The Elite

I got caught up on quite a lot this weekend, but one thing I didn’t get to was the blog. I had tagged a piece from Aaron Sorkin’s acceptance speech at the Golden Globes a few weeks ago. In the final seconds, he thanked the female nominees “for helping to demonstrate to my young daughter that ‘Elite’ is not a bad word, it is an aspirational one.”

I hadn’t decided where to go from that starting point, until this morning when the first news I saw was the death of Hollywood composer John Barry. Barry produced some of the most transcendent film scores: Somewhere in Time to Dances With Wolves, Body Heat to Chaplin. Making any music that can transport the listener is an extraordinary gift, but to do it in movies where it’s not all about you, using your talents to contribute to this larger thing and taking it to a higher level, that goes beyond mere excellence into the realm of the extraordinary.

Being the best at what you do is not a bad thing, it is something to aspire to. Starting off with more talent, insight or smarts, that’s a gift, not something to be ashamed of. Studying and working hard to make the most of your talents, that is honoring the gift. Challenging yourself, pursuing excellence for its own sake, these are all good things.

Robert Browning said a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?

The Handicapper General of Vonnegut’s Monkey House said you should strap weights to the ankles of a ballerina.

The flock in Jonathan Livingston Seagull said not to fly any higher than the rest of us. Know only as much as you need to in order to get out to the food, scarf down some fish, and get home.

I’m going with Browning, and I’m listening John Barry’s music today while I do it.

In a 2005 interview in The Guardian, Barry criticized modern composers who "have nothing to say" and are "just messing around with notes." He blamed not just the composers themselves but the directors and producers who allow "45 minutes or an hour of music that doesn't mean a damn thing."

I'm sure they all called him an elitist as if it were a bad thing. I'm also sure he didn't care, because like Sorkin and Stoppard and Sondheim and anyone else who takes the trouble to get it right, he knew that the lazy and mediocre will always try to repackage their deficiencies as a desirable norm, and any deviation from that norm as a character flaw:. Just as the Millerite must recast the brave and selfless hero as a psycho with a death wish, those lacking talent, initiative, ambition, intelligence, discernment, self-discipline, torso strength, mathematical aptitude, eloquence, spatiality, or simple compassion will always, always, always relabel to cover their deficiencies. Don't let them get away with it.

John Barry was better than most people who try to make music. How do I know that? Because there is a soul revealed in score of Somewhere in Time, and that soul is beautiful. It begins with Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, and what it spins from one short variation that's like a minute long could have become sickeningly sweet, cliche'd or trite in the hands of someone who didn't understand the raw materials he was working with. It is music of loss and loneliness, of longing and of love. If you don't think the people who understand those qualities and are brave enough to dig into themselves and bring out what they find there - to expose that most personal part of themselves to the world in order to make a work of art - if you don't think those people are better than the rest of us, think again.

Elite isn't a bad word. It is an aspirative one.

Chris Dee
www.catwoman-cattales.com
cattales.yuku.com
cattales.wikispaces.com

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Cat-Tales.mobi

Announcing Cat-Tales.mobi a mobile-friendly website offering all Cat-Tales, from A Girl's Gotta Protect Her Reputation through A Bon Chat, Bon Rat.  Selected spinoffs coming soon!  Epub links are also available for iPhone users with the Stanza reader to launch the app and read the ebook directly from the website without intermediary steps.

All other ebook formats - for Kindle, Nook, Sony, iPad, and all other reading devices - are available for download on the main Cat-Tales website.

Chris Dee
www.catwoman-cattales.com
cattales.yuku.com
cattales.wikispaces.com

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Why Do We Fall?

Remember this moment? Remember this question? "Why
do we fall, Bruce?"

So we can lie on the floor stubbornly insisting we haven't?

So we can sit with our aching ass on the cold terrazzo insisting that gravity is a myth?

How about repeating like a politico's talking points that it's not the floor at all and we are, in actuality, on Dancing With the Stars foxtrotting with Jennifer Gray?

No. Why do we fall? So we learn how to get up.

