#Midnite City

[rockposerdotcom]

Midnite City Announce 'In At The Deep End' Christmas Show!

British rockers Midnite City will be playing their annual Christmas show on Saturday December 16th at the Corporation Sheffield. Support will be Star Circus who have just supported Midnite City on their ‘In At The Deep End‘ UK Tour. Tickets are £15 in advance and are on sale now via the link below. Get them early as this show is likely to sell out. Tickets are available: here Official…

[psychosodomy]

majority of the council still voted at like 4am yes on cop city funding, hows yall morning going

[britishhiphop]

Taise ft. MDV - Leprechaun [Video]

Taise from the Inner City Economics crew drops a new track featuring Mdv, the king of rowdy for the Leprechaun track. On the DJ Midnite produced track the pair explore the underworld’s work with dark forces. Mixed and mastered by: Inos @ 4 The Culture Records Studio https://www.instagram.com/inos_4tc https://open.spotify.com/artist/0LfMaehXnWbxls9izAMGtn Filmed and edited by: Taise and…

[dcdreamblog]

Outside of their formation and disbanding, what were some of the JSA's big events that happened in their original tenure?

"Hey Sid, can you fit the entire breadth of your discipline into a blog post?"

I stared at this one, for DAYS, could not think for the life of me how on earth you expected me to tackle that bomb on wheels. Best I can tell, or at least best I can imagine actually being workable in DOING is that you're asking me for a basic primer timeline of the team's wartime history. Which I can do because I happen to know that timeline inside, outside and backwards.

December, 1940. The Justice Society is assembled after a battle with Valkyries summoned via Hitler's Spear of Destiny overwhelms The Flash and Green Lantern, leading to their near execution. The tide is turned when Dr. Fate and Spectre teleport in with fellow heroes in tow and the Nazi's experimental "Amerikabomber" and its infantry "Murder Machine" are destroyed. (Founding Membership: Atom, Sandman, Hourman, Flash, Green Lantern, Dr. Fate, The Spectre, Hawkman,)

January, 1941. The Society establishes its first headquarters via a secretly rented hotel floor in Civic City.

April, 1941. The Justice Society is officially granted FBI security clearance and tasked with breaking up the "Greyshirts" a pro Axis militia across the United States.

July, 1941. The Justice Society faces their first masked criminal. A rather unremarkable kingpin by the name of Mr. X.

September, 1941. The Flash takes a step back from active duty and releases his role as chairman. Johnny Thunder is inducted into active membership.

December 1941. The Pearl Harbor attacks lead to the foundation of the All Star Squadron, which the Justice Society is officially folded into as a member organization. Renamed by executive order to "The Justice Battalion" but the name is mostly unused in contemporary and even less in historical sources.

January, 1942. Doctor Midnite and Starman are offered full membership in the Justice Society. Green Lantern relinquishes chairmanship and active membership to further focus his efforts in Gotham. Hawkman takes the chairman position which he will hold for the rest of team's original tenure.

February, 1942. Hourman takes a leave of absence, the first time medical problems have been caused by his dependence on Miraclo.

March, 1942. The Justice Society makes their first international debut as they expose and defeat Axis influence across central and south america.

At some point following this, The Sandman changes costumes and adopts his young ward Sandy who begins attending Society meetings as an associate member.

June, 1942. Wonder Woman is officially granted membership. She is listed as the team's "secretary" on government documents due to the Society's membership technically being a military organization at this point in time.

July, 1942. Concerned at the hold the ancient spirit Nabu was taking on his actions, Kent Nelson stop wearing the Helmet of Nabu and enchants a half helm for himself, limiting his powers but allowing him to continue as Dr. Fate

August, 1942. The Society is the first to clash with the Japanese saboteur organization known as the Black Dragon Society. Whose membership includes the later infamous Dragon King.

February, 1943. The Society first run afoul of Henry King Sr. known as Brainwave. Wonder Woman assembles the team's female allies to assist, this "Girl's Corp" is never recorded as an official organization but is kept on call when needed.

June, 1944. The Sandman and Dr. Fate step back from active membership in the JSA and stop regularly attending meetings. Although they remain on call with the organization.

