While she may have nine lives, she has a wardrobe that could dress more than one litter. Cat-puns aside, Selina Kyle has so many looks she needs multiple people to wear them all. Yes people, not personalities, as there were three different women in the 1960's Batman TV show, and not sure which if them was actually Selina Kyle and who was another Catwoman, and then there was Halle Berry's Patience Phillips feline form. Those were movie and television of course, and like Batman, has appeared in basically every form from live action, to animated and CGI. In the comic books, Selina Kyle is Catwoman, and although it is usually a matter of artist and storyline, she has many looks and costumes as well.
Obviously, the theme of the looks is that of a cat, but although it is mainly a wardrobe of skintight costumes, the character did begin with a giant cat head mask, as well as a dress and cape. Only thing to really stay the same has been her "cat" arsenal consisting of her whip, cat of nine tails, caltrops, etc.
With the new Batfleck movies hopefully following the "Man Of Steel" sequel/follow-up, it will be interesting to see how Catwoman makes her way into that universe. Which is almost a given, as she tends to pop-up everywhere that the Batman does. Even the young Camren Bicondova has the basics down for what a young Selina Kyle would look like at such a young age. Even her character still, although likely accidental, looks like she has cat ears with the towers behind her.
Although this isn't all of them, here are some of the many looks of one of DC Comics ultimate "Style Savants".
That was "Style Savants Entry #2: Catwoman". Hope you enjoyed it. In case you missed entry #1 which was Marvel's Cyclops, you can find it HERE. Until next time...
Stay Nerdy!
It is "Flashback Friday" and figured while Thursdays are a throwback to comic book issues, Friday's would be more of a focus on events that have occurred within the annals of comic book history.
For the first installment, we'll take a look back at when DC Comics "broke" the goddamn Batman. It was when DC Comics decided it was time to shake things up with the 2 top dogs of their catalog of characters. With Superman, they killed him off, brought him back as four characters (who weren't him), and then gave him his phoenix rising moment. With Batman however, they opted to go a different route, which made for a great series of stories that of course lead into a tremendous return. Not taking away anything from Superman's moment (which will likely be covered on a future Flashback Friday), as it was a massive moment in comic books that has been tirelessly repeated on a higher scale since. But, with Batman, they gave him a fate that would be worse than death to some, they crippled him and replaced him before ultimately bringing him back.
Bane was new to the scene, having come to Gotham City upon learning of the legend that is Batman. At first it was mostly a watch and study approach, learning all that he could from his future opponent, even injecting Edward Nigma aka The Riddler with some Venom to see how Batman handles himself against the added muscle and strength. Bane showed us he was a legit threat when he came out on the winning end of a battle with Killer Croc, in which he showed how dominant he could be. Bane though opted not to face Batman at 100% and caused a mass breakout at Arkham Asylum unleashing Batman's rogues gallery upon Gotham City. From "small-time" villains like Film Freak (who falls at the hands of Bane) to the "big guns" like The Scarecrow and The Joker (who actually team-up to wreck havoc on the city). The Bat-family wasn't what it is now, mainly consisting of Robin (Tim Drake), Azrael (Paul St. Valley) and occasionally Nightwing and Catwoman, and Batman staying true to hero form attempted and mainly succeeded in running Bane's "gauntlet" taking down the bad guys.
Exhausted and ready to be broken, Bane made his move and moved in for the "kill". Hoisting Batman above his head and smashing him down back first across his knee, breaking his back, breaking the Batman. With Gotham needing someone to step up and fill the void before Bane took over the city, Azrael aka Paul St. Valley would be the one to do just that. With a new Batman came a new suit and a new style, a very aggressive, not-Batman type of style. Although it succeeded in taking down Bane, it was tarnishing the name of Batman to where even The Joker and others were noticing that it wasn't the same person beneth the cowl (read Batman: Knightquest: The Crusade for more). While this is going on, Bruce Wayne rehabilitates and is overseas trying to save his therapist and Tim's father, which he somewhat able to do (see Batman: Knightquest: The Search for how that ends). With his spine now healed, Bruce heads home to learn of how the new Batman kicked Robin out of the cave, took down Bane, and how lethal his path of destruction has been. Bruce himself is banned from the cave, and realized he needs to retrain himself before he can attempt to retake the mantle of the Bat, to which he asks Lady Shiva to assist him to returning to his top form. Bruce returns to the mantle of Batman, and amongst others, hunts Azrael down, who is almost killed at the hands of Nightwing, finally faces Bruce Wayne one-on-one at the Batcave. Outmatched "suit vs suit", Bruce uses his mental advantage to even the playing field, in the end Azrael admits defeat and acknowledges Bruce as the one true Batman (read Batman: KnightsEnd for how all this comes to an end). Leaving Bruce to restore Batman's name and relationship with Gotham City.
