I was going to try to write something poignant for my first blog entry of the year. Maybe an essay on the state of the industry or the speculator market would be nice. But I wanted to start my year off with something fun. I am going to write about something that is close to my heart and I could talk about ad nauseum: CATS. If you know me even a little, I have probably talked about cats, shown a cat meme, or have shown you a comic with a cat in it. There are plenty of cats in comics but I am going to focus on the ones I like in comic books. I may miss some but I am going to review the ones that are in the forefront of my addled mind. Here we go:
STREAKY THE SUPERCAT- He will always be my #1 pick for comic book cats. Hell, I named my cat that. Sadly, he was not orange but he was 19 pounds of solid muscle. Streaky first appeared in Action Comics #261 which was really tough to find at one time. It took me 2 years to find a copy. He got his powers from X-Kryptonite which was created in a failed experiment by Supergirl. He obtained the powers of flight, super strength, super speed, average to above human intelligence, and invulnerability. He would appear every once in a while. Usually it is a contest between him and Krypto. Those fights usually ended up in a tie or interrupted to have them team up against a bigger threat. He was part of the Legion of Super-Pets. Sadly he lost all his powers when all the Kryptonite was turned to iron in Superman #233. Supergirl left him with her adopted family. Since then there have been little incarnations of Streaky but I am a purist and only love the original.
DEX STARR
I am sorry but I will not write about his origin. It is very sad and it depressed me when I reread it to write this. If you are curious, Google it. Yet he is the coolest Red Lantern in my opinion. He wields the Red Lantern ring which is powered by rage. If you have ever owned a cat, you know the can be filled with rage at times. From reading up on him I found out he was created as a joke but fans loved him so he became more of an integral part of the Red Lantern Corps. I guess there are more crazy cat comic fans than I expected. The one tactic that he uses that I think is awesome is that he uses his adorableness against his foe. He will fly up looking cute and innocent and when their guard is down he will attack. Just like any cat would do. Personally, I think he is the strongest Red Lantern because a cat can be filled with a lot of rage.
HAIRBALL
Hairball is the codename for Speedball’s cat Neils, named after Neils Bohr (look him up on your google). His powers are the same as Speedball (kinetic energy field). He acquired his powers the same time as Speedball. Other than being a cat the reason I dig him is that he was part of the Pet Avengers. Sadly that is the only book I actually followed Hairball.
CHEWIE
Chewie is Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers’ pet. She believed she was just a normal domesticated cat. Rocket Raccoon told her that she was a “Flerken” which is a dangerous alien race that look like Earth cats. She has “access to pocket dimensions located inside their body. In these “bubbles,” they can store a large amount of things, like eggs, fanged mouths, or even tentacles for offensive capabilities. They also use these subspaces as a means of instantaneous transport although the process is messy to say the least.” Marvel changed her name to “Goose” in the Captain Marvel movie.
ARCHIE COMICS CAT
There were two prominent cats in the Archie comics. One was Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Originally Salem was an orange colored cat who was a witch that was sentenced to spend 100 years as a cat. Salem did not talk in the comics. It was not until the 1990s TV show that Salem became a wise-cracking black cat. The other Archie cat was Sebastian from Josie and the Pussycat. He was the reincarnation of the witchcraft practicing ancestor of Alexandra Cabot, Sebastian Cabot (not of Family Affair fame). When Alexandra would hold him she could cast spells which would be a plot device to cause wacky hijinks. Sebastian and Alexandra both had matching white stripes in their hair/fur.
ALLEY-KAT-ABRA
Coming out of Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew (an animal version of the Justice League), Alley-Kat-Abra is the magic wielding character. She obtained her powers from a meteor launched by Starro the Conqueror. Her alias was Felina Furr.
Here are some other cats in comics and where they are from:
MICHAEL from What’s Michael (a Japanese Manga which Dark Horse recently reprinted. Highly recommended)
LUNA from Sailor Moon (remember it was a manga)
STINKY from Justice League International (Power Girl’s cat)
“2” from WE3. If you read the book, I can’t believe the cat was named “Tinker”.
Lastly, I would like to mention another one. This one is a little problematic. I can’t do a cat blog entry without mentioning Marvel’s Tigra. Greer Garson was the hero named the Cat. While helping the Cat People she was mortally wounded. To save her life they changed into their protector Tigra. In a nutshell, they turned her into an anthropomorphic cat. Who wouldn’t want a human sized cat. Maybe I’m just weird.
Thank you again for listening to my ramblings.