December, 1944. The Society's membership is officially trimmed from 9 members to 7 where it will remain for the rest of the war. They face the first criminal to call himself Psycho-Pirate.

March, 1945. Wildcat and Mr. Terrific are granted full membership in the Justice Society. Replacing The Spectre and Starman who step back from active membership.

May, 1945. V-E day, the Axis powers in Europe are officially disbanded and the influence of the Spear of Destiny is lifted from the continent.

June, 1945. The Flash and Green Lantern resume active membership following the end of the war in Europe and the abating of sabotage attempts on their home cities.

August 1945. VJ day, the Japanese empire surrenders unconditionally, ending WWII in its entirety. The wartime clearances, laws and expectations governing the membership and organization are dissolved. Wonder Woman is "granted full membership" at last.

April, 1947. The Justice Society first meets and faces off against The Wizard.

June, 1947. The Justice Society first meets and defeats Per Degaton

November, 1947. The Justice Society meets possibly the greatest challenge of their carrer to that point. The Injustice Society of the World! Made up of The Gambler, Vandal Savage, Brainwave, The Wizard, Per Degaton and The Thinker.

January, 1948. The original Black Canary, after assisting on a case, is granted provisional membership.

April, 1948. Johnny Thunder steps back from active membership, his seat is opened to Black Canary who is granted full membership.

July, 1948. A second Injustice Society assembles, this time made up of Harlequin, Fiddler, Icicle, Huntress, Wizard and Sportsmaster.

October, 1948. The JSA moves their headquarters from their Civic City hotel floor to their currently standing Brownstone in Gotham City. The reason as to why is unknown for many years but eventually revealed to be that the JSA no longer fully trusted the government and thus wanted a base that they could monitor, defend and own themselves.

April 1949. Doris Lee-Knight, the wife of Ted Knight AKA Starman, is murdered by Starman's nemesis The Mist. This, combined with mental stresses caused by his participation in the Manhattan Project causes a mental break in Knight who commits himself to psychiatric care.

June, 1949. The Atom makes his first public appearance in his 2nd costume.

August, 1950. The Atom makes his first public display of superhuman strength, gained from a near lethal dose of radiation from the reluctant villain Cyclotron.

March, 1951. The last public case of the JSA sees them rescuing a quartet of kidnapped detectives.

April, 1951. the House Unamerican Activities Committee brings a case against the Justice Society, demanding they unveil their identities and officially become organs of the US government. The Justice Society disavows this ruling, vanishing from the courtroom and going into hiding for the following decades. The Justice Society is disbanded by the Keane Act, passed the following December on the same day as the Society's original foundation.

[gaypastabake]

Midnite Brouillard (W.Wolf AU)

Spooky seasons rolled around really quick, and im hyperfixating over this damn werewolf au thing, so imma give some information about Midnite in this au

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-Midnite Brouillard, 25

-Midnite is french, but was born in Pristine peaks- that old hiking hotspot around 50 kilometers (yes im european shut up) away from the city of Beacon Beach. She speaks both English and French. Her last name 'Brouillard' is actually french for mist (or fog aswell, but its mist in her context).

-Works as an actor in the local theater troupe, aspires to be a big musical or opera star, but Beacon Beach's troupe is only a small one so she's starting small.

-Because her cannon counterpart technically doesn't have any legs, Midnite in this AU wears prosthetics (above knee). She had to have both of her legs amputated after the fire that burned down the Winter Palace. Her prosthetics can bend at the knee based on the velocity of movement, and attach via suction to the residual limbs (yes I did research). She wears long boots and tights to hide the fact that she's wearing prosthetics

-Allthough she does have allot of trauma relating to the accident, she likes to brush it off as just a "minor little incident," usually with a witty joke or an overly dramatic hand wave to suggest "naahhhhh its not a big deaaallllllll," because its easier for her to brush it off than confront some pretty horrific memories.

-Like her cannon self, she is a complete brat, a bit egotistical at times, very overdramatic, adores mischief, but is also very doting and adoring of people she cares about.

-Despite being very well manicured, elegant and attentive to her looks, she does have a soft spot for rugged, muscular women who are a little rough around the edges (probably hairy and smell of sweat too bc she a freak like that).

