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I can’t believe you change the schedule on because it is early to where I am, seeing that Bruce became Catman is a pretty interesting idea because to think Bruce would have got the life he always wanted but for Blake joining the team called the Misfits it would have been a fitting episode for this series. But you didn’t mention the Catman in the Justice league episode Legends and I would you have combined this Catman with Deacon Blackfire since he is a cult leader Oh the Invisible man finally.
It's a shame that no one past Gail Simone has done anything interesting with the character. She definitely catapulted [haha] him into being one of my favorites. I'm just happy whenever Thomas shows up in anything, honestly.
There's also the 50's inspired hero Cat Man from the Justice Guild of America from "Legends" in season 1 of Justice League. Just watched that one again last night making my way through the series.
Its wild telling people one of your favorite Antiheros is catman, the go to response i get is jokes about the failry odd parents character, but i just really like how hes written in secret six
@@owenthompson4071 she's one of my faves, secret six is my favorite of hers but her batgirl run is also great, but I do still gotta read her Deadpool stuff, just not as much a marvel fan
@@michaelandreipalon359 A legend indeed. I love how Condiment King has live on, with appearances peppered throughout various DC projects. I always relish seeing him in a new style, and how he'll next put his rivals in a pickle.
Nah dude he is interesting the reason you don't know he was in the show is the lack of costume and supervillain name. Don't need to blindly agree with this channel take
I'd like to point out I actually appreciate how they designed the sabertooth featured in the episode. Smilodon fatalis was built more like a bear than a typical cat, and this thing had a pretty stocky body even if it was still more traditionally feline as we know it. Then again since Blake states they genetically engineered the cat it more than likely is similar to Jurassic World's Indonimous Rex in that it has multiple different felines with only enough original smilodon DNA to account for the signature saber teeth.
I always hated how Catman sorta stole Killer Moth's schtick. The idea of a inverse Batman is one I always thought was cool and I thought the initial concept of Killer Moth had the right idea: A villain who specialized in saving the lowlifes, minions and hoodlums' of Gotham. If Batman came in the knick of time when someone was endangered, Killer Moth was meant to assist any thug that was going to be pinched. But with Catman and Owlman it seems like that initial idea of Killer Moth was pushed to the wayside.
I would like to point out that the yellow-and-orange version of Catman *did* make a cameo appearance in the final season of _Justice League Unlimited_ as a fighter in Roulette's rebooted Meta-Brawl, after -the Legion of Doom- Grodd's Secret Society recruited pretty much every villain worth paying to watch fight. He's only on screen for a few seconds, but he did show up; pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be Blake, however.
There is a Simpsons episode where principal skinner needs to dress as a superhero and shows up with Michelle Pfeiffer's catwoman costume. He says "They told me it was Cat-MAN!"
The episode where Comic Book Guy goes out with Edna. Love Skinner's mother's comment on the costume. Seymour: At least I went down like a man. Agnes: You look like a Malaysian transeual.
Does Bruce have any rich friends that aren't secretly supervillains? Because right now the list is Catman, Black Mask, The Eraser, The White Rabbit, Hush, and the alt-universe versions of his parents.
Lucius is still okay! That's one! And Veronica may be a pain, but she isn't a supervillain... not sure if she actually counts as a friend though... So, one-and-a-half?
I'd like to say also here that the Serum Lake videos/vignettes about Batman The Animated show and the Batman Animated villian show and character biographies were all really top-notch, and consistently introspective and amusing. From the lesser known characters (like Lock-Up and Baby Doll) to the perennial favorites like Riddler and MrFreeze. I also agree with Serum Lake that Two-Face and Clay-Face were the two most comelling villain characters depicted, but, also, that pretty much most of the characters were storied and designed superbly. This video-lauge was consistently put togeather very well, and the best Batman videos put to youtube BY FAR! So, cheers!
@@SerumLake honestly See No Evil in theory was and is too realistic to tackle in a kids show airing on Saturday mornings but in practice it's the perfect example as to why people need communication skills so I'm looking forward to your video on the topic.
5:47 There was also a minor villain called Hellhound who was a student in a dojo who was jealous that Catwoman was a better student of the dojo's sensei than him.
"If he was truly dedicated to the cat theme, he would've made his base of operations on top of a pile of laundry..." Or, somewhere high up, like a tree house.
Honestly if he had his lair set in a high place and adjusted his personality and motivation just a tiny bit, he could've been a good mirror version of batman and be his opposite
I've learned that writing is what ultimately makes or breaks a character, regardless of how popular or obscure they are. Case in point: the producers of the Harley Quinn Animated Series made Kite-Man so endearing that he merited a show of his own.
I think it's worth mentioning that Catman is actually a public-domain character who wasn't supposed to have anything in common with Batman. He's even appeared in the Marvel comics and Fairly Oddparents.
If Cat-Man had a sidekick in crime he would go by the moniker of Pidgin, acrobat with parents very much NOT dead! And to differentiate them from Bat-Man & Robin, Cat-Man & Pidgin would totally get into each other's pants.
I was considering making a joke about how Cat Man was just Cat Woman but better in every way, "as men inherently are," but sarcasm is so hard to make clear in text, so I figured people would just think I was serious. And then the comic goes and plays it straight for me. Glorious.
