehended by a disguised Batman who was working undercover!
The guard had seen Bruce already in full makeup so he had to flee his own penthouse!
No sooner had I given you the green light to go ahead and cover Batman Family #8, I went to read Teen Titans #48 (for the "Two Face" discussion) and realized that I do have it after all (reprinted in the Bronze Age Teen Titans omnibus), but I wasn't going to rescind my offer. Batman Family #6, 8-9 introduces the Joker's (so-called) daughter, and over the course of Teen Titans #46-48 she joins the team as Harlequin.
She is actually Two Face's daughter, but I'm ambivalent as to whether or not I buy that. We have seen precious little of Glinda Kent since she was introduced, so it's certainly plausible that Harvey Dent could have had a daughter with her (them memory of whom he suppressed). Then again, I could also see her being a slightly looney "fan girl" who gets off on dressing like Batman villains' daughters. I really must question her decision to masquerade and the Joker's daughter, specifically. He might be flattered, but OTOH he'd be equally likely to kill her. You just never know with the Joker.
Thanks for pinch-hitting.
I take it that you are aware of the revelations about the origin of Duela Dent circa 2007?
Despite the year, they presumably apply to pre-Crisis continuity.
Now that you mention it, that sounds vaguely familiar. It may have been someting I read that didn't stick (with me, I mean).
Spill. What revelations are you referring to and what's the source?
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