-She is a huge fan of gothic, horror related things. If you ask her to suggest a movie she will without fail pick 'Corpse Bride.' Her favourite book is 'Carmilla' and she has several authentic vintage books of usually other vampire books and general gothic monster related things.

-Very VERY interested in the rumours of werewolf sightings around the Spellbound Woods, a secluded woodland that has been closed off from the public due to conservation efforts of the local council aswell as a spate of "animal attacks."

-Can afford to buy extravegent clothes and books because of the money she inherited from the death of her family, she is the token rich friend of the group.

-The pendant she wears in one of the drawings is made from pure silver, yes that will be important trust me.

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[sorry for the sloppy quality of some of her hands, im really trying my best here im just not great at anatomy I mean why do you think I mostly draw paws]

[ninthprime]

a while back before i decided to use twitter less i had an idea to make an "Official Captain Kalvin Brnine Strand Semaphore Account" in the style of those excellent char aznable twitters (ie. this one, NSFW warning). this was like four episodes into the season. here's what i had drafted at the time

a war criminal could never do THIS [points to the excellent pen i have made for my divine under my bed]

The Witch In Glass, more like The Witch is an Ass lol reply: Phryg said this one was pretty good.

Si’dra why is there a filter preventing me from posting Asepsis pictures. Why’s it marked “Brnine crimes”

Accidentally had another confidential conversation in Phrygian today but in my defense sooo many ships come with studio apartments now.

Listening to some old tapes from my friend as I do book work today… 😔 reply: Gur is on these tapes too I guess.

ways to get friend to hang out with you ways to get robot to like you robot friend won’t hang out deer robot likes dislikes reply: Sorry this is for google Si’dra how do I delete this

The Figure came back from the Crown of Glass with some of Past’s old Earth anime tapes. I like this “Quattro Bajeena” guy.

I was talking to Midnite and Cori about the movies I liked as a kid and they’re calling me “basic” now?? Like this if you remember the classics!!

I’ve been sending those City City ads to Jesset and saying “This you?” He gets sooo riled up lol. reply: He blocked me

First of all Kal’mera Broun and I look nothing alike

Thank you everyone for complimenting my scouter. It’s the most underrated part of my outfit and not cringe at all like I heard Midnite saying.

valence would say i’m a good captain reply: DELETE

[batunatu]

RADAR PLAYLIST WOAHHH

HERE YOU HAVE!! okay, the idea of ​​this playlist is actually to show songs that remind me in melody of radar or something that i feel matches his vibe or musical tastes. THERE ARE VERY FEW SONGS that actually have something radar related in the lyrics, this is more about the melody.

another fact, the main 3 important songs are not on the playlist because they are not on spotify, A SHAME BECAUSE THOSE ARE "THE" SONGS, IT IS A CRIME THAT THEY ARE NOT THERE. i will leave the link of the songs on youyube :333

midnite float is literally him

this song is like the beginning of radar's life in beacontown, leaving the life of champion city behind and living in a more colorful and unique world.

OH GUYS HE WOULD HEAR THIS I SWEAR, at night he would go to the city center in clubs with music like this, even though he is not a party animal!!

this would make him levitate.

[roisheep]

Lost Steely Dan Saturday

I've decided that I'm going to start a weekly thing where I post about various cut & obscure Steely Dan songs. My intention is mainly to post about an album's worth of outtakes, demos, and other oddities per installment. This list will be non-exhaustive, as the list of Steely Dan and Steely Dan adjacent outtakes is enormous. I'll be sharing links to what songs I can, and I'll be prioritizing unadulterated demos (though I will be recommending fan remasters when applicable.) Starting chronologically, we'll be looking at their first album, Can't Buy a Thrill, and a little bit of what came before it. Heads up, this will be a long post.

Dallas (Single)

This single is Steely Dan's first release, it and its b-side were only ever released officially on a 1978 japan only compilation

One of the first things you might notice with this one is that Donald Fagen is not singing lead vocals, instead being performed by drummer Jim Hodder. Hodder also performs lead vocals for "Midnite Cruiser" on can't buy a thrill. Personally, I'm pretty keen on this one. Despite Becker & Fagen later describing it as "stinko," I think it holds up pretty well. The use of steel guitar makes it mesh really well into the sound of Can't Buy a Thrill, and I'd definitely recommend giving it a listen. JiveMiguel1980 has an excellent remaster which you can find on YouTube, and the band Poco covered this song in 1975.