The reason you didn't include another Catman from the Justice League cartoon is not only that he's not a villain, but also a cheap replacement for Wildcat (who didn't appear until Unlimited). Also, a combination of the Silver Age Batman. And the irony is that his real name is actually Thomas Blake !
I never found this episode *un*interesting (though I admit I forgot about it until seeing the sabertooth in this video), but knowing this was supposed to be the silly "Catman" I'd seen pictures of makes me appreciate it more.
Honestly I did like Cult of the Cat episode though my favorite part aside from Selina was that Thomas Blake was so into his cat motif he had geneticists bring back a freaking Smilodon! Granted it is nowhere close to the real thing, but I admire the man’s dedication to his create one.
honestly seeing catman be a happy batman is actually kind of adorable. makes me think there could be a heroic version of the character who, while a thief, mainly steals secrets from giant corporations that are obviously evil to damage their reputations. he actually helps bruce discover some sort of plot within his own company when he realizes bruce and batman are one and the same and that the corruption wasn't bruces doing.
Did Nickelodeon get permission to use catman's likeness? The costume he wears his practically identical to his original silver age incarnation.He was even voiced by Adam West.
DC based their Cat-Man, including the costume and nine-lives, on an older superhero that had fallen into the public domain. DC owns Thomas Blake (as the original had a different civilian identity and backstory), but not Cat-Man.
Catman, I keep seeing that name used in non DC/WB shows, to act either as a tribute to, or a parody of Adam West's Batman. Not often I hear about the DC/WB Catman.
Both the DC and other versions are based on an old comic book super hero character that fell into the public domain. The basic design of the costume that DC used and the nine lives power were present in this comic, but the extra lives didn't come from the costume. The public domain Cat-Man was a hero instead of a villain, and was not Thomas Blake. This video gives more information. ua-cam.com/video/5EoCxKgWuHs/v-deo.html
Not only is this adaptation less interesting than his initial comics counterpart, it also fails to be more interesting than the non-DC versions of Catman. Seriously, with so many versions, the original Golden Age one, the campy DC one, Marvel, etc., how do you mess it up? The episode wasn't terrible, but he was very lackluster, which doesn't seem like it should be possible.
@michaelandreipalon359 The moving silhouettes inside the cat eyes are similar to the original minimalist Cats poster, which featured silhouettes of dancers serving as pupils in a cat's eyes.
There was actually an another version of Catman not made by DC. This Catman was a superhero with the power of cat-like reflexes and literally having nine lives. He’s also in the public domain.
Yep, Catman was quite flat, man ("Buh dum schhhhh") Worst! Didn't really like the show. So many character re-designs were flat anyway (only the Scarecrow and Bane redesigns weren't); Catwoman's redesign was the most obvious show of this; complete loss of the characters hieght, and, for althletic-looking physicality. Plus, the cult group was dull and dreary. Nice mention of the "Heat" Legends the Dark Knight story by Moench and Heath. Since i was a healthy and maturing 13/14 year old young man at the time, i really liked the heath art for that story, even though the story itself was pretty grisly and horrible. Nice to see Catwoman beat the sh!t out of at the end of that. The further comic history of the character was comprehensive, and though i was aware of some of the character deviations from story to story, i did still think the "Heat" story, though simple but horrifiic, was also the least convoluted. Still, as a digress, a Catman, but no Calendar Man or Deadshot, Black Mask, or Nocturna during the Batman Animated show ......
It’s funny, I had thought making Catman a person with an abusive mother was a bit of lazy, pop psychology but the more reading I do on antisocial personality disorders, the more it seems to come back to the person’s parents.
@@SerumLake no, no- writing the catman character as somebody "with an abusive mother" was a "bit of lazy pop psychogoy"- Read: completely made-up, and untrue drivel" because real-life victims never become evil, they either only insist upon a peaceable way to live, or eventually fight back against their opressor/opressors. And since opression is evil, fighting back against opressors is heroic. My meaning (as far as the description of convoluted) , was that as time passed, the comic book authors would change things about characters and that by the constant inductions and dismissals of past character definitions, many characters (and the fictional histories of the characters) seemed convoluted. By redefining Catman as a horribly evil stalker and woman hater, the character was streamlined in a rather simple, but unconvoluted way. I didn't particularly like that version of the character either, but i didn't like the "big game" hunter or wealthy socialite/catwoman-copy, but a man versions either. The Batman Animated team approached the catman character the same as others- look at what was compelling, remove the silly or defunct aspects, sprinkle in some of their own ideas (the very approach mentioned in the Serum Lake videos)...my criticism about both the character and the "Cult of the Cat" episode was mainly that the character was always pretty dull, and the writers couldn't change that for the show.
At least we got Calendar Girl, plus Deadshot and Black Mask appeared in Justice League+Unlimited and the Batman Adventures 2003 comics respectively. No Nocturna, though, because Fox Kids had to be allergic to true vampires.
Cult of the Cat was a good Catwoman episode but the dcau version of Thomas Blake was pretty bland. The henchwoman was more memorable. Unlike the dcau, the Catman from the Secret Six was far more memorable and badass. I can not wait to hear you talk about see no evil next week. It is a very disturbing episode and feel.very relevant today.
