CC
HiSTORY
Script:Svetozar Obradovic (1), Slavko
Dragimcic (4-8),Bane Kerac (2,3,9-44)
In 1981, the redaction of YU STRIP decided to enrich the
content of the magazine with the comic which could have been close to the tradition of the
American super heroes. There was the idea that there should be established the teams of
script makers,pencilers and inkers. Out of all called authors, only two of them , Toza
Obradovic and Bane Kerac, came up with three suggestions:GEA, as a match to Conan, meaning
Red Sonya, CAT CLAW as female version of Spiderman and CYBORG like... well, the Terminator
had not existed at that time. Bane did a couple of pages of each of the suggestions
(pencil) and they were offered to Belgrade comic drawers to be the inkers. Moste of them,
disgusted, refused the offer,and a half of them who accepted, never took the job
seriously. The rest of them just were not able to take part in something like that. Well,
if they had known that Cat Claw would be published in USA, France, Netherlands, Sweden,
Norway, Turkey...
Finally, everything was up to Bane, who had already been working on Cobra (Cindy
episodes), so two other super heroes had to be dumped. Cat Claw, being too close to Bane,
who always liked John Romita Sr., the best drawer of Daredevil and Spiderman, had been
chosen. The first episode (Bane Claws) had been made according to all Marvel's rules,
including the appearance of Peter Parker on the bench in the park, but it soon came up
that it was a dead end. Slavko Dragincic had tried to bring up some disorder into Sten
Lee's clishe, but for his numerous obligations, could not accept the place of regular
script man. Accepting the script as well, Kerac took the advantage to make everythig
upside down. He did it in such a ration, that some of the readers could have understood
Cat Claw as a parodyor spoof. Fortunately, most of them realised that Cat Claw was a
simple super hero, neither better, nor worse than any other, but with a significant
addition: already absurd superheroic situations were brought to even bigger absurdities.
Simply said, nothing was sacred to Bane. He mixed up the genres, (common thrilers, soaps,
horrors and SF), maliciously bringing the clishees to extremes ( slippery dying of Phil
Fireball on Xtremity's hands); he made real Mac Sennet's commedy (chasing of Cat, Catminator, police, Helloween Gang and TV crew in
City) just to work in the folloowing episode in the most serious comic in the world
(dramatic uncover of Dr.Stein), to push in some character out of his private surroundings
(his wife as TV reporter, marriage witness as a cab driver, colegue Igor Kordej, drawing
Black the Rock, which is absolutely not joinable etc. He had also imagined some moronic
onomathopeic sound effects (DUMUOKO - HITINTHEYE, RASPIZD - STROKEINTHEBALLS, TJORAAAK -
MIIISSED! etc, flirted with music (Helloween, Eithne N'Bharonian), movies (Berthold
Schwarzenberger) and other comics from Phantom, through Rip Kirby to Snoopy. The top of
the uncritical stupidities is certainly the character of Cameron Hill (James Walter sounds
foolish, doesn' t it?), who makes the joint of Bane himself and James RedHeat Belushi, and
it had been made just to prevent Cat Claw to be fucked by somebody else (some kind of a
parajelousnoya, or else!) . Bane had never avoided to infiltrate some of his temporary or
permanent obsessions and to share them with the readers, laughing to them or to himself
(most of the titles are grimaced and not distorted visions of well known movies, most of
Clint Eastwood's, r'n'r songs and heavy metal albums. Pouring male chovinism into weird
feminism in Cat Claw comic becomes regular and it makes laugh out both of them. Enough to
make feminists look themselves as gentle housewives, and macho men don't even understand
the scene where mad Cat Claw breaks balls to a "poor" raper. There is some of
Bane's covered Vigilante nature (Eastwood-Bronson connection) but we honestly hope that
the drawer won't start to dig into containers and climb over the roofs.