Sail the Waterway

I'm not going to have too much to say about a lot of these songs, and this is definitely one of those. It's nice enough. The instrumentation once again feels very in line with the sound of CBAT, and this song features a pretty nice guitar solo, as well as some nice backing vocals. Sail the Waterway also has another great remaster by JiveMiguel1980 on YouTube that is worth checking out if you enjoy the song.

Can't Buy a Thrill Demos and Outtakes

Moving now from songs released before Can't Buy a Thrill and on to the Demos and Outtakes of the albums themselves. Steely Dan fans have been compiling this into their own little bootlegs since before the internet, so I'll be able to share most of them with one link, and we'll briefly run down through the songs in order as they appear:

Gullywater: This one's just plain fun! The lyrics are very of their time but I find the song's heavy reliance on just kind of stating metaphors to be endearing. The guitar on this one is also just killer. Check out the JiveMiguel1980 remaster, and It's at this point that I'd also like to note that yes, I am going to recommend JiveMiguel1980 remasters a lot, they make a lot of them and they're very good

Sakka Joweda: This one is probably my favorite CBAT outtake, it's really catchy and very high energy for Steely Dan. The chorus on this one gets stuck in my head for the rest of the day every time I hear it, and the closing organ bit is very distinct for them. Check out the JiveMiguel1980 remaster if you like this one as always. I'd have to agree with the studio chatter at the end of this one, Sakka Joweda is "real good."

Any World (That I'm Welcome To): You might recognize this one from their 1975 album "Katie Lied," Any World is one of a couple of Steely Dan demos to find new life on subsequent albums. This version of it is very good on its own, having the sparser piano and drum sound of a lot of Steely Dan demos, but it doesn't quite hold up as well when compared to its later officially released iteration (you just can't compete with Michael McDonald.)

Running Child: This one to me is another solid-but-not-exceptional demo, which is probably why infamous perfectionist Donald Fagen prevented it from being included on the album. This one also has a JiveMiguel1980 remaster if it sticks out to you.

Megashine City: This song is alright, like Sakka Joweda I think its strongest part is its chorus. This one has a very 60s country-ish americana sound that I don't personally care for, and I think wouldn't sound out of place with a lot of other bands of the era, but it still has enough of that Dan feel going for it that I'll listen to it on occasion.

Stay There: This is just studio chatter and instrument futzing I think. If you're listening to Can't Buy a Thrill Demos and Outtakes as though it were a real album, it's a fun little transitional piece.

Midnite Cruiser (Alternate Mix): This is an alternate mix of Midnite Cruiser, the track from Can't Buy a Thrill. Not too too much is different, but it is pretty neat.

This was my first Lost Steely Dan Saturday, I've been wanting to blog about this stuff for a little bit, and finally settled on this as the format. Next week I'll most likely be covering Katy Lied & The Royal Scam, as Countdown to Ecstasy and Pretzel Logic outtakes either don't exist or remain lost media at present. Not sure how this style of post is going to perform, but I am mostly just making these for my own enjoyment. However, if anyone has questions or notes they can feel free to reach out to me about them.

[morethanonepage]

Do you have any opinions on modern day John's music tastes? I'm usually annoyed when they don't update them from the original time period. Like, sex pistols? Rly?

lmfao I actually think it makes sense, at his core John is a white english boy, ofc he'd be into the 'classics' of a genre* (and the Sex Pistols/Ramones era really IS the start of the punk genre) before being willing to explore anything more modern/of his own time period. like i would also believe him as a music snob who prefers vinyl to CD/digital music (i'm more 🙄 on him using the ipod in the Constantine show, for instance, but I also think it's implied Chas maybe have both brought and put it together for him).

of course i think comics hellblazer canon is that he's into the pistols' bc he was at that classic 1976 show in Manchester (I may have just made this up, it may just be *my* headcanon), modern john's backstory would probably be that he was a pretentious little weirdo rebelling against what would've been the most in opposition to pop music in the early 90s, got into local punk music, and then went looking for whatever ~the classics were. like i think he'd likely be a fan of local music/more modern punk as well but being a baseline Pistols' fanboy makes sense to me.