And it did end up having a spiritual successor in the form of The Invisible Man 2020. Bonus since the protagonist there is played by the same actress as Lloyd Ventrix's daughter in the episode... time sure has flown fast.
Y'know I honestly thought this was going to be the one Btas episode where Catwoman becomes an actual cat woman but this was a great episode nonetheless 😁
I did enjoy how they could make another cat-themed villain, have both cat villains show up and have great interactions beyond "we like cats." Never knew he was from the comics, and I did wonder if he could make a return some day.
One way I'd like to reimagine Catman is basically turn them into a version of Col. Czarof from the novel the most dangerous game. Basically make him an overenthusiastic big game hunter.
While its not from DCAU a comic based on Brave and Bold cartoon they introduced Catman as fake vigilante who teams up with Batman to take down bunch of Gotham villains. Batman didnt mind help, but he was suspicious. Catman lacked detective skills yet he kept showing up at same places as him. In the end Batman reveals that Catman played hero to weed out competition and collect the loot from criminals beaten by him and Batman. Comic ended on fight in a blimp, where Catman's blimp was on collision course with building. Catman realizes that he is going to kill someone he pushes Batman out of blimp and redirects it into water as he was here only for money and not to kill someone. He was assumed dead, but truth is that he wasnt as we see him in show.
Man, there really was a pipeline for colorful Silver Age villains with amusing gimmicks becoming drab serial killers, wasn't there? A lazy trend that I'm not entirely sure is gone. Though now I'm intrigued at how he was revamped for Secret Six. Despite my earlier comment, maybe the DCAU Catman could been a bit more unhinged. Not necessarily a serial killer per say,but a dangerous cult leader devoted to worshipping cats and gaining supernatural power from occult cat items. His lack of strong identity could've been what drew him to create the cult in seeking meaning and purpose, something that's often true in real life for victims drawn into cults. I feel like the newer DCAU Batman comics maybe could've expanded on him, but I guess he was so forgettable that he wasn't worth the effort to the writers. Which is a shame because I'm a big proponent of the mantra no bad characters, only bad writing.
In Secret Six he came back as a more serious guy. He basically became Kraven if he was an animal conservationist instead of a crazy hunter. Apparently he's also Joker's favorite supervillain, with the clown being so confused about the guy he actually thinks that he's part cat.
@@jordanloux3883 Gotcha, that's another common trope, but still more interesting than a generic slasher MO (I love slashers, doesn't mean I don't call out lazy writing where I see it, even for them xD). An otherkin supervillain is a hilarious concept, though it'd be even funnier if he did have cat powers, but they were such mundane stuff that cats can do that nobody believes he has them. XD
A Catman - who was never explicitly ID'd as Thomas Blake (maybe in the graveyard scene?) was in JL Animated's 'Legends' - very much a GA Batman expy as a member of the Justice Guild.
Wow. I.was a huge fan of Batman: The Animated Series growing up, and I'm also a huge fan of Gail Simone's Secret Six, but somehow I never realized that Catman appeared in TNBA.
An important part left out is that DC based their Cat-Man a superhero from another comic book company that had gone out of business, and thus their characters fell into the public domain. So anyone is free to use the brightly colored version that is a superhero with nine lives. The elements that DC owns are the alter ego of Thomas Blake and his backstory, and changing him into a criminal. Austin McConnell did a video about the public domain version of the character... ua-cam.com/video/5EoCxKgWuHs/v-deo.html He then later created his own animated Cat-Man pilot. He plans to create a cinematic universe of public domain characters.
You mentioned my favorite Catman: Bruce! The issue where Robin finds him is the only DCAU comic I ever owned as a kid. I always wished it could have been adapted to the show. There's a fantastically bittersweet moment where Catwoman refuses to see his face under the mask, despite him actively trying to be candid with her. She tells him it's for plausible deniability, but the audience knows Selina feels guilty for manipulating him. And by the time I learned who Thomas Blake was, he was a letdown by comparison. It certainly is a fascinating evolution of the Catman concept though, from villain to amnesia-Bruce. Your video essay was a marvelous look at the character. Since you're about to discuss favorite villains, this seems a good segue for a #TotallySchwayPodcast question! Catman has always been an anti-Batman in some way. Who do you think are the most interesting evil counterparts to Batman? He has more than perhaps any other superhero, even Superman or the Power Rangers (and they get at least one doppelganger team per season). I'm personally fond the Owlman seen in the 'Crisis on Two Earths' movie, voiced by James Woods of all people. It's a powerful take on a nihilistic villain. But Killer Moth is often forgotten. He used to have a signal in the sky, summoned by criminals to save them from Batman or the police. It's a silly idea, but I think a villain THAT dedicated to crime and foiling justice has a lot of unused potential.
I like Catman in Gail Simone's Secret Six and he's a very cool Bisexual character 😎 Who in secret six was alway in fights with Deadshot 😂. But i was unaware of the Serial Killer catman from the post crisis comics in thr pagrs of Legends of the Dark Knight. I'm surprised that Catman wasn't in Batman 66 . But the BTAS version of Blake as a Cult Leader was interesting i wish he could have showed up in Justice League Unlimited as a member of Legion of Doom
5:42 That's why I like the first Catman, he's pretty campy. I see him as a character in the Fairly Odd Parents voiced by the late Adam West, who also played Batman. I love how in the Fairly Odd Parents, he's a hero, although a very campy one.
