The Week in Cat-Tales

It was an amazing week kicking off the 10^th Anniversary of Cat-Tales. A book signing, Cat-Tales the Graphic Novel Prologue release in Second Life, Capes and Bats got a new cover, released its final heart-pounding installment, and became the first Cat-Tales spinoff to go out as an ebook and downloadable pdf. Selected spinoffs have also been added to the cat-tales.mobi site, and would you believe it, I even made some headway on Trophies… Whew, you’d think I’d be tired, but not even close.

It was wonderful meeting the new folks who made it into Second Life for the book signing at the Virtual Visitor Center. At the ribbon-cutting, I officially added the GN Prologue to the gift bags available there—drop in any time, there’s no need to wait for an event. For those unfamiliar with Second Life, books of this kind you can either display in world, like a coffee table book in your home, read and turn pages that way, or else attach to your HUD and read that way at any time. Anyone who visited on the 8th received an exclusive signed copy of the 10^th Anniversary Edition, and anyone who missed it—don’t worry, there will be more signings and more Cat-Tales releases in this popular SL-format.

There should also be more TIME at future signings for anyone who wants to tour the sim with me or get some help with their avatar and other aspects of the Second Life experience. I didn't have much time on the 8th because, frankly, I had no idea how many people would come. But from here on out, events will be much more laid back.

Capes and Bats… what can I say? If you haven’t read the final installment
Dark Knight Toccata yet, chills. It will give you chills. The faint of heart are advised to read before sundown, by the way. You also might want to make some garlic bread and have some holy water on hand, just in case.

So… what’s next? Tomorrow we’ll begin A Look Back. Revisit a favorite scene from each year of Cat-Tales. And Thursday another book signing for Cat-Tales #2: Normal.

Hm? I passed over Wednesday? Well, we’ll just have to see if something related to a giant penny might happen then.

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

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10th Anniversary begins: Laissez le bon temps roule!

It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since Chapter 1 of Cat-Tales 1 was posted on the Internet.  It wasn't Cat-Tales #1 back then, it was just A Girl's Gotta Protect Her Reputation.  If I'd known it was a founding stone, I probably would have gone with a shorter, punchier title.  One without the word "Gotta." 

It is also Mardi Gras, and in that spirit I say Laissez le bon temps roule because today merely kicks off the Anniversary celebrations.  Nothing is confined to these 24 hours but the ribbon cutting.  There will be events and extras all year long.  Today's:

Chris Dee will be appearing at the Second Life Visitor's Center for book signings throughout the day.  Yes: BOOK SIGNINGS.  Today's offering is a 10th Anniversary edition of the Graphic Novel Prologue, exclusive to SL residents. 

Combining  "Mask for Mardi Gras" with another page of panels from the Graphic  Novel Prologue, this might be my favorite of the posters kicking off  Cat-Tales 10th Anniversary tomorrow.

10 Years of Cat-Tales

Here's another poster for the 10th Anniversary of Cat-Tales which is IMO another winner. Incorporating a few of Dorothy Rose's gorgeous panels from the Graphic Novel Prologue, it puts the focus squarely on Cat-Tale #1: A Girl's Gotta Protect Her Reputation rather than the series as a whole, which is certainly appropriate since the 8th is not just kicking off the year of anniversary celebrations, it is also celebrating the debut of that particular tale.

Mask for Mardi Gras

Mask for Mardi Gras - The first poster for the 10th Anniversary of Cat-Tales on March 8, which just happens to fall on Mardi Gras. Purple and masks! What a gift

Capes and Bats Long Video Trailer

Remember those Marvel "What If" Comics. Well...
What if Dracula came to Gotham?
What if he wants Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Catwoman for his brides?
What if... Vampire Joker

Wearing a Duck

Remember that great scene in My Favorite Year: Benny Stone, freshman writer on King Kaiser’s Comedy Cavalcade finally has a date with the girl of his dreams. She regrets that she is the one person working at the show who isn’t funny. He says anybody can be funny. He’ll teach her a joke. “A guy walks into a psychiatrist's office with a duck on his head. The psychiatrist says, ‘Can I help you?’ And the duck says, ‘Yeah, can you get this guy off my ass.’” She laughs, he prompts her to tell it back to him. She straightens her dress a little in an endearing ‘here we go’ maneuver and begins: “A man walks into a doctor’s office wearing a duck.”

Homaged here in Studio 60, Sorkin goes on to explain the phenomenon:
You can’t tell a joke. Like a young child, you hear it, get it, and then can’t reconstruct the moving parts.

This is what we're facing in mainstream comics. A real writer comes along, say Jeph Loeb. He crafts a cunning mystery, putting the long-neglected theme rogues front and center, and weaves in a heartbreaking tragedy of Bruce's inability to trust following the structure best suited to the purpose: Aristotelian tragedy. Since a good mystery requires a good red herring, he constructs one tailor-made to grab the fanboy's attention and keep it rived on the ball in my RIGHT hand. He teased the one thing that all sane comic readers knew would never happen, he teased breaking one of the 3 commandments, he teased Jason Todd was still alive. He then revealed the image they were all waiting for - if Jason were alive today, what would he look like - in a full page at the very end of the issue, giving them a full month to fizz and and enjoy themselves. Then he went on with his story... that's what storytellers do.

Here's what comics writers do: not understanding how any of the moving parts worked, they latched onto things at random: it was the character of Hush himself, not the mystery that made it such a success. And the return of Jason Todd! Like Pacific Islanders lining an improvised runway with torches and sitting a guy on the end with coconuts strapped to his head like headphones, thinking it will make planes land filled with supplies - you know, the way it did during the war. It looks just like it used to, why don't the planes come?

Last week's blog, I quoted the late John Barry bemoaning modern composers who are "just playing with notes." Yesterday I posted a quote of Aaron Sorkin about those demonizing education and intellect. We have a PROBLEM here: people allowed to write, edit and manage major comic titles who have not learned the basics of their own craft - and who scoff at the idea it is necessary. Not only have they been allowed to ruin something that was once a pleasure for thousands of ex-readers, they have taken up a slot that could have been filled by competent and talented writers who would appreciate it.

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.