*also have to point out the most obnoxious show!john thing which is when he complains about reggae music when it's so closely tied to the history of punk. like, specifically with Johnny Rotten even. Bizarre writing choice imo, either the writers of the show didn't know that or they did and were making a real statement about John's white englishman blindspots of not knowing/respecting POC history & influence on stuff he likes [which is also supported by him being such a snob about the folk magic in the infamous mexico city episodes of the show, and the "magpie of magic" comment from Papa Midnite.] given his background i don't think it's shocking that john constantine is terrible re: intersectionality but it's worth remembering as one of his flaws (though: i think he's actually better about it in the comics).

[alfea]

mini doll makers

there are some broken images but all of these are at least somewhat intact

kitty’s build-a-doll workshop

angels crying

starlette and midnight

tudor dollies

my doll creator

dollz mania

cartoon dollz

the woman says

very cherry

glamour dolly

the dollz realm

mini maker v 1.2

lovasforeva

mega mini maker

midnite princess

dollmaker land

teeny tiny

dolly city

[seekerofvision]

Sometimes I question why I'm even in this city. Can't really go back to Boston, I'd be a pretty awkward reunion if I head back there. New York isn't an option either, I'm pretty sure Midnite is still pissed at me. LA might be an option after this.

I should probably pop open the rum I just bought, maybe a few glasses will clear my head.

[pyroreadscomics]

Three Interesting & Oddball Catwoman Comics

So, I'm working on a full Post-Crisis Catwoman reading list (pray for me) but I've realized there are certain comics that, while they wouldn't make any but the most bloated (and / or obsessively complete) reading guides, I find fascinating in some way.

So, here's three issues that are completely optional Catwoman reading: (Below the cut to save your dashboards.)

GREEN ARROW (1988) #86

This comic on its own would be notable because Catwoman made shockingly few out of Gotham guest appearances during the New Earth era. Sure she’d pop up in Batfamily books every other month on average, but times when Selina broke out of the Bat-sphere are truly few and far between. In fact, in terms of guest appearances in other peoples solo titles there’s really only that one digital first Wonder Woman comic where Selina makes a very chibi appearance (it’s great) and… actually that’s the list. Even expanding out to the series of teams that don’t have Batman or Catwoman as members and aren’t Batman adjacent all you have is three pretty good issues of JSA: Classified and a debate about where or not the Birds of Prey being minimum half Gothamite at all times makes them bat-adjacent. 

This is genuinely the only guest appearance outside of Gotham she makes that doesn’t come with a bunch of asterisks. As for the plot of the book, Oliver Queen, currently not in Star City, ends up tangling with some thieves who’ve smuggled Incan artifacts out of Peru. While looking to defeat them he ends up teaming up with early Balent Catwoman. 

The interesting thing, for me at least, is that Catwoman’s above board here. She’s not just stealing the artifacts to sell herself, she's been contracted by the government of Peru to return their stolen artifacts. This is, quite possibly, the origin of the “Catwoman who steals artifacts to return them to their country of origin” trope that pops up in fan content from time to time.

To be clear, the comic firmly establishes that Selina’s not doing this out of the kindness of her heart but more that a paycheck’s a paycheck and it’s less hassle than fencing the stuff herself. 

Still, it’s interesting to me that this trope both seems to originate in the comics, but also not be there a lot. I haven’t read the bronze age stuff. I haven’t read (all) the New 52 and Rebirth stuff.  But I have read almost 600 issues of New Earth Selina Kyle appearances and I'm fairly certain that this is the only appearance of “Catwoman, Government Repo Agent” or “Catwoman, reverse British Museum” in the entirety of the New Earth timeline.

And ain’t that interesting?

BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE (2013) #6/4 "She Lies at Midnite"

Well first things first. Yes this issue was published after the New 52 reboot. However it’s very clearly set in the New Earth continuity. For those unaware, Selina’s personal history, interpersonal relationships, character depth and character development all got nuked by the reboot and this story has tied to several elements that a Non-Canon to the New 52. As such I, like the wiki, am counting this as “basically New Earth”

Secondly, while the other two stories are interesting to me for various meta reasons, this one is simply a compelling story (which also, makes me conscious of not wishing to dissect it like a frog to an audience that might enjoy a blind read.). Though being a Batman centric story, it explores the messier aspects of Bruce and Selina’s relationship in a way that adds a bit of nuance to their relationship while keeping  everyone in character (well… there's some lines of dialogue I don't quite vibe with, but everyone's actions, motivations and dynamics are in character and those are the important bits)

Also because it's one story in an anthology it's really short, only 7 pages.

So tell y'all what, I'll talk about the last story first, and then I'll do the full spoiler breakdown of why I find this story fascinating.

CATWOMAN (1993) #89 (HARLEY QUINN EDITION)

This is, I believe, the only issue* of Catwoman where Selina never makes an appearance

Even when Eiko or Holly took over the role she at least made appearances in every issue even if they were minor. Here though? She's only referenced, though she's referenced alot.

(Note: yes Selina doesn't appear in either the first annual or Catwoman 1,000,000. But counterpoint, those are basically Sci-fi and Fantasy AUs and that’s a level of pedantry even I don't care for)

The plot itself goes like this: Doctor Harleen Quinzel goes to a TV company and pitches a show based on the adventures of Catwoman, as seen through Harley’s eyes. It’s a version of events where Harley Quinn is Catwoman’s best friend, and they commit crimes, team up with Poison Ivy, and fight Batman and Commissioner Gordon. The TV executives (who somehow seem oblivious to the fact that A) Catwoman’s a real person and b) the person they’re talking to is a supervillain) start reworking the pitch of the show to be more corporate and kid friendly, much to the anger of Harley who murders the executives with Joker Gas, ending the issue.

Now, talking about a story within a story is always going to get a bit meta, but I’m going to start small and then work my way up to the scene that inspired this whole post.

Firstly… Harley’s TV pitch is where we get specifics on Selina’s parents background. Sure in they’re last appearance Brian was a racist white guy and Maria was clearly a Latina immigrant, but this is I believe the first (and potentially only) time Maria is labeled Cuban and Brian is labeled as Irish. Which also means, unless I'm forgetting another instance of this information being brought up, we’re just taking Harley’s word on this.

Secondly, Harley casting herself as Selina’s best friend is, amazingly, not necessarily incorrect.

For context, this is a year and a half into Harley Quinn’s run as a canon character. Despite that she has interacted with Selina once before. It’s a bit of an involved story but the short version is, Selina get sent to prison. The person in the next cell ends up being Harley Quinn, who Selina ends up telling all about her childhood, then the pair escape, though Harley stabs Selina with a knife to pull it off and then, once they’re free, drugs and hypnotizes Selina into helping with a plan to kill Batman.

Now you’d reasonably think that that’s disqualifying behavior for best friend status but… counterpoint, who else is it? Her sister Maggie? They haven’t talked in a decade (both in universe and out). Holly? Same as Maggie. Arizona? She’s an amnesiac child and even if she remembers Catwoman, the writers have forgotten her. Zee and/or Clutterbuck? They were at best work colleges and ones who haven’t appeared in years at that (also if you remembered they existed at all i am genuinely impressed). One of the other rouges? She’s not great terms with any of them, even the ones who haven’t tried to kill her (which is most of them).

(also "Which orphanage were you in?" damn Selina) Harley meanwhile is actually the first person in canon that Selina told her backstory to. Harley knew before Bruce about how Selina’s parents died. Also, despite Harley’s mind control gambit, Harley is insistent she cares about Selina, and Selina clearly doesn’t hold that big a grudge as, the same month this issue came out, she was in Harley’s solo for a party.

90s Catwoman, with a few brief exceptions, was so against maintaining a consistent supporting cast for Selina that Harley is the clear winner for the best friend award, at least in this moment of time.

Third, minor point but I Harley’s little fanfic contains not merely the specific Catwoman/Harley/Ivy team up in comics, but also, the first time Ivy and Catwoman have teamed up outside of the Long Halloween (where all the rogues end up working together in the end). Indeed the last time Catwoman and Ivy were in the same comic it was Cataclysm and Selina ended up force feeding Ivy a seed that grew roots out of… everywhere. Needless to say, they weren’t friends at the time. Though, in Harley’s world, they were.