2:54 I keep yelling at the screen that Catman should have been a parade float designer. Could you imagine that incredible mechanized cat walking down the road in a big parade? Sure, children may throw trash and food at its mouth, so maybe put something to keep it from the gearbox, but Catman has some incredible mechanical skill. He just needs some serious brain medicine to get his obsession off of Batman, Batwoman, Catwoman, Ratman, Ratwoman, and Pat Woeman, who lives down the street.
There’s also a Catman in Batman the brave and bold animated series though not mentioned by name, Bruce disguised himself as a criminal with the birds of prey to intercept the auction of a cloak that grants the wearer nine lives. But accidentally Bruce lost his memory of being the Batman and bought into his criminal cover. So he took on crimes with escape plans that killed him multiple times if not for the cloak. That version seems to be a mashup of the previous more light hearted iterations of Catman
Before speaking of the first DC comics CatMan, you should have spocken of the very first CatMan, ca caracter made during the Golden Age, made by an editor that had long gone bankrupt when the first DC one was made, and has since fallen into public domain. Of, and if my memories are right, he also had a brown and yellow costume.
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“This Batman was Catman himself” same can be said when Adam West played a Batman parody named Catman on Fairly Oddparents.
Yeah Catman from Fairly OddParents was totally inspired by the the campy comic book version
@GrievousReborn he pretty much is that version, but a hero
Its quite interesting
I just looked it up since the costume is the exact same. That's not a parody. Catman is public domain.
I'm just going to believe/assume it's because DC doesn't want to claim him as theirs.
i'm questioning now if that was a parody at all
Solid video.
Given the Secret Six version seems to overshadow all others. Is there any chance we'll get a deep dive into him at a later date?
Never say never, but I plan on focusing on the DCAU cartoons for the time being.
I can’t believe you change the schedule on because it is early to where I am, seeing that Bruce became Catman is a pretty interesting idea because to think Bruce would have got the life he always wanted but for Blake joining the team called the Misfits it would have been a fitting episode for this series.
But you didn’t mention the Catman in the Justice league episode Legends and I would you have combined this Catman with Deacon Blackfire since he is a cult leader
Oh the Invisible man finally.
It's a shame that no one past Gail Simone has done anything interesting with the character. She definitely catapulted [haha] him into being one of my favorites. I'm just happy whenever Thomas shows up in anything, honestly.
Don't be silly he is Adam West.
There's also the 50's inspired hero Cat Man from the Justice Guild of America from "Legends" in season 1 of Justice League.
Just watched that one again last night making my way through the series.
Its wild telling people one of your favorite Antiheros is catman, the go to response i get is jokes about the failry odd parents character, but i just really like how hes written in secret six
Not a fan of that cartoon anymore, but Adam West sure nailed that character.
Gail Simone NEVER MISSES her reinterpretaion of Deadpool is why he's so popular.
@@owenthompson4071 she's one of my faves, secret six is my favorite of hers but her batgirl run is also great, but I do still gotta read her Deadpool stuff, just not as much a marvel fan
Yeah, it's honestly a bit annoying when people start talking about a show I've never even seen!
I can tell how uninteresting he is just by the fact that I completely forgot he existed in the DCAU
Never forgot him, but he sure is no Condiment King.
@@michaelandreipalon359 A legend indeed. I love how Condiment King has live on, with appearances peppered throughout various DC projects. I always relish seeing him in a new style, and how he'll next put his rivals in a pickle.
Nah dude he is interesting the reason you don't know he was in the show is the lack of costume and supervillain name. Don't need to blindly agree with this channel take
@@livanbardhe’s boring and forgotten in this show and that’s all his legacy will be so cry about it.
@@CapnAlcesrelish?
I'd like to point out I actually appreciate how they designed the sabertooth featured in the episode. Smilodon fatalis was built more like a bear than a typical cat, and this thing had a pretty stocky body even if it was still more traditionally feline as we know it. Then again since Blake states they genetically engineered the cat it more than likely is similar to Jurassic World's Indonimous Rex in that it has multiple different felines with only enough original smilodon DNA to account for the signature saber teeth.
Still, kudos to the animators.
Is it weird if I said I want one?
@@juliagoodwin9510 I dont think so. I always wanted a pet velociraptor myself as a kid.
Nice!
I always hated how Catman sorta stole Killer Moth's schtick.
The idea of a inverse Batman is one I always thought was cool and I thought the initial concept of Killer Moth had the right idea: A villain who specialized in saving the lowlifes, minions and hoodlums' of Gotham. If Batman came in the knick of time when someone was endangered, Killer Moth was meant to assist any thug that was going to be pinched.
But with Catman and Owlman it seems like that initial idea of Killer Moth was pushed to the wayside.
I would like to point out that the yellow-and-orange version of Catman *did* make a cameo appearance in the final season of _Justice League Unlimited_ as a fighter in Roulette's rebooted Meta-Brawl, after -the Legion of Doom- Grodd's Secret Society recruited pretty much every villain worth paying to watch fight. He's only on screen for a few seconds, but he did show up; pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be Blake, however.
wasnt that hellhound?
