Cat Tales by Chris Dee

[Deathsheadx]

Okay i was bored so i just sat down and read the Cat tales series by Chris Dee.

Now i admit i was enjoying it, watching the author build a relationship between selina and bruce was entertaining

It was enjoyable...up until one point.

String Theory.

Bloody hell What was that! that was like the most self indulgant piece of crap i have read in ages. it's like the author lost the plot!

I know that the author is a fan of the iconic Jim Ballant Selina Kyle, hell i love that version too. but the scarlet witch/house of m ripoff just to punish zatanna for messing with selina was rancid!

it soured me on continuing.

So i wondered

Who else has read the series?

Did they enjoy it?

What do they think of authors who sabortage their own stories to settle a grudge or personal bias?

Am i insane for reading that series in the first place?

 

[Lost Star]

*Head tilt* I follow cats tails and like it pretty much. Near as I can tell the entire thing was in character, and followed a logical progression.

I think in this case its a matter of opinion.

 

[Deathsheadx]

*Head tilt* I follow cats tails and like it pretty much. Near as I can tell the entire thing was in character, and followed a logical progression.

I think in this case its a matter of opinion.

AHHH, You're making a mistake.

I never said selina or bruce or the characters were out of character.

the point is their is a problem with the plot.

quite frankly there are 101 things the author could of done. but in the end the plot came down to a thinly veiled lashing out at what happened in the mainstream comics to batman and catwoman and punishing zatanna.

there was really no need for that story other than self gratifying payback.

 

[Lost Star]

*Shrugs*

I saw it as an entertaining story, and not what you are feeling about it. You mileage will vary I guess. I cant say much more than that.

 

[Deathsheadx]

yeah... to be honest, you, and others enjoying it is fine by me.

in fact on my speed read(i have two speeds for reading, i can read very fast or take it slow) i didn't see a problem till right at the end which caused me to take a step back and re read it revealing what i perceived.

in the end it always comes down to personal taste.

 

[Prince Charon]

Its a fun series. There are some decisions I don't agree with, but on the whole, the series is a fun read.

 

[DhampyrX2]

Isn't all fanfiction a form of gratifying payback though? We imagine things we'd like to see, or want to change, and make our own AUs to fulfill that desire then write about them. I can't say he did anything wrong here, and it had me hooked from the first time Selina tore into Bruce for putting up with crap for Talia and Ra's.

 

[Deathsheadx]

Isn't all fanfiction a form of gratifying payback though? We imagine things we'd like to see, or want to change, and make our own AUs to fulfill that desire then write about them. I can't say he did anything wrong here, and it had me hooked from the first time Selina tore into Bruce for putting up with crap for Talia and Ra's.

sure. hell i enjoyed every story up to string theory. there was good characterisation, and decent continuity of story and plot progression.

which is probably why i found string theory so bad.

there's taking self gratification to far... when that happens you start to get into Kate, Mmooch, lionheart territory

 

[Deadpan29]

Cat Tales is one of my all-time favorites, to the point that I greatly prefer it to DC canon and sometimes have to remind myself that the official canon is different that what I read from Chris Dee. The series, as far as I can tell, has two major points.

(1) Getting Catwoman and Batman together in a lasting and believable way.

(2) Mocking various interpretations of the characters and plot decisions carried out by DC comics.

If you go back to the first story in the series, it's focused more on point (2) than point (1), with Selina putting together a one-woman show for the express purpose of mocking rumors about her. These "rumors" happen to be canon events in the DC comics. The whole series is a, "thinly veiled lashing out at what happened in the mainstream comics to batman and catwoman." I don't see how String Theory was unusual in that respect.

 

[Deathsheadx]

Cat Tales is one of my all-time favorites, to the point that I greatly prefer it to DC canon and sometimes have to remind myself that the official canon is different that what I read from Chris Dee. The series, as far as I can tell, has two major points.

(1) Getting Catwoman and Batman together in a lasting and believable way.

(2) Mocking various interpretations of the characters and plot decisions carried out by DC comics.

If you go back to the first story in the series, it's focused more on point (2) than point (1), with Selina putting together a one-woman show for the express purpose of mocking rumors about her. These "rumors" happen to be canon events in the DC comics. The whole series is a, "thinly veiled lashing out at what happened in the mainstream comics to batman and catwoman." I don't see how String Theory was unusual in that respect.

there is mocking characters and interpretations, and then there's bashing/destroying characters because the author is butthurt over DC's current direction.

the first was absolutely fine i loved the mocking take on the characters but when it got to identity crisis and the string theory chapter, the story strayed into the second category and it shows.

it was basicly so sudden a switch that it caught me out. i really didn't expect Chris dee to go down that path and it totally sucked the enjoyment out of reading the series for me

 

[Rift120]

*Head tilt*? I follow cats tails and like it pretty much.? Near as I can tell the entire thing was in character, and followed a logical progression.

I think in this case its a matter of opinion.

AHHH, You're making a mistake.

I never said selina or bruce or the characters were out of character.

the point is their is a problem with the plot.

quite frankly there are 101 things the author could of done. but in the end the plot came down to a thinly veiled lashing out at what happened in the mainstream comics to batman and catwoman and punishing zatanna.

there was really no need for that story other than self gratifying payback.

It felt in universe... and I didn't feel it came out of nowehre because if you look at Zatanna's portrayl in earlier stories that she showed up in you can see teh authors undercurrent of dislike for her.... just as you can see how she views Wonder Woman negativly.

Thinking on it bothers me a little... but not enough to really stop me from reading it. I personally enjoy how she portrays how the various Rogues gallery interacts with each other.

 

[Deathsheadx]

you may be right that the author has an undercurrent of dislike for zatanna but up until 2004 the author kept it under control. 2004 hits and the author goes off the rails in the hate.

also i find it's awefully suspicious that house of m comes out in june and string theory comes out riffing similar themes a couple months later.

 

[Prince Charon]

you may be right that the author has an undercurrent of dislike for zatanna but up until 2004 the author kept it under control. 2004 hits and the author goes off the rails in the hate.

also i find it's awefully suspicious that house of m comes out in june and string theory comes out riffing similar themes a couple months later.

To be fair, the Zatanna of the Identity Crisis era isn't exactly likeable.

 

[Deadpan29]

She has a forum and you can address these concerns directly to her if you like. On the other hand, doing so on her forum is likely to get you flamed by her fans there.

 

[blackkyuubi]

Sadly String theory was the only one I couldn't sit thru. IÆve been a fan since I first went looking for Selina/Bruce fics. But String theory? :no: I just canÆt stand the atmosphere of it. IÆve read the rest just not that.

 

[Aranfan]

I liked String Theory if only for the part where she distracts alt-Green Arrow by yelling "This woman has no tits!", that was hilarious.