I recently saw a piece on the 10 biggest WTF moments in comics. Not surprising which company took home the trophy for the big #1.

In 1998, DC made the mother of all WTF decisions when they opted to change the character of Superman. This character that had stood for 60 years, and had just been killed off a few years prior to show his utter importance not only to comics but to the world, was out the door...

A change of costume or marriage status is one thing, but completely altering everything that established the character as an American icon in the first place is something else entirely.

Several readers marked this as the first pock of the disease which has consumed just about all the characters now, the first blatant sign that those entrusted to write these characters have no understanding of what defines them or of their iconic significance in the greater world outside their Thursday To-Do list.

But not me. For once, I'm going to stand between DC and the ones throwing stones, because here's the thing: as soon as they realized the ground had given way under their feet and they were falling into a deep pit with a bunch of angry bats baring their teeth and hissing bat-spittle into their faces, they changed him back. The article itself admits "the explanation to get him back to normal was quite vague, probably a result of the severe backlash of comic book fans and their desire to fix the problem as quickly as possible."

They didn't tap Wizard to call it a giant step forward in comics, they didn't embark on a PR campaign to try and convince the terminally stupid that unsweetened lemon juice tastes just like water, they didn't figure there would be a new crop of gullible half-wits who would be coming along any minute to replace the 80% of their readership heading out the door. They didn't think up even worst things to do to Superman to punish the fans for not accepting the fiasco. They got up. That's why we fall. And if we can't get our asses out of that hole on our own, we scream for help before the rest of the ground gives and we fall farther.

Remember a few weeks ago I said The Reaper is out there, and DC's attitude that it's okay to mess things up further/they'll fix it (or not) next year was horrifically out of touch with the reality that there may not BE a next year? Anyone who thought I was being melodramatic, please turn and wave goodbye to Wizard. It's gone, as of yesterday. All staff let go. If a new online magazine transpires to replace it, the focus is to be on pop culture and the non-comics media where these characters still thrive. Not print comics.

Do I have your attention now, boys?

Fantastic Four is snuffing a major character today. What makes this different from past fan-inflaming stunts is that it's the first under Disney. That means if it doesn't work out (and by "work out" I don't mean by the comics definition 'people hate it' but the definition of everyone else on the planet), then those responsible are going to be introduced to a concept that is new to them but familiar to everyone else who works for a living: consequences. You make a bad decision, you piss off customers, you materially damage a company's assets, there are consequences. I don't think it's a bad thing. It's not going to be a pleasant adjustment. Growing up often isn't. But it's pretty much the only choice the medium has if it wants to survive.

Why do fall? Well, eventually to learn how to get up. For some though, there is an intermediary step: to learn to recognize the hole, and then to accept that the hole is not the place to be.

On a lighter note, it's a big week for Cat-Tales. The Dracula spinoff Capes and Bats releases its penultimate chapter today, and there's a plot twist that absolutely nobody saw coming--but which was right in front of us the entire time. I have to admit, I was floored when I read it. Scared the cat with my gasps of surprise. We're also less than 48 hours from the launch of a new feature to make life easier for our mobile friends. Work is underway on the new chapter of Trophies, while reviews continue to come in on À Bon Chat, Bon Rat.

Chris Dee
www.catwoman-cattales.com
cattales.yuku.com
cattales.wikispaces.com

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The Dressing of Cats is a serious matter...

So it’s to be Catwoman and Bane in Dark Knight Rising… Meow!

I haven’t put forth any opinion on Anne Hathaway simply because I know enough about actors to know what I don’t know. If it’s a bad actor (Katie Holmes) you can see a train wreck coming without knowing any particulars of the role. In all other cases, none of us out here have seen enough of most actors to know what they are capable of. You watch Mr. Mom, you would never dream Michael Keaton could play Bruce Wayne. You watch The Doors, you would never that dream Val Kilmer couldn’t. So good luck, Anne! I have already mentioned the je nes se qua of Selina, as I see her, is best seen in Jennifer Ehle’s Eliza Bennet. She is about 120% more alive than the rest of us, there is a core of fun, joy, and good humor that makes a perfect foil to the dour intensity of Mr. Darcy…

Now, performance aside, there has been a certain concern raised about her "Complexity" - non comics folks, let me explain. There is a particular idiocy among a certain subset of comics readers that think cup size is inversely proportional to a complex and sophisticated portrayal of the character. A curvy and bouncy Catwoman that men enjoy looking at can't possibly be a serious, realistic and complex treatment of the character, because of course, big breasted women don't exist in nature. Fear not, fellas. What you saw in The Devil Wear's Prada is creative costuming. Anne Hathaway is plenty lacking in complexity.