Maybe he's one of Thomas Blake's ex-lieutenants?
There is a Simpsons episode where principal skinner needs to dress as a superhero and shows up with Michelle Pfeiffer's catwoman costume. He says "They told me it was Cat-MAN!"
Which ep and season?
@@michaelandreipalon359
S15E17 according to a cursory google.
If that's not right, sorry, I'm not that hardcore a fan lol
The episode where Comic Book Guy goes out with Edna. Love Skinner's mother's comment on the costume.
Seymour: At least I went down like a man.
Agnes: You look like a Malaysian transeual.
Does Bruce have any rich friends that aren't secretly supervillains? Because right now the list is Catman, Black Mask, The Eraser, The White Rabbit, Hush, and the alt-universe versions of his parents.
The Terrible Trio from BTAS
Lucius is still okay! That's one! And Veronica may be a pain, but she isn't a supervillain... not sure if she actually counts as a friend though... So, one-and-a-half?
You forgot Cameron Van Cleer (Killer Moth).
Add to the list the entirety of the Court of Owls.
I'd like to say also here that the Serum Lake videos/vignettes about Batman The Animated show and the Batman Animated villian show and character biographies were all really top-notch, and consistently introspective and amusing. From the lesser known characters (like Lock-Up and Baby Doll) to the perennial favorites like Riddler and MrFreeze.
I also agree with Serum Lake that Two-Face and Clay-Face were the two most comelling villain characters depicted, but, also,
that pretty much most of the characters were storied and designed superbly.
This video-lauge was consistently put togeather very well, and the best Batman videos put to youtube BY FAR!
So, cheers!
You’re welcome and thank you 🫡
@@SerumLake honestly See No Evil in theory was and is too realistic to tackle in a kids show airing on Saturday mornings but in practice it's the perfect example as to why people need communication skills so I'm looking forward to your video on the topic.
5:47 There was also a minor villain called Hellhound who was a student in a dojo who was jealous that Catwoman was a better student of the dojo's sensei than him.
How'd that lead?
"If he was truly dedicated to the cat theme, he would've made his base of operations on top of a pile of laundry..."
Or, somewhere high up, like a tree house.
His lair is quite spacious, but the only spot he actually uses is a box that's slightly too small to sit in.
Honestly if he had his lair set in a high place and adjusted his personality and motivation just a tiny bit, he could've been a good mirror version of batman and be his opposite
I've learned that writing is what ultimately makes or breaks a character, regardless of how popular or obscure they are.
Case in point: the producers of the Harley Quinn Animated Series made Kite-Man so endearing that he merited a show of his own.
Gosh, it's so true. Bad writing can ruin any concept, no matter how strong. And good writing can make anything interesting, no matter how bizarre.
how that show lasted 4 seasons is beyond me
I liked Kite-Man before that, but I definitely didn't like him less after the show, I guess...
@@hawktalon7890 hey speaking of Kite-Man do you know that he's getting a spinoff series next month?
@@jordanwright2072 I did not but that's pretty cool.
Dammit Robin, he was *_happy._* He was so happy...
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few!
I think it's worth mentioning that Catman is actually a public-domain character who wasn't supposed to have anything in common with Batman. He's even appeared in the Marvel comics and Fairly Oddparents.
Also Catman voiced by Adam West in The Fairly Oddparents cartoon lol.
Probably dancing to the pussycats
As well.
Properly dancing to the Pussy Cats as well.
Surprised he never got at least one mention and appearance here.
@@michaelandreipalon359you mean the voice for The Gray Ghost?
@@goldblooded6329 Catman, more like, but yeah, Adam West also needed a mention alongside.
Nah see if Blake REALLY wanted to commit to the Cat-theme, he would have made his lair an empty box factory with a throne made of cardboard boxes.
I picture him sharpening his weapons on a vertical grinding stone called... "The Scratching Post."
If Cat-Man had a sidekick in crime he would go by the moniker of Pidgin, acrobat with parents very much NOT dead! And to differentiate them from Bat-Man & Robin, Cat-Man & Pidgin would totally get into each other's pants.
The Secret Six Catman is legit though.
I was considering making a joke about how Cat Man was just Cat Woman but better in every way, "as men inherently are," but sarcasm is so hard to make clear in text, so I figured people would just think I was serious. And then the comic goes and plays it straight for me. Glorious.
The reason you didn't include another Catman from the Justice League cartoon is not only that he's not a villain, but also a cheap replacement for Wildcat (who didn't appear until Unlimited). Also, a combination of the Silver Age Batman. And the irony is that his real name is actually Thomas Blake !
Bingo!
I never found this episode *un*interesting (though I admit I forgot about it until seeing the sabertooth in this video), but knowing this was supposed to be the silly "Catman" I'd seen pictures of makes me appreciate it more.
Seriously, Tygress, Anthony Lupus and Clock King are more interesting than this wannabe Scooby Doo on Zombie Island villain!
Would really need to rewatch that movie myself.
Honestly I did like Cult of the Cat episode though my favorite part aside from Selina was that Thomas Blake was so into his cat motif he had geneticists bring back a freaking Smilodon! Granted it is nowhere close to the real thing, but I admire the man’s dedication to his create one.
