Was Tim Burton's Catwoman Film Doomed from the Start?

 

Catwoman's scrapped spinoff from Batman Returns began life with an outrageous screenplay from Daniel Waters. I look at this oddity -- perhaps the largest creative disaster I've covered in the column so far -- this week at CBR.

CATWOMAN #13 - August 1994

 

Catfish

Credits:  Jo Duffy (writer), Jim Balent (penciler), Bob Smith (inker), Bob Pinaha (letterer), Buzz Setzer (colorist)

Summary:  Catwoman leaps off the bridge to avoid police and eventually makes her way to land.  With the help of her associates, she locates the cybernetic enabler underwater, but is ambushed by armed SCUBA divers.  Selkirk and Dr. Hubbell, the owner of the firm that created the enabler, take the device from her.  However, Catwoman’s driver, Caleb, sneaks into their limo and ambushes them.  Catwoman escapes with the enabler, and Dr. Hubbell’s fur coat.  The enabler makes its way to the hospital, and her friend Brandon is soon able to walk again. 

Irrelevant Continuity:  Since this story picks up right after the previous issue, it should’ve been reprinted earlier in the book.  The previous issue of Robin, for example, takes place at least two days following the helicopter crash on the bridge, while this story opens right after that event.

Review:  I realize this is faint praise, but this is probably the most enjoyable Catwoman issue reprinted in the Knightfall trades so far.  Duffy manages to work in the appropriate amount of exposition this time, so it’s much easier to actually have an investment in the story.  (We now know that Brandon was an acrobat, later paralyzed in a car accident, who helped train Catwoman.)  The story follows the basic chase-fight-chase format of a standard action comic, but it’s executed with enough energy to avoid any tediousness.  I also like the idea that Catwoman has amassed a group of confederates to help her out on missions, such as the two brothers she bribed months earlier with a boat just in case she needed to find something underwater.  As non-offensive as this chapter is, I have to recognize that this issue was only reprinted because it says “Knightsend Aftermath” on the cover.  ("Which stories should we reprint?"  "Beats me; just go to the Coverbrowser site.")  Given the history of the previous Knightfall trades, I’m sure these twenty-three pages could’ve gone to more relevant stories.  Still, it’s more entertaining than most of those Shadow of the Bat issues we’ve had to endure. 

CATWOMAN #12 - July 1994

 

Fire in the Sky

Credits:  Jo Duffy (plot), Chuck Dixon (scripter), Jim Balent (penciler), Rick Burchett (inker), Bob Pinaha (letterer), Buzz Setzer (colorist)

Summary:  While Bruce regains his confidence as Batman, Catwoman searches Selkirk’s property for the cybernetic enabler.  Jean-Paul arrives, looking to force Selkirk into revealing LeHah’s location.  After making her way through numerous guards, Catwoman reaches Selkirk.  She’s quickly cast aside by an enraged Jean-Paul.  Suddenly, Jean-Paul notices one of Selkirk’s associates and blames him for his father’s murder.  At that moment, Batman arrives with Robin and Nightwing.

Irrelevant Continuity:

• Catwoman is searching for the cybernetic enabler on behalf of Brendan O’Boyle, who I believe is the paralyzed member of her supporting cast.
• According to Selkirk, LeHah is long dead.  Jean-Paul abruptly casts the blame for his father’s death on someone else, a blonde man who’s apparently Selkirk’s aide, Patrick.  (The story isn’t clear.)  Jean-Paul calls him “Last of the three who murdered Azrael!  Destiny has brought me…to the man who killed my father?!”

Total N00B:  Selkirk, LeHah, the cybernetic enabler, Brendan O’Boyle, the true murderer of Jean-Paul’s father…none of these characters or concepts are actually explained in the issue.

Production Note:  The name “Parks” is listed in the inker’s slot on the cover credits, but the inking this issue is actually credited to Rick Burchett.

Review:  The opening of this issue is quite nice, paying off six issues worth of set-up and finally allowing Bruce to bravely leap off Gotham Tower as Batman.  The double-page spread of the Gotham skyline might ordinarily seem gratuitous, but it works in the context of the overall storyline.  Plus, it’s lovingly rendered by Jim Balent and Rick Burchett, who’s a fantastic inker and probably the best artist to work on the Batman Adventures series.  

That scene has nothing to do with Catwoman, though, who first appears in the issue torturing a generic thug with a gigantic ‘90s cybernetic arm she’s somehow acquired.  I’m sure that regular readers of her title could actually appreciate the context of her adventure this issue, but all I know is that she needs a macguffin for a character whose name I vaguely remember.  And then Jean-Paul shows up, acting just as crazy-yet-boring as usual.  He finally meets Selkirk, another vaguely defined character that’s never developed in any of these reprinted stories, only to learn that his father really is dead.  That’s okay, because he instantly recognizes Selkirk’s meek assistant as his father’s real killer after all (But didn’t he believe his father alive up until the previous panel?), so now he wants to kill this guy, who we also know nothing about.  This is beyond annoying by now.  At this point, I can’t even tell if the reprint collection is skipping important chapters again, or if these issues were always kind of a mess.