The synopsis of the Cat Claw comc is rather simple. Caroline Connor, biology student, was
scratched by the cat radiated by sygmatrone races (genial, isn't it?) so she became a girl
who sees in the dark, she can use her claws, has proportionaly enlarged strenght, alwas
jumps onto her Iwantout - o'boy long leggs and, probably, gets mad in February. Just to be
different from other super heroes, who take their costumes as sacred thing, she tears her
net (whoreish?) stockings and looses parts of her bikini costume in her battles (mostly
upper than lower, but Bane still cares to keep her as an erotic, not hard core heroina).
According to some opinions, characters who are around her are more interesting than Cat
Claw herself. Doctor Bruce Baker (Eastwood again), the scientist who turns into a monster
(genial, ain't it?), Lieutenant Battleball Bullet, hyphohondric policeman (intended to be
like Jonah Jameson, but had much exceeded his pattern) potential rat and father of the
reporter Phil Fireball who was supposed to be the anker for a potential comic "love
story" but came up to be unsuccessfull Renate Roseblood (Xtremity) husband. She got
her nickname according to her enormous breast "talent" and is the typical female
negative charachter - she doesn't know what she want, but she wants it now! Berthold
Schwartzenberger aka Catminator, temporarily Grgur the Monster, and permanent Xtremity's
loverboy, who loves Cat Claw so much to kill her; Dr Sigismund Morse, Grgur's manufacturer
and of a very few who got killed in this comic (even twice); Ninja Deathbringer,
patological killer; Walter Schockley (Eastwood again!), Cameron Hill's boss, in fact
a Celtic warrior and his children - druid Nicolas and warrior Eithne; Warlock, sorcerer
whose task is to bring three 6 onto Earth; Ginnie Jones, weird Carol's roommate who
illustrates a person who would be taken to bed straight away by a real man- the only
brunete with a brain of blonde. Clive Carson -rather stupid and rather honest muscle
bunch;frustrated student Steven, called Hawkeye alias Dr Stein and the rest of
Helloweeners who got their names by the songs of HM band Helloween (Dr.Stein, Gorgar,
Iwantout, Rise & Fall); Cameron Hill, a mixture of Dirty Harry Ridzik Detective and
Sledge Hammer- meaning a public rowdy frustrated by a Micheline tyre taken around his
waist and very unhappy if anybody has bigger than him (meaning gun), but as good inside as
a baker's helper. Alsoo there are many well known faces and Bane's friends (Hermann Hupen
barman, Sergio Argones - psycho, Ervin Rustemagic, the owner (what else could he be?) of
the bar on the corner, Lena Ollmark, editor of Swedish magazine MAGNUM as mud wrestler,
Sigbjom Stabursvik - editor of Norway MAGNUM , as Walhala mutant, Manfred Sommer, Paolo
Eleuteri Serpieri, Jean Giraud, W.Axl Rose - a cup, Beavis and Butthead -drawn realistic,
Ken Parker, Arnold Schwartzenegger as Donaldminator, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, La
Bionda, Tank Girl, Lucky Lucke etc.
44th episode (Catsolute Power-Firecat, part IV) was made in
1995. For three years, Bane has been trying to face Cat Claw with Warlock. He even made a
title of the album -CATMAGEDDON, so it seems that Cat won' t stay where she is now.
