The Real Reason DC’s CATMAN Has Basically Disappeared

Catwoman is one of Batman’s most perennial rogues, with a precursor to the character – then simply called The Cat – being an antagonist in Batman’s very first solo story. She’s as much of a figure in Batman’s lore as Robin or Alfred. So if she’s stuck around throughout the decades, whatever happened to Catman and how come readers don’t see much of him anymore? Those questions were recently answered in Harley Quinn: Make ‘Em Laugh #3, from writer Mark Russell and artist Laura Braga, and it’s more than a little pitiful.

For anyone asking who even is Catman – real name Thomas Blake – he first appeared in Detective Comics in 1963. He was a playboy and renowned trapper of jungle cats before becoming bored with that endeavor. Having wasted most of his fortune, Blake turns to a life of crime, donning a catsuit made of a special African cloth that he believed would give him the nine lives of a cat. Over the decades, he’s gone from a Kite-Man-level punchline of a villain to a deadly mercenary as a member of the Secret Six. But his most recent incarnation sees the character as a neurotic, insecure mess with a severe inferiority complex.

Make ‘Em Laugh sees Harley Quinn, who, in a past life, was psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel, diagnosing and treating Gotham’s villains. And oh boy, do they have issues. After a session with Two-Face concludes, she summons Catman into her office. He opines that anyone he comes across automatically associates him with Catwoman. “It’s humiliating,” he complains to the closest thing Gotham’s underworld has to a therapist. “Yer problem is that ya imagine yerself in some sorta competition,” Harley diagnoses, going on to say there’s room enough in the criminal underworld for the both of them. Reaching an epiphany, Catman declares that she’s right and goes home for some self-care, which consists of him sitting in his bed and licking his paws (read: gloved hands).

Harley has been “treating” Gotham’s underworld since the first issue of Make ‘Em Laugh and each peak into the villains’ psyches is funnier than the last. And while this take on her therapy sessions is a decidedly light-hearted one, readers looking for a darker version can turn to DC Black Label’s Harleen, which wound up being a New York Times bestseller and follows Dr. Harleen Quinzel as she spirals downward into the the Joker’s embrace until she becomes the Maiden of Mischief fans know her as today.

Readers wanting a darker take on Catman, on the other hand, are probably out of luck. He’s taking some time off to get in touch with his feelings.

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