Catman from the Secret Six, a group of queer goofy criminals, really turned me on to how cool Catman was, and overall, could be
Be careful when you eventually get to The Creeper, SL; I’ve heard that he’s a bit of a lunatic!
If only he got voiced in JLU.
honestly seeing catman be a happy batman is actually kind of adorable.
makes me think there could be a heroic version of the character who, while a thief, mainly steals secrets from giant corporations that are obviously evil to damage their reputations. he actually helps bruce discover some sort of plot within his own company when he realizes bruce and batman are one and the same and that the corruption wasn't bruces doing.
Did Nickelodeon get permission to use catman's likeness? The costume he wears his practically identical to his original silver age incarnation.He was even voiced by Adam West.
Catman is public domain
DC based their Cat-Man, including the costume and nine-lives, on an older superhero that had fallen into the public domain. DC owns Thomas Blake (as the original had a different civilian identity and backstory), but not Cat-Man.
Catman, I keep seeing that name used in non DC/WB shows, to act either as a tribute to, or a parody of Adam West's Batman.
Not often I hear about the DC/WB Catman.
Both the DC and other versions are based on an old comic book super hero character that fell into the public domain. The basic design of the costume that DC used and the nine lives power were present in this comic, but the extra lives didn't come from the costume. The public domain Cat-Man was a hero instead of a villain, and was not Thomas Blake.
This video gives more information.
ua-cam.com/video/5EoCxKgWuHs/v-deo.html
1:31 " imagine what can i do with my knowledge of cat lore" bruh cat lore
The best version of catman us the one from fairly odd parents
Not only is this adaptation less interesting than his initial comics counterpart, it also fails to be more interesting than the non-DC versions of Catman. Seriously, with so many versions, the original Golden Age one, the campy DC one, Marvel, etc., how do you mess it up? The episode wasn't terrible, but he was very lackluster, which doesn't seem like it should be possible.
Seriously, how do you make a character with a freaking SABERTOOTH CAT as a pet…BORING?
Because even I think saber-toothed cats are boring. Heck, even I'm not that huge on the giant beasts and splicers of the DCAU.
4:28 I just wanna point out this beautiful Cats The Musical reference, I love it xD
The cover art?
@michaelandreipalon359 The moving silhouettes inside the cat eyes are similar to the original minimalist Cats poster, which featured silhouettes of dancers serving as pupils in a cat's eyes.
I guess that's where they got the reference from that one episode of Fairly Odd Parents where Adam West was Catman
I love the thumbs up Batman clip, i want to see More of that. Nothing like getting the Batman seal of approval.~
Ventrix…is from the comics? 🤔
Well, some villains with his gimmick are.
For a second revamped 80-90's Catman started to sound like Lock-up.
Wow what a cool background drawing..... With some guy in front of it. :/
bUt WhAt AbOuT tHe CaT?!
The only reason I know him is brave & the bold: the game
I can't get over gold age batwoman's bat-purse
The cape with nine lives also pops up in an episode of Brave and the Bold.
There was actually an another version of Catman not made by DC. This Catman was a superhero with the power of cat-like reflexes and literally having nine lives. He’s also in the public domain.
Why was this uploaded so early in the morning?
When I set up the premiere I forgot to switch it from am to pm… 🤦
Yep, Catman was quite flat, man ("Buh dum schhhhh") Worst!
Didn't really like the show. So many character re-designs were flat anyway (only the
Scarecrow and Bane redesigns weren't); Catwoman's redesign was the most
obvious show of this; complete loss of the characters hieght, and, for althletic-looking
physicality. Plus, the cult group was dull and dreary.
Nice mention of the "Heat" Legends the Dark Knight story by Moench and Heath. Since
i was a healthy and maturing 13/14 year old young man at the time, i really liked
the heath art for that story, even though the story itself was pretty grisly and horrible.
Nice to see Catwoman beat the sh!t out of at the end of that.
The further comic history of the character was comprehensive, and though i was aware
of some of the character deviations from story to story, i did still think the "Heat"
story, though simple but horrifiic, was also the least convoluted.
Still, as a digress, a Catman, but no Calendar Man or Deadshot, Black Mask, or Nocturna
during the Batman Animated show ......
It’s funny, I had thought making Catman a person with an abusive mother was a bit of lazy, pop psychology but the more reading I do on antisocial personality disorders, the more it seems to come back to the person’s parents.
@@SerumLake no, no- writing the catman character as somebody "with an abusive mother" was a "bit of lazy pop psychogoy"- Read: completely made-up, and untrue drivel" because real-life victims never become evil, they either only insist upon a peaceable way to live, or eventually fight back against their opressor/opressors.
And since opression is evil, fighting back against opressors is heroic.
My meaning (as far as the description of convoluted) , was that as time passed, the comic book authors would change things about characters and that by the constant inductions and dismissals of past character definitions, many characters (and the fictional histories of the characters) seemed convoluted.
By redefining Catman as a horribly evil stalker and woman hater, the character was streamlined in a rather simple, but unconvoluted way. I didn't particularly like that version of the character either, but i didn't like the "big game" hunter or wealthy socialite/catwoman-copy, but a man versions either.