Although the "Death Of Superman" is more iconic in status, and they would eventually give Bruce Wayne his own "death" and "return", this was just as good if not better. Can't do much after your gone, death is more about the image we leave behind. Where in this instant we see someone who falls and claws his way back, and goes that extra mile to fully reclaim what is his. Batman didn't give up and throw in the towel like an average person would when literally broken both physically and mentally broken. Although comic books tend to be "dark" (more so DC than Marvel), sometimes we need to see our heroes in a dark place and continuing to fight and move forward, not giving up on finding that "light". Possibly went "deeper" than what was likely just a very well done money making story arc, but simply gave another way to look at things if anything. Or you're laughing and that is just as good.
Be sure to come back next week for "Flashback Friday" and we'll take another look back at another moment in comic book history. Which one? Tune in and find out!
Stay Nerdy!
As a person who loves the art and visual side of things in the world of comic books, movies, etc. I really like a variety in a characters wardrobe. Whether it be a simple modification (ie. Batman or Superman's logo) or a complete yet still identifiable rework (ie. Catwoman, etc) it keeps a character fresh, or at times can add to the story in which the costume is being used (ie. Original black Spider-Man costume, etc).
Here are the Non-Geeky Nerd's Top 5 favorite comic book Fashionista's....
5) Captain America
Cap' earned a spot mostly for his movie appearances for this one. There was the straight from the comic book style costume in 1990's Captain America. Which goes to show why straight from the page doesn't always work on the big screen. There was a taste of this in the beginning of "Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)" but received a very nice upgrade later on in the movie. His costume in "The Avengers (2012)" worked well with the tone of the movie, however by the looks of his newest duds in the upcoming "Captain America: Winter Soldier", things are getting even better.
4) Cyclops
Top of my head I can name 6 different costumes worn by Scott Summers, and that was just until the mid-1990's. After some quick looks across the world wide web, I see that Cyclops is still changing costumes with both the times and story-arcs. And it also must be a family thing as there are other members of the Summers family who have a knack for fashion....
3) Cable
Cable changes looks so much he needed a clone to pull off some others. Now I know it's mostly based on who is drawing him and that it is mainly his arsenal, but when you brings guns like he does, it is a fashion statement ahaha And like I mentioned in the #4 slot, seems to be a Summers family trend, Cable's father Cyclops, his step-mother Jean Grey (isn't she still technically his mom if it's her clone who is his mother?), and even his uncle Alex Summers aka Havok is a comic book Fashionista.
2) Spider-Man
Although he tends to stick with his traditional blue and red costume, when Spidey changes up it is noticeable and most times is visually awesome. Even non-Peter Parker Spider-Men have wicked costumes. Spider-Man 2099 was not only the best of the 2099 stories, but that costume was fantastic. Even Spidey's simple Black is great. I always wondered how a white costume would look and I see they covered that in a Future Foundation/Fantastic 4 run (looked amazing I must say). And love or hate the movies (either franchise), can't deny the costumes have been pretty on par.
1) Catwoman
From starting out with what is possibly Top 100 ugliest costumes, with a dress, cape and giant cat head, Catwoman has evolved and prospered ever since. There are many, many variations on the Catwoman costume through out comic books with both mainstay costumes (current New 52, etc) and different outfits for different storylines or alternate worlds (ie The Long Halloween, etc). Catwoman also has various looks in other medias. In television (animation) there is here classic "Batman: The Animated Series" outfits, as well as other animated appearances, even on the live-action 1960's television series, she had at least 2 different outfits. On the big screen, there has been 3 (4 if you included "Batman: The Movie (1966)") different costumes, personal favorite being the black vinyl in "Batman Returns (1992)" a la Michelle Pfeiffer. Meow.
Honorable mentions go to; Havok, Wolverine, Iron Man and the goddamn Batman.
Stay Nerdy!