CATWOMAN #7 - February 1994

Body Chemistry
Credits:  Jo Duffy (writer), Jim Balent (penciler), Dick Giordano (inker), Bob Pinaha (letterer), Buzz Setzer (colorist)

Summary:  Catwoman escapes from the police, leaving behind the Benzotrilene.  Before leaving, she also tells them where to find the stolen Xyklon-C.  Later, Professor Underhill is kidnapped by rogue Alliance members Marv and Doogie.  Catwoman summons Batman with the Batsignal and convinces him to help her find Underhill.  They rescue Underhill, but not before Doogie makes his way to the trade conference.  The gas he creates, however, is harmless tear gas, because Underhill gave him the wrong formula.  Catwoman exits on a helicopter, warning the businessmen to follow a stricter set of ethics.

Production Note:  I would be curious to know the release schedule of this Catwoman/Batman crossover.  Since Batman has the two chapters in the middle, was the crossover released in the proper order, or did it go Catwoman-Batman-Catwoman-Batman?

Review:  I can’t believe this crossover was stretched out over four issues.  I can understand why the first meeting between the new Batman and Catwoman would be viewed as a big deal, but four chapters about rogue environmentalists, stolen canisters, and a trade conference with literally faceless industrialists is just tedious.  Given that all of the Catwoman supporting cast members disappear during the Batman chapters, and that one of the Batman chapters was an issue-long fight scene, I can only guess that Doug Moench wasn’t even fully aware of what this crossover was supposed to be.  The structure goes:  1) introduce convoluted plot device, 2) have Batman meet Catwoman, 3) Batman fights Catwoman, 4) Batman and Catwoman team up, more with the plot device, story finished.  It’s kind of a mess, although I still think the second chapter is fun.  I could easily live with only the Batman chapters being reprinted in this book, given what had to be left out.

CATWOMAN #6 - January 1994

Animal Rites
Credits:  Jo Duffy (writer), Jim Balent (penciler), Dick Giordano (inker), Bob Pinaha (letterer), Buzz Setzer (colorist)

Summary:  Members of the Friends of the Earth Nature Magic Alliance contact Catwoman, warning her that industrialists are scheming to use the new neurotoxin Xyklon-C to kill animals in the rainforest, thus opening the area for development.  She also discovers that one of the Alliance’s members, Professor Underhill, inadvertently created the toxin.  Underhill is targeted by kidnappers, but is rescued by Batman.  When Underhill returns to the group, he explains that Xyklon-C is inert until it’s mixed with Atrophane.  Two rogue Alliance members, Marv and Doogie, steal Underhill’s notes and leave to find a supply of Atrophane.  Catwoman attempts to head them off by robbing a chemical warehouse, unaware Batman is watching her.

Irrelevant Continuity:  I don’t know if this was the regular status quo for the title, but in this story, Catwoman treats Selina Kyle as a fabricated public persona, putting on a blonde wig and pretending to be a ditzy clutz.  She’s also a “part time” member of the Friends of the Earth Nature Magic Alliance.

Review:  The early ‘90s Catwoman series is probably best remembered as the most flagrant example of mainstream cheesecake during the era.  Even Wizard magazine had to comment on the outright insanity of Jim Balent’s anatomy (of course they still put his rendition of Catwoman on the cover, and made sure to reproduce as many of his drawings as possible in each issue).  I don’t recall anyone ever discussing the actual storylines, any attention the book received was more along the lines of “Can you believe DC is publishing this?”  And not necessarily asked with outrage; a teenage boy probably followed that question with a high-five.

So, was Catwoman any good?  I only have a few issues to judge the series on, but they don’t give me a lot of hope.  Someone in the early ‘90s thought it would be a good idea to remake Catwoman as an animal rights activist (remember her early appearances in the cartoon?), which I guess Jo Duffy has taken to the next level by having her associate with an eco-terrorist group.  The “Friends of the Earth Nature Magic Alliance” just sounds like a parody, and based on the physical appearance of several members, I can only assume that’s what Duffy is going for.  An affectionate parody, since Duffy certainly seems to be siding with the group.  Yet, she also has Catwoman point out that several of them have a bloodlust that rivals the industrialists they’re fighting.  (The story doesn’t draw attention to this, but it’s also obvious that the group is more concerned with the rainforest animals that will be killed by the gas than the indigenous people.)  By the story’s end, we see two of the goofiest members steal the gas so that they can use it against the comically evil businessmen who created it.  Marv and Doogie are such ridiculous characters, it’s hard to believe that their actions are going to be the inciting incident for this Batman crossover, but here we are.  

All of the talk regarding the neurotoxin, and there’s a lot of it, mainly serves as a setup for getting Catwoman to steal something while maintaining a pure motive.  I don’t know if the series had to do this often, but it seems like a lot of energy is wasted on finding reasons for Catwoman to steal things.  I’m assuming this had to be done because Catwoman was at least somewhat reformed by this point, but that doesn’t make the lengthy setup any less boring.  And all of the Captain Planet material feels out of place in a Catwoman story anyway.  Couldn’t she just steal from other criminals?