If there’s one thing I’ve noticed a lot lately, it’s that a lot of people are sort of creating a witch hunt on DC. Due to certain deaths and actions taken in various different comics, people are now taking to calling out DC by the dozen on all different sorts of things, such as racism and homophobia.
Now it’s my turn. I’d like to step up to the plate and represent a group that is entirely misrepresented and under appreciated in DC Comics. I wish to speak of a group constantly kicked around and abused without proper representation. And of course, I’m talking about cats.
Please follow me beyond the cut as I take a look at some of the felines who are especially abused in DC Comics as we try and dispel some of the stereotypes being placed on our favorite felius catus.
Streaky
Obviously we have to start with Streaky the Super Cat. Once a proud member of the super family with her own cape and powers, Streaky has since disappeared and gone into the home of underused characters. Or has she? In Supergirl #10, it was revealed that Kara Zor-El had a cat, and in issue #14 it is revealed that the cat is named Streaky because “she doesn’t get the concept of the litter box.” Oh really? It’s the cat’s fault that Super Girl is a neglectful owner?
The last time we actually saw Streaky as a legitimate character, with her powers, was in the non-canon Wednesday Comics, in which she was forced to fight a giant mouse and then sent to a doctor. That doesn’t seem fair.
Where is the canon de-powered Streaky now? We’re not quite sure. It is assumed that since moving in with Lana Lang that Streaky is being cared for by Lana while Kara is out galavanting about with the super types, but even so. Talk about a character regression. Apparently she isn’t “important enough” to have any focus or growth.
Mr. Cat/Stinky
Power Girl took in a cat in the recent series, one that remained unnamed until the 12th issue, at which point his name went from Mr. Cat, which had a dignified sound to it with it’s sur name and reference to a classic work of fiction/cinema, to Stinky. We’re looking at a character who has never harmed anyone and done nothing but brighten people’s days being called Stinky. Thanks, Power Girl! Out of all the possible names that you could have given him, you picked the worst one based on a set of actions that cat’s do just as much as humans do. Why name the cat Tom, Fred, or even George? No, let’s call him Stinky because that’s not demeaning.
Dex-Starr
While his origins are still unknown to us, it has been confirmed by Geoff Johns that Dex-Starr is a cat from Earth. While we don’t know what caused him to become a red lantern, we can assume that it was fairly bad considering the cat is now dubbed by fans “rage kitty.” What else could drive such a friendly and loving creature over the edge to the point it spits acid blood from it’s mouth?
Oh, and what happened the last time we saw him? Hal Jordan booted him off screen with a derogatory and stereotypical name, just because Dex-Starr – a helpless animal with no formal education – is acting on his most basic instinct and the will of Atrocitus. Real nice, Hal.
Arsenal’s Cat
And of course, then there is the most famous cat of all these days – Arsenal’s cat/hallucinatory daughter. While we don’t know this poor kitten’s name, he was certainly thrust into an awful position in an awful scene that did nothing but bring an awful stigma to a now awful character. This is, of course, what made me notice this trend in DC Comics. Why would DC so violently and visually display such a thing? The only reason would have to be that the DC Editorial Staff hates cats, and there is clearly nothing else going on besides that obvious fact.
Catwoman
Poor Catwoman. Right before Batman died, Hush cut out her heart and hooked her up to a machine where she could’ve died at any second. Batman saved her life, but now that her great love is gone, she’s left alone to try and pick up the pieces of a broken Gotham City. I guess it’s a good thing that her sister has returned to help her feel better, right? Wrong. As soon as her sister showed up after Blackest Night, her sister has dedicated her life to destroying Catwoman in order to “save” her, and she’s going to do this by beating her up in Gotham City Sirens #12 and #13. Not only that, but it has been solicited that once Bruce Wayne is alive again, the arc in Streets of Gotham will be a sequel to Heart of Hush, which will assumedly once again nail Selina against the wall.
And speaking of her sister,
Sister Agatha and her cat
Maggie Kyle recently sought out refuge and help from one Sister Agatha. Sister Agatha brought her into her home and listened to Maggie’s problems, hoping that she could help. What did Maggie do? She twitched out, grabbed a fire poker, and beat Sister Agatha and her cat to death. Why? Because Maggie hates cats because of Selina.
Real nice.
Cheshire
Cheshire has been run through a freaking gauntlet lately. She has two children – one from Roy Harper (Arsenal), and one from Thomas Blake, also known as Catman. Her first child, Lian, was murdered in the Star City bombing by the villain Prometheus, leaving Cheshire absolutely distraught. After that, her second child, Thomas Jr, is reported as kidnapped from one of Cheshire’s enemies. When Catman tracks down the kidnapper, he finds out that their son is actually alive and well, and the whole situation was engineered as a twisted plot of revenge. What does Catman then do? Catman returns to Cheshire and tells her her son is dead. Now she has no children.
Other Odd Cat Appearances
What about recently released comics? Have a look at a panel from Superman #700:
What?! Is that line of dialogue really necessary? We know that Parasite is a bad guy – we don’t need to kill non-existant cats off-screen to drive that point home.
And here’s another from Zatanna #2:
Sending her dream kitten to the pound? Real nice, Nightmare Demon.
I’m really not sure why this is so prevalent at DC. Over at Dark Horse, we have the Beasts of Burden, who have a cat member, and Hellboy, who loves cats. Heck, Grant Morrison is one of DC’s biggest writers, and he loves cats! Why doesn’t the rest of the team share his enthusiasm? I can only assume that this is done by writers who purposely show their biases against this minority by taking out their frustrations on the page. Clearly it’s not just bad writing or even plot elements that are used to push stories forward. Clearly the only explanation that Streaky would be abused is not that the character is not relevant to modern day comics but that DC hates Streaky and everything Streaky stands for. I imagine that we are literally this close to them shoving Streaky in some kind of tiny box in order to show off some kind of horrible anti-cat agenda. And you can’t honestly tell me that the tragedies befallen to Cheshire and Catwoman have nothing to do with trying to create new things to do with the character. That seems absolutely unreasonable and outlandish.
The fact of the matter is is that DC should spend more time to try and buff up it’s cat characters. I don’t care about the business side of things and that Batman might sell well. DC should spend less time on doing what’s smart in a business model and spend more time doing everything simply to appease me, the fan, because my demands are entirely reasonable. Why not have an entire comic dedicated to just cats? Does it matter that I would probably be the only one buying it? No, because I’m buying it! I don’t understand why DC doesn’t understand that I deserve what I want, and as a paying customer they need to tend to my wants and needs specifically?
If you are like me and believe that cat’s are misrepresented in comics, speak up. There’s no reason to be shy or quiet about it, because clearly DC is biased against cats. My only hope is that through my legitimate argument and presented evidence, that we can all agree some kind of action should take place. I am hoping that DC moves past it’s prejudice and we can get back to a world where people who so obviously hate cats aren’t allowed to write such anti-feline literature in what is supposed to be a bright and tolerant age of comics.