(In fact, for those unfamiliar, during the original Gotham City Sirens run, Selina and Ivy were somewhat antagonistic towards each other, but tried to get along for the sake of their mutual friend Harley Quinn.)

Lastly, and most metatextually interesting, is Harley’s exact words when her story got sanded down for boarder market appeal.

“This isn’t my Story! Catwoman is a grownup! Her Friends are grownups! That big,dumb lump of a Ratman that she flirts with is a grownup! She Steals stuff, she fights with people, she outsmarts the cops! You don’t need to make all those stupid changes— she’s fine just the way she is!”

This story has a cover date of February 2001. Within a year, Brubaker’s run of Catwoman resets the numbering and radically overhauls the character. Catwoman’s characterization pivots out of “selfish loner thief who’s a bit of a bastard with a heart of gold buried so deep it takes mass tragedy to get it to show just a little” to “a vigilante with a found family who’s deeply concerned about the welfare of her one specific run down corner of Gotham.” She becomes a hero.

Now, I personally really like Brubaker’s run, he’s easily one of the three best writers the character’s ever had, but there’s no denying that it’s a change.

And so, reading that line of Harley’s struck me as… shockingly prophetic. Sure Selina didn’t get aged down into a teenager who solved crimes for the government, but she was toned down into a more explicit robin hood and made less adversarial with Batman. Now I doubt the line was written with knowledge of where Brubaker’s reboot would take the character, or even that Brubaker had even agreed to helm Catwoman when the script was turned in but… I can’t help but wonder why this issue was written. Because stories about stories are always meta in some way.

BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE (2013) #6/4 "She Lies at Midnite" (For Real this Time)

Right spoilers ago: This story starts with Selina paralyzed.

Bruce takes a bit longer then me getting there but that is how we start. With a explainer that Catwoman got involved in a gang war that was targeting sex workers and got her spine broken for the trouble. And now the doctor is saying that she'll never walk again.

This deeply affects Bruce who has a flashback to Barbara’s paralyzation.

Bruce tracks the two gangs down to a standoff and... to quote Bruce:

I'll spare you the details. Skylight. Gunfire. Screams. The usual.

It's not until he's done breaking "every leg in the house" that he runs into a surprise appearance: Slam Bradley, who's taking care of the mooks outside. (for the Catwoman readers: firstly, thanks for reading this far, secondly, Slam’s… honestly an important character overall but the short version is his a bar brawling P.I. who was one of the few love interests Selina’s ever had that’s long term relevant)

Bruce is unsurprised to see him, given his connection to Selina, and tries to commiserate with him in his own Batman-y way, but that's all thrown for a loop when Slam reveals that he's here because Selina asked him to handle these gangs earlier that night  (You know, when she should have been conscious in the hospital)

And… honestly I can’t put this next bit better than the comic itself.

Jesus fuck Selina that's cold

Anyway, Bruce immediately tracks Selina down (It's not hard, she's robbing the leaders of the gangs houses while Batman was putting the membership in a hospital) bringing Slam along just cause I guess.

Bruce is beyond pissed off and wants answers and after this... wonderful panel, Selina explains

When Bruce asks why Selina didn't just ask for help, Selina laughs and says "Slammy here, him I could just ask! You'd put it on your tp-do list, somewhere way down, past Joker's latest attempt to poison the water supply or Eddie's latest Head-Scratcher"

That wasn't fast enough for Selina, and given she wasn't up to the job she certainly didn't want it handed off to one of the Robins. Therefore, if it was a job that needed Batman, but it wasn't important enough, Selina had to make it important to Bruce.

Hence... faking being paralyzed and also deliberately invoking one Bruce's old traumas against him. Which I get but also damn Selina.

Bruce is actually so pissed off it looks like he's about to fight Selina, but Selina surrenders instead and the story ends with Selina in the batmobile, in cuffs, (though Bruce agrees to stop for ice cream on the way to the station, indicating he's... maybe cooling off a bit).

While it's not actually the worst thing Selina's ever done to Bruce technically, this incident didn't even draw any blood. It's.... It reads like a profound betrayal of trust. Selina took an insecurity of Bruce's she could only know about after being inducted into the Bat family and used it against him without remorse. (Which... post: Tower of Babel Bruce does not get to criticize this move but it's still cold).