So, that's Anne. The first thing most of my male friends and readers brought up immediately after hearing the casting was – no surprise here– the costume. I can certainly appreciate the desire to start forming that mental picture asap, and since it’s going to be quite a while until we learn anything about the production, let’s have a little survey of Catwoman’s looks over the years.

As all Cat Fans know, Selina made her debut way back in Batman #1 as an uncostumed jewel thief known as The Cat. She was modeled after sex-goddess of the day, Hedy Lamarr, looked smashing in an evening gown, and the first thing Batman noticed was her very shapely legs. Her first “costume”consisted only of a full face furry cat-mask, which wasn’t exactly flattering.

Almost immediately she moved to the Classic Skirted Costume which is most familiar to modern fans from The Brave and the Bold cartoon. It is easily her most enduring look, having been the original costume in the 40s, returning in the 70s and remaining unchanged right up until Crisis on Infinite Earths, returning in numerous Elseworlds and other comic appearances since, and now in the Brave and the Bold and its related games and merchandise.

Now that's the 4-color world. Up until Batman Returns in 1992, her best known look to non-comics fans was certainly Julie Newmar’s from the 1966 series, which the comics promptly copied, changing only the color.

In comics, the "Go Go Boots" look came next. It seems to be universally known as the Go Go Boots Catwoman despite the fact that the '60s hair and domino mask version is actually wearing the low ankle boot more often associated with the Classic Skirted Costume. Go figure. In any case, like all bad hair and clothing choices of that period, it was quickly changed and forgotten - a lesson the present comics could learn from, god knows. Admit it was the quaaludes, change it back, and move on.

But back to Julie. I always say that a lot of boys became men watching her in that black catsuit, and in 1992 history repeated itself with Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman. The influence of the '66 look can easily be seen, and the '92 was in turn inspiration for Dolce and Gabbana interpretation in Vogue.

That bring us, at long last, to the Jim Balent, the iconic look released on the cover of Catwoman #1. This costume drew upon the Classic Skirted Original, obviously, updating it for a more modern flavor while retaining all that connected Catwoman to her Bob Kane, Batman #1 roots.

Batman the Animated Series wisely adapted it, opting (foolishly, IMO) to recolor for their Gotham palette which erred on the side of black.

That brings us up to a present rife with mistakes. The less said of the Halle Berry disaster, the better. The movie was a mistake from start to finish, but more than a few industry watchers have observed that the multi-million dollar fustercluck could have been avoided if DC had admitted the disaster of their Volume II comic. If you put Catwoman on the cover - or the title of a movie - and you do not deliver a Catwoman story or the true Catwoman character within, then you will fail. The Darwyn Cooke goggled costume is a warning sign (Arkham City game designers, take note!) It means "This ain't Catwoman." It means you have been taking notes from the comics division which failed because it rejected, ignored, or tried to rewrite the DNA of the character and failed accordingly. Goggles mean you have probably got it wrong. You're starting with two strikes against you. Even if the look were feline and attractive, you would not want that.

But it's not feline. It's based on Aviator Snoopy. I like Charlie Brown, don't get me wrong. And I like his dog. But Snoopy the dog has nothing to do with Catwoman. So there's that.

There is also the fact that they look markedly unattractive and bee-like. Jim Lee is the only artist on record who can make them kinda-sorta not nauseating, and he a) had scenes like this to work with, b) got them off her face every chance he could and c) is Jim Lee. Let's face it, most of you aren't. Nuff said about the goggles.