Yugoslav readers have never had the oportunity to read the episoded RATSODY IN BLUE, CITY
CAT, CATHATTAN and FIRECAT, which were made as classic albums og 46 pages, but who dares
winns. There is a little hope that some of the publishers would deal with these four
episodes, for old times sake
INDEX OF EPISODES
album#1 OTROVNE KANDZE
/ BANE CLAWS
# |
original
title |
english title |
made
in |
pages |
01 |
OTROVNE KANDZE |
BANE CLAWS |
Jun 1981 |
22 |
02 |
MACO, KAZI
FRRR... |
PURRR... |
Oktobar 1981 |
10 |
03 |
NEMOJ RECI DA SAM MACJI
KASALJ! |
DON*T CALL ME POOR LITTLE
KITTEN |
Decembar 1981 |
10 |
album
#2 KRV NIJE MLEKO / THE GAUNTCAT
04 |
KRV NIJE MLEKO |
BLOOD IS NOT MILK |
Mart 1982 |
10 |
05 |
IDE MACA OKO TEBE... |
CATTIE GO ROUND... |
Maj 1982 |
10 |
06 |
CATCH AS CAT CAN |
|
Jul 1982 |
10 |
07 |
THE GAUNTCAT |
|
Decembar 1982 |
10 |
08 |
DOSLA CICA NA KOLICA! |
CATS WILL BE CATS |
1984 |
10 |
album
#3 SIC! / THE GOOD, THE CAT & THE UGLY
09 |
SIC! |
SHOO! |
Jan 1986 |
10 |
10 |
MACKATASTROFA |
CAT-ASTROPHE |
April 1986 |
10 |
11 |
CUVAJ MIJO REP |
CAT*N*DOLL |
Avg 1986 |
10 |
12 |
MACKA NA USIJANOM LIMENOM
KROVU SUPERMARKETA |
CAT ON THE HOT TIN
SUPERMARKET ROOF |
Okt 1986 |
10 |
13 |
THE GOOD, THE CAT &
THE UGLY |
|
Dec 1986 |
10 |
14 |
THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW
THE CATS FACE |
|
Mart 1987 |
10 |
album
#4 CICMINATOR / CATMINATOR
15 |
CICMINATOR! (MACKOTREBAC) |
CATMINATOR! |
April / Maj 1987 |
10 |
16 |
MACKOSMAR U ULICI
HRASTOVA |
CATMARE ON OAKS STREET |
Novembar 1987 |
10 |
17 |
MACKENBAL |
CAT*N*BALL |
Februar 1988 |
8 |
18 |
CATBREAK RIDGE |
|
Jul 1988 |
10 |
19 |
PLAY *MEOW* FOR ME |
|
Avgust / Sept 1988 |
10 |
20 |
THE CATFORCER |
|
Oktobar 1988 |
10 |
album
#5 CAT OR ALIVE
21 |
EVERY WHICH CAT BUT LOOSE |
|
Septembar 1989. |
10 |
22 |
DEATHBRINGER |
|
Oktobar 1989 |
10 |
23 |
CAT OR ALIVE |
|
1-17/1983
18-20/1989 |
20 |
24 |
NO MILK TODAY! |
|
|
10 |
25 |
CAT-ACLYSM! |
|
|
10 |
26 |
HELL*S CAT |
|
|
10 |
27 |
CAT POOL |
|
|
10 |
28 |
THE FINAL CAT |
|
|
10 |
album
#6 PACOVDIJA U PLAVOM / RATSODY IN BLUE
29 |
CATING FOR TOMORROW |
|
Februar 1991 |
10 |
30 |
RAT CAT BLUE |
|
|
10 |
31 |
TWO FOOLS FOR SISTER
CATTIE |
|
|
12 |
32 |
KITTEN IMPACT |
|
Jul 1991 |
14 |
album
#7 OLUCARKA / CITY CAT
33 |
KITTY HEAT |
|
Decembar 1991 |
14 |
34 |
CLAW DEAL |
|
Januar 1992 |
10 |
35 |
HELLOCAT |
|
Februar 1992 |
10 |
36 |
CLAW *EM HIGH |
|
April 1992 |
12 |
album
#8 CATHATTAN
37 |
CATTIE*S HEROES |
|
April 1993 |
12 |
38 |
CATSTREMITY! |
|
Jul 1993 |
10 |
39 |
CATTRICK! |
|
Septembar 1993 |
12 |
40 |
CATROPE |
|
Novembar 1993 |
12 |
album
#9 FIRECAT
41 |
METALCICA |
CATALLICA |
Februar 1994 |
12 |
42 |
MACHINE CAT |
|
April 1994 |
10 |
43 |
CAT-O-WAR |
|
Jun 1994 |
12 |
44 |
CATSOLUTE POWER |
|
Oktobar 1994 |
12 |
album
#10 MACKAGEDON / CATMAGEDDON
44 |
KELTSKA VESTICA |
THE CELTIC WITCH |
RADI SE!!!! |
? |
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