And then, there's the fact that Selina did this because she, reasonably, couldn't actually trust Bruce to help her out without that manipulation. It's not even Selina acting selfishly for once, it's Selina trying to protect innocents.

And the weird thing is, outside of a few dialogue choices, everyone's perfectly in character here. This is a stunt canon Selina would easily pull if the circumstances lined up the same.

I will say, I totally get where Selina's coming from, even sympathize with it a little. Batman is someone who's constantly pulled in a thousand different directions and can't actually be relied on to help in a weird way. There's a reason the worst sections of Gotham keep getting dedicated superheroes (Onyx for the Hill, Catwoman for the East End) and that's because Batman doesn't have the time to help these areas as thoroughly as they need.

And of course, being a part of these communities in a way Batman just can't be, they end up seeing the problems much more up close and personal.

Like, take the original storyline where Selina commits to being a vigilante rather than a supervillain. In that storyline there's a serial killer going after sex workers and while Selina has reason to be invested (She used to be sex worker, she finds out because a friend who is a sex worker shows up at her safe house looking to hide,) the thing that tips her over the edge into action is those things PLUS the inaction of those who should be dealing with the situation. The police straight up do not care (there's a scene where they find a body and they instead of trying to record evidence go through her wallet for cash and crack jokes) and Batman, while he's... not malicious like that, it is called out by Selina that while they may be victims, to Batman they are still criminals in his eye and thus not high on his priority list, even if they are being murdered.

That's all canon.

So... what's Selina to do? There are two gangs tearing up the streets and killing sex workers (which, conversely to Bruce, is something that always sits at the top of her priority list). If she can't just rob them out of existence, doesn't have the skills to fight them on head and win, and Batman ain't doing shit... what opinion does she have but to manipulate Batman into action. (and, to be clear, if Selina had already decided the correct solution to this problem was manipulating Batman, and also had enough time to set up the whole deception, then Batman had time to respond to the situation on his own and didn't.)

To Selina, this whole operation, while a punch below the belt on Bruce and potentially permanently damaging their relationship, would save lives. Her motivations were pure.

It's just...

It's still betraying Bruce's trust, using knowledge of his private pains against him. Skipping right over the asking for help step because she didn't trust him to help. And yet, the only way any of this works is if Bruce trusted Selina enough to let her in, and Selina trusted Bruce to avenge her. (Also side note: very much the only reason Slam's here is as a counterpoint to Bruce as someone Selina trusted to help without manipulation. Which depending on when this is supposed to be timeline wise (are they dating, is this before or after Selina lost his granddaughter) potentially speaks volumes about Selina's trust in Slam.)

It's such an emotionally messy story for only 7 pages and it’s the sort of shit I live for.

[dcdreamblog]

For the person who asked about Norwegian superheroes, I know the Dr. Mid-Nite here in Portsmouth is an immigrant from Norway. (I know this because when he saved my great aunt, another Norwegian immigrant, her concussion was making it difficult for her to remember English and it turned out they spoke the same dialect. Tante Inge has now passed on peacefully, but she always bragged about our hometown hero being from her country)

(Image of Doctor Midnite II, standing on the edge of a church at the center of Portsmouth City, OR which seems to be a central spot for his patrols) Correct! And what a wonderful story to share with us! Yes, the second Doctor Midnite is well known to be Norwegian, either a immigrant or simply a descendant. Of course no one knows his specific background due to his secret identity but his accent has been identified I'm told as being from the Vestland region.

I didn't bring him up during my discussion of Norwegian heroes because he doesn't fit the criteria I assumed the ask was made in. He doesn't operate IN Norway for the most part and his personal background is opaque so I can't and won't make any judgements as to the "intensity" of his Norwegian identity.

Portsmouth City is actually known for its rather large and robust Norwegian population, especially for a city so far west of the northern midwest where most Nordic Americans settled. It's also one of the pieces of general evidence given that he and the original Dr. Midnite, Charles McNider was American born and, more to the point, never married.

[shyearthquakedaze]

MIDNITE CITY - Summer Of Our Lives (Official Video)