What the Nolan movie will do? We'll have to wait and see, but there is a rich history to draw from. It should be fun seeing what they come up with.

Oops, almost forgot the Cat-Tales news!  A new tale has begun! Trophies from the Latin tropaeum, a prize, memento, or monument to an enemy's defeat. Of course in the Batcave, it might mean something else.   We're also just days away from a lifting that "Beta" tag on the iPhone front end, and making the catverse much more accessible to mobile readers (Yes, that means you Android and Windows Phone people too.)

Chris Dee
www.catwoman-cattales.com
cattales.yuku.com
cattales.wikispaces.com

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From the Mailbag: Capes on TV

There seems to be a mad rush of Capes on TV this month. The Onion is taking their fake news on the web onto basic cable. While my heart will always belong to The Daily Show, this tease makes a great Kim Jong Il Ends Nuclear Program For Lead In Next 'Batman' certainly gets things off to a rollicking start...

Then there is a follow-up to the Conan visit discussed in West Coast Sunrise. No real morality play this time contrasting grown-up DC Entertainment with the comics division's embarrassing acting out, just some good fun as "The Flaming C Returns."

And finally, there is NBC's new prime time offeringThe Cape, which one Cat-Tales reader described as "it seemed to have come straight from Dick's mind or maybe a bro fun conversation between him and Tim. Hero is a cop, a good cop in a city that corrupt and ripe for corporate takeover. He's married (to a hot red head) and has a kid. Gets framed as some masked villain then some how make it out alive from the frame up. Turns out he gets saved my some criminal circus folk, that end up teaching him all the things he needs to know to become the Cape and get his life back. Along the way he gets hooked up with Orwell, who's 1 part Oracle 1 part Lois Lane"

He adds that the Rogues Gallery is a bit thin, but that glass is half full because there is a "Submit YOUR VILLAIN" feature on the website.

Of course I won't be participating in that, because I still blame myself for that blog about Heroes needing a good villain and nominating the Dyson vacuum guy.

Sorry, guys. I really meant it as an innocent joke.

Chris Dee
www.catwoman-cattales.com
cattales.yuku.com
cattales.wikispaces.com

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The Week in Cat-Tales

Quick one today, because it's going to be a busy week. Trophies, the tale that was teased at the end of Electron 29, is well underway, but a surprise one-shot came out instead last week: CT #62: A Bon Chat, Bon Rat which chronicles a Bruce and Selina adventure in Paris (also teased at the end of Electron 29). The title is a French proverb that is used in the sense of "tit for tat" but which translates literally as: "For every cat, a rat."

Now, for those who asked, this was not ever intended to be a Christmas surprised which I didn't get out in time. I do like putting out a Christmas chapter every few years if the timing works out, like the one in Not My Kink. But on the whole, I figure we all have other things to keep us occupied at that time of year. Bon Chat has nothing to do with Christmas, other than in the most subtextual way: Cartier, Paris plays a big role and of course Cartier, Gotham is a pivotal location in Bruce and Selina's relationship, going back to that first Christmas encounter in Cattitude. So there might be some subconscious associations at work, but only Feline Logic would declare that a Christmas tale. What it is is... a snack. Sometimes we all enjoy sitting down to a big elaborate meal, but more often, we want a yummy little bite. A light snack. Bon Chat is a light snack.

Another yummy tidbit...

Joker has set up a Ha-Hacienda in the Cat-Tales Visitor Center in Second Life. You know Batman isn't going to let that remain for long. The Hacienda will be up for ONE WEEK ONLY. Come see it now, or Harley will pout.

Chris Dee
www.catwoman-cattales.com
cattales.yuku.com
cattales.wikispaces.com

Thank you for reading. If you are viewing this post anywhere other than The Catitat you are reading a mirror. Please visit the original posting in The Catitat to leave a comment.

P.S. No, I did not see The Cape yet. That pesky real life thing again. I will catch the pilot once it's posted on NBC's website, and for there is already a thread in the CT forum. See you there.