The Batman Animated team approached the catman character the same as others- look at what was compelling, remove the silly or defunct aspects, sprinkle in some of their own ideas (the very approach
mentioned in the Serum Lake videos)...my criticism about both the character and the "Cult of the Cat"
episode was mainly that the character was always pretty dull, and the writers couldn't change that for
the show.
At least we got Calendar Girl, plus Deadshot and Black Mask appeared in Justice League+Unlimited and the Batman Adventures 2003 comics respectively. No Nocturna, though, because Fox Kids had to be allergic to true vampires.
Cult of the Cat was a good Catwoman episode but the dcau version of Thomas Blake was pretty bland. The henchwoman was more memorable. Unlike the dcau, the Catman from the Secret Six was far more memorable and badass.
I can not wait to hear you talk about see no evil next week. It is a very disturbing episode and feel.very relevant today.
And it did end up having a spiritual successor in the form of The Invisible Man 2020. Bonus since the protagonist there is played by the same actress as Lloyd Ventrix's daughter in the episode... time sure has flown fast.
I'm sorry, who the f*ck is this guy?
I think I remember him from batman the brave and the bold? But I'm not sure
Guess I know where the Adam West Catman from Fairly Odd Parents came from. I feel like I have whiplash after seeing the original costume.
My favorite version of catman is the one that appears in The Batman (2004), it's always stuck with me as it was a fun retelling of the story.
The best Catman adaptation to this day is the Fairy Oddparents parody, played by Adam West
that and his role on family guy was how i even knew about adam west
So, without his trauma, Batman would be a villainess's himbo sidekick.
Bruce Wayne is a descendant/reincarnation of Kronk!
Cat-Man has a good name and costume given he is based on a public domain superhero named Catman lol 😂
Well, good to know where the inspiration for FAIRY ODDPARENTS’ CAT MAN came from…
Y'know I honestly thought this was going to be the one Btas episode where Catwoman becomes an actual cat woman but this was a great episode nonetheless 😁
Excellent video review
Catman’s silver age self seems like he wasn’t that bad of a character, just stuck in the silver age
He’s one of my favorite DC characters, mainly due to him being a kitty witty bitty 🐱
My favorite version of this character is the one in The Fairly OddParents. 😂❤
Bruce in the Catwoman costume makes him look more like The Tick than anyone lmao
I did enjoy how they could make another cat-themed villain, have both cat villains show up and have great interactions beyond "we like cats." Never knew he was from the comics, and I did wonder if he could make a return some day.
6:48 that black outfit will be covered in white cat hairs.
Wait, why would you need to mod your car to make it purr? Cars already kinda do that!😅
Do Humvees?
@@michaelandreipalon359 🤷♂️
mean to typed "didn't really like that episode ("Cult of the Cat")", not "didn't like that show" (N Batman Adventures of Batman Animated)
WHAT was his clothing made of? Or how much did he go through in lint rollers?
One chance. You had one chance to use 'Copycat' as your thumbnails tagine, and you blew it. You blew it, chief.
oh my godddddddddddddd
I really prefer the red and yellow costume
One way I'd like to reimagine Catman is basically turn them into a version of Col. Czarof from the novel the most dangerous game. Basically make him an overenthusiastic big game hunter.
so basically the stalker/kraven the hunter?
@@1heKing Pretty much, yes
Wolverine gonna sue somebody!
Ngl, I never realised that this guy was ment to be Catman
While its not from DCAU a comic based on Brave and Bold cartoon they introduced Catman as fake vigilante who teams up with Batman to take down bunch of Gotham villains. Batman didnt mind help, but he was suspicious. Catman lacked detective skills yet he kept showing up at same places as him. In the end Batman reveals that Catman played hero to weed out competition and collect the loot from criminals beaten by him and Batman.
Comic ended on fight in a blimp, where Catman's blimp was on collision course with building. Catman realizes that he is going to kill someone he pushes Batman out of blimp and redirects it into water as he was here only for money and not to kill someone. He was assumed dead, but truth is that he wasnt as we see him in show.
catman also teamed up with Catwoman in way forward batman brave in the bold game.
They also added in a little bit of Catwoman's brother the king of cats
Si , pues a bill finger le gusta los personajes de gatos ya que tambiem crearon a will cat
9 Lives out of Ten*
Didn’t know Catman was in TNBA.
Must be a side effect of growing up with Brave & the Bold, which got me introduced to Catman.
I wouldn’t call suicide squad a block buster
Time will tell.
It made over 700 million dollars. That usually qualifies it as one.
That being said #ReleaseTheAyerCut
Man, there really was a pipeline for colorful Silver Age villains with amusing gimmicks becoming drab serial killers, wasn't there? A lazy trend that I'm not entirely sure is gone. Though now I'm intrigued at how he was revamped for Secret Six.
Despite my earlier comment, maybe the DCAU Catman could been a bit more unhinged. Not necessarily a serial killer per say,but a dangerous cult leader devoted to worshipping cats and gaining supernatural power from occult cat items. His lack of strong identity could've been what drew him to create the cult in seeking meaning and purpose, something that's often true in real life for victims drawn into cults.
I feel like the newer DCAU Batman comics maybe could've expanded on him, but I guess he was so forgettable that he wasn't worth the effort to the writers. Which is a shame because I'm a big proponent of the mantra no bad characters, only bad writing.
