Cat Claw
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cat Claw was a fictional character in the former Yugoslavia. She was created by Bane Kerac for Yu Strip magazine in 1981.
The publisher "Decje Novine" and editor Sibin Slavkovic, called for comic strips that would resemble American superheroes for their magazine "YU Strip". Of the creators solicited, only Bane Kerac and Toza Obradovic responded. Their suggestions included Gea, a Red Sonja-type character, Cyborg, a Terminator-type character (even though that character did not exist until 1984), and Cat Claw, a female version of Spider-Man. Bane pencilled several pages and they were shopped around the Belgrade inkers, but none accepted the position. Bane ended up performing both duties. He was busy with his Kobra strip, so two of the characters had to be dropped. Bane chose to retain Cat Claw, which allowed him to emulate the work of one of his idols, John Romita.
The first episode, "Bane Claws," written by Svetozar Obradovic, was very much in the Marvel Comics style. It even included a cameo appearance by Peter Parker (on a bench in the park). Carol Connor, an introverted university biology student, was scratched by a cat which had been used in an experiment. Later that same evening, when she attempted to shut down an experiment in Dr. Baker's lab she was exposed to "Sigma radiation." As a result, Carol found she had developed a cat's agility and claw-like fingernails. She was also superhumanly strong and could see in the dark almost as well as during the day.
At first, Carol just used her powers for her own amusement. However, when she heard her roommate Jenny Jones being attacked outside their apartment building, she (literally) jumped to her defense and drove the attackers off. Carol enjoyed the experience and decided to create a costumed identity. Partly to draw attention away from her face, and partly because Carol would never wear anything so daring in her own identity, the costume was very revealing. Carol "borrowed" some special fabric, woven from metal, to create her mask, gloves, and boots from the Gray's Institute. There was insufficient fabric to create a complete costume, so Carol used a black bikini Jenny had given her (but she'd never dared to wear) and fishnet pantyhose. (The ordinary fabric of the bikini and hose got torn up and had to be replaced after every fight. Later, Carol adopted a black leotard and black leather jacket to replace the bikini.) Bane stated in a 1991 interview "I tried to imagine what the wet dream of every male pig would look like, and Cat Claw was the answer."
Cat Claw went on to battle ordinary criminals and her own Rogues Gallery: Xtremity (aka Renate Roseblood), Berthold Schwartenberger (aka Catminator and, later, Grgur the monster), Dr. Sigismund Morse (Grgur's creator), Dr. Bruce Baker (who also turns into a monster), Ninja Deathbringer, and the Helloweeners.
In the late 1980s, Malibu Comics's Eternity label republished 9 issues of Cat Claw's adventures.
As part of a TV program about Bane Kerac in 1991, a live-action episode of Cat Claw, "City Cat," starred actress Danielle Peyich as Carol and Bane himself as policeman Cameron Hill. Today, 2006, Cat Claw is present in hard cover albums in "Cat Claw Ultimate Collection" (4 of 11).