How to Succeed in Comics Without Really Trying

Had a few comics-related conversations over the holidays, and particularly their similarity to theatre. Comic books, like stage productions, cannot show elaborate cinematic scenes. They suggest, and the audience (or reader) fills in the rest from their imagination. Panel 1: close up on a Bat-glove, fist cocked. Panel 2: DEMON minion lying on the floor. You don't SEE Batman attack (reminder if you haven't seen the Arkham City trailer, you haven't seen CGI Keysi Shakespeare the way it's meant to be played), you create it in your own mind, and that folks, is why fanboys are more INVESTED in these characters and these stories. We are more possessive because they truly are OURS more than something we only see in a movie or on television.

Because of that similarity, and because theatre has had to reinvent itself for thousands of years to keep entertaining in a changing world, the modern comics professional can learn a lot from the theatre world. The big one to consider today is literally the difference between a theatre that failed in the last 10 years, and one in the same city that kept its lights on and is still performing shows. The philosophy is simplicity itself:

Look on every single performance of every single show as your one and only chance to win over someone in that audience and make them a lifelong theatre goer. Someone out there has never come to the theatre before, and what they see and hear and experience tonight could be so overwhelmingly magical for them that they are hooked for life.

Look on every single performance of every single show as potentially the last straw for someone who has seen one bad show too many.

Remember The Dark Knight? That movie brought people into comic shops for the first time. They were looking for Batman. If what was in the comics DELIVERED what they wanted, some of them would have come back. (And maybe some comic shops that have closed in the last 2 years would have weathered the storm, but that's a question for another day.)

But it doesn't take a movie. It doesn't even take a cartoon. SOMEONE is be walking into a shop for the first time EVERY DAMN DAY. Every issue of every comic is a chance to win them.

Every issue of every comic is also a chance to LOSE them. There is a misconception out there that because fanboys howl and complain, because they have always howled and complained, that it's fine and even desirable, to anger, disappoint and insult them. And it isn't necessary to master or even understand the basic tenets of storytelling because a bad story will pass the time for the next 6 months as well as, or better than, a good one. There is a reason it is writers with roots in or ties to other media who are having exponentially more success than the hacks: because they understand real readers and audiences. They know that those hundred guys on forums are not representative of anything. The vast majority of readers you never hear from either way. They like it and they buy again, or they hate it and they don't.

Things can be bad enough for long enough that the most vocal and committed fans decide enough is enough. We're seeing that happen in increasing numbers, but those are the extreme cases. Every issue of every comic IS a chance to lose one of those diehards, but it is also infinitely more probable it will lose a hundred casual readers. Particularly when the actual goal is to cause maximum offense. It's not okay to know something is wrong but wait until next year to fix it. Every single issue of every single comic is an opportunity to win or lose. And like life, you simply don't know how many chances you have left. The Reaper is out there, folks, and there are major titles whistling in the graveyard, acting like it doesn't matter, they'll fix it next year. It really doesn't seem to occur to them that there may not be a next year.

It's a new year, and I wanted this entry to be an optimistic one. I want to offer more encouragement to those pros out there who honestly do seem to be trying to fix this. I know things that have been breaking for 20-plus years can't be fixed in a day, but unfortunately, that's what's required here.

There's another theatre principle: the miracle. It's 30 minutes to curtain, the paint is still wet, they're finishing off the second act costumes with a glue gun, the props table fell over, breaking the decanter we need for the first scene, the leads are having a shouting match in their dressing rooms, the fire marshall is seizing all the pyro earmarked for the end of the first act, and the ASM is locked in the costume loft. But the show goes on because even though it is f-ing IMPOSSIBLE to overcome all that in less than half an hour, we dig in and do it, because we gotta. Because we give a damn.

So maybe, just maybe, this can be an optimistic entry after all. All you guys need to do is dig in and give us a miracle. If it sounds like a lot to ask, look at your cousins in theatre who've been doing it for just over 5,000 years.

Chris Dee
www.catwoman-cattales.com
cattales.yuku.com
cattales.wikispaces.com

Thank you for reading. If you are viewing this post anywhere other than The Catitat you are reading a mirror. Please visit the original posting in The Catitat to leave a comment.