In Secret Six he came back as a more serious guy. He basically became Kraven if he was an animal conservationist instead of a crazy hunter.
Apparently he's also Joker's favorite supervillain, with the clown being so confused about the guy he actually thinks that he's part cat.
@@jordanloux3883 Gotcha, that's another common trope, but still more interesting than a generic slasher MO (I love slashers, doesn't mean I don't call out lazy writing where I see it, even for them xD). An otherkin supervillain is a hilarious concept, though it'd be even funnier if he did have cat powers, but they were such mundane stuff that cats can do that nobody believes he has them. XD
hi
Catman is lame
: D
A Catman - who was never explicitly ID'd as Thomas Blake (maybe in the graveyard scene?) was in JL Animated's 'Legends' - very much a GA Batman expy as a member of the Justice Guild.
Wow. I.was a huge fan of Batman: The Animated Series growing up, and I'm also a huge fan of Gail Simone's Secret Six, but somehow I never realized that Catman appeared in TNBA.
An important part left out is that DC based their Cat-Man a superhero from another comic book company that had gone out of business, and thus their characters fell into the public domain. So anyone is free to use the brightly colored version that is a superhero with nine lives. The elements that DC owns are the alter ego of Thomas Blake and his backstory, and changing him into a criminal.
Austin McConnell did a video about the public domain version of the character...
ua-cam.com/video/5EoCxKgWuHs/v-deo.html
He then later created his own animated Cat-Man pilot. He plans to create a cinematic universe of public domain characters.
6:55 **Seemless audio transition**
You mentioned my favorite Catman: Bruce! The issue where Robin finds him is the only DCAU comic I ever owned as a kid. I always wished it could have been adapted to the show. There's a fantastically bittersweet moment where Catwoman refuses to see his face under the mask, despite him actively trying to be candid with her. She tells him it's for plausible deniability, but the audience knows Selina feels guilty for manipulating him. And by the time I learned who Thomas Blake was, he was a letdown by comparison. It certainly is a fascinating evolution of the Catman concept though, from villain to amnesia-Bruce. Your video essay was a marvelous look at the character.
Since you're about to discuss favorite villains, this seems a good segue for a #TotallySchwayPodcast question!
Catman has always been an anti-Batman in some way. Who do you think are the most interesting evil counterparts to Batman? He has more than perhaps any other superhero, even Superman or the Power Rangers (and they get at least one doppelganger team per season).
I'm personally fond the Owlman seen in the 'Crisis on Two Earths' movie, voiced by James Woods of all people. It's a powerful take on a nihilistic villain. But Killer Moth is often forgotten. He used to have a signal in the sky, summoned by criminals to save them from Batman or the police. It's a silly idea, but I think a villain THAT dedicated to crime and foiling justice has a lot of unused potential.
I like Catman in Gail Simone's Secret Six and he's a very cool Bisexual character 😎
Who in secret six was alway in fights with Deadshot 😂.
But i was unaware of the Serial Killer catman from the post crisis comics in thr pagrs of Legends of the Dark Knight.
I'm surprised that Catman wasn't in Batman 66 .
But the BTAS version of Blake as a Cult Leader was interesting i wish he could have showed up in Justice League Unlimited as a member of Legion of Doom
5:42 That's why I like the first Catman, he's pretty campy. I see him as a character in the Fairly Odd Parents voiced by the late Adam West, who also played Batman. I love how in the Fairly Odd Parents, he's a hero, although a very campy one.
This was always one of my favorite episodes growing up. Never realized the connection to Catman.
2:54 I keep yelling at the screen that Catman should have been a parade float designer. Could you imagine that incredible mechanized cat walking down the road in a big parade? Sure, children may throw trash and food at its mouth, so maybe put something to keep it from the gearbox, but Catman has some incredible mechanical skill. He just needs some serious brain medicine to get his obsession off of Batman, Batwoman, Catwoman, Ratman, Ratwoman, and Pat Woeman, who lives down the street.
Catman ( wasn’t there a Simpson episode where Skinner dressed as cateoman because he thought it was ( catman ) 😅
When the later comics do the character better than BTAS, that's worthy of an eyebrow raise.
My what a mean video. No need to be so catty. I'll show myself out.
👏
Oooooooooooohhhhh......😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫
There’s also a Catman in Batman the brave and bold animated series though not mentioned by name, Bruce disguised himself as a criminal with the birds of prey to intercept the auction of a cloak that grants the wearer nine lives. But accidentally Bruce lost his memory of being the Batman and bought into his criminal cover. So he took on crimes with escape plans that killed him multiple times if not for the cloak. That version seems to be a mashup of the previous more light hearted iterations of Catman
Legitimately my first introduction to Catman was the fairly odd parents. So it's nice to see he's an actual character.
Fun fact Cat-man is actually a public domain superhero... Well his pre dc appearances at Holyoke including the Australian published one.
Before speaking of the first DC comics CatMan, you should have spocken of the very first CatMan, ca caracter made during the Golden Age, made by an editor that had long gone bankrupt when the first DC one was made, and has since fallen into public domain.
Of, and if my memories are right, he also had a brown and yellow costume.