Catwoman's Lair - Page 2 



     Catwoman's solo series kicked off in Batman #345 (March 1982) and
continued until issue 351.  While you'd be hard pressed to find her doing
anything villainous she certainly didn't go out of her way to save her
adversaries when they suffered an attack of poetic justice.  Selina definitely
had a more eye for an eye outlook than Batman (at least pre-Crisis when he
wasn't so dark and moody) when it came to people who had just tried to kill
her.
     Case in point, the first story ("Terror Train", script by Bruce Jones,
art by Trevor Von Eeden & Pablos Marcos)  which picks up on the train she
boarded to leave Gotham City.  She's contacted by a Detective Sergant Richard
Stuart who tells her that since he's exhausted all legitimate lines of inquiry
he'd like her opinion.  It seems trains have been disappearing between Gotham
City and Chicago.  Three so far, they vanish for several days and reappear
with passengers having vague memories of ghosts and demons.  Nothing has been
taken or added to the train and to make matters worse a helicopter filmed one\
of the trains vanishing into thin air so maybe it is a supernatural event.
    Her curiousity aroused Selina agrees to ride the fourth train that's  
going to make the run and breaks out her costume.  She should have remembered
that curiousity killed the cat ...






     A definite cliffhanger ending and Selina is relieved, if confused, to 
awaken alive and well in Batman #346 (April 1982).  She wakes up to find
herself in an underground train yard being carried by two thugs.  She quickly
demonstrates that they should have taken a few precautions as counting on her
staying unconscious was an error.  Too bad for her their boss is a much
brighter chap.














     In deference to comic book traditions Detective Stuart explains what's
going on while his men truss up Selina and tie her to the railroad tracks.
It seems it's a family matter, his father was an Axis spy who stole the H Bomb
(?) secret just before the end of World War 2.  The secret was inscribed on a 
diamond which he hid on a pedigree cat's collar in a pet store.  However when 
he went to retrieve it he found the owner was taking the cat to Chicago for a
catshow.  He followed and a struggle with the cat's owner ensued during which
the spy fell to his death from the train.  The cat's owner was Selina's 
father and Stuart has dedicated his life to finding the diamond which was
dislodged from the cat's collar during the struggle and is somewhere on the 
train.  So the whole vanishing train thing is a scam so he can find the 
diamond then head to Germany (he didn't specify West or East) and found the
Fourth Reich.  
    I just summarize them, I don't write them













     Is this the end of Catwoman?  What do you think?





     The train re-emerges into the open air and turns out to be on the wrong
track and heading towards a collision.  Selina diverts it by hitting a switch
with her cat-o-nine tails and the collision is avoided.  Too bad for Stuart 
he jumped from the train onto the other tracks and broke his leg so he has
no chance of getting clear of the oncoming train.
    Two more adventures followed and internal evidence indicates Selina spent
several months wandering around the country before she decided it was time 
to return to Gotham City










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