Nightcat!...or, Hey, Remember That Time Marvel Tried to Cross Promote Another Musical Act?

The One Shot Comic (1991)

  Marvel Comics has an odd history of attempting to establish cross-promotion deals with the recording industry...for more info on this, just Google search "KISS Marvel Comics" or "Dazzler Marvel" and you'll drop into a rabbit hole of oddball music industry knowledge....

...and, then...there's Nightcat.

 

"Nightcat" was Marvel Comics' 1991 attempt at creating a comic book character property and merging it with a live musical act, promoting it with not only a comic book, but a record release and a few appearances on what passed for popular late night TV that supposedly spoke to the then-contemporary teenage/young adult demographic...Nightcat, along with Marvel Comics icon, Stan Lee, who supposedly wrote the one shot comic....but we all know how the Marvel Method works...made appearances on THE PARTY MACHINE with Nia Peeples (a sort of late night American Bandstand type dance program) and INTO THE NIGHT with Rick Dees (a Tonight Show rip-off hosted by the disc jockey that recorded "Disco Duck").

....I was 17 in 1991, and I vaguely remember these shows existing, mainly because THE PARTY MACHINE usually aired at sometime after Arsenio Hall's timeslot in the local markets, and I was too busy watching Letterman.  So, I don't know how successful their research into the target demographic actually was.

Blurb from MARVEL YEAR IN REVIEW (1991)

MARVEL AGE Magazine write-up

Nightcat was in actuality Jacqueline Tavarez, and depending on which story you read into, her background was primarily in modeling....

The manufactured, in-canon, Marvel Comics origin story, credited to Stan Lee, Jim Salicrup, and  Barry Dutter,  (from Marvel Fanbase)

"

History

Early Life

Jacqueline Tavarez was a young woman who wanted to become a singer, but after her musician mother drank herself to death following a failed audition, her police officer father forbade her from following in her mother's footsteps. As a highschool student, Jacqueline disobeyed her father's wishes, and rehearsed with her friends in a band. When her father found out, he grounded her. Not able to make the recording session, she was replaced in the band by her rival Melissa.

Becoming Nightcat

Now in college, Jacqueline saw that Melissa had become a huge music star. Taking inspiration from the comic books she read, Jacqueline decided to dress up to sing so her father wouldn't realize it was her, and thus, Nightcat was born.

Winning a record contract with LMR records, she became a star, and bought herself a home. One night while at the recording studio, she recognized a man in the hallway who had been linked to a drug bust in the news. Seeing a briefcase he set down, she opened it, revealing the case to be filled with a large amount of cocaine.

Another man, Krak, saw this and knocked Nightcat out, bringing her with him to Amanda Gideon, who with Dr. Ecstasy, was testing designer drugs that would imbue a human with animal characteristics. After injecting Nightcat with a drug made from cat's blood, Dr. Ecstasy was shot dead by Lou Tavarez, who had gone undercover within Gideon's organization.

Lou was shot dead by Gideon's thugs, and in a moment of rage, the designer drug interacted with Jacqueline, causing her to sprout elongated, razor-sharp claws. With her newfound agility, Nightcat was able to take out a number of Gideon's goons, and even made a superhuman leap upwards, almost reaching Gideon's escape helicopter in mid-air. 

With no proof except her word that Gideon was behind Dr. Ecstasy's program, Jacqueline attended her father's funeral, and soon after, pledged to get revenge on the wealthy socialite.

Jacqueline, attempted to live a normal life and continued her singing career, and was eventually contacted by Stan Lee to star in a Marvel comic book. She however, used her new found wealth to buy sophisticated computers and weaponry.

When Jacqueline heard a news report about a garbage scow that was going from port to port, she did some research, and discovered that it was owned by Gideon, and must be part of her drug smuggling operation. Nightcat was able to bust the drug ring which infuriated Gideon.

The furious Gideon, set a trap, inviting Nightcat to perform at her casino. Before the performance, a group of ninjas hired by Gideon kidnapped and replaced Nightcat's back-up singers, and the attacked her onstage. Nightcat was able to defeat them, but soon found herself face to face with Krak. She managed to electrocute him by forcing the drill appendage on his hand into a power outlet.

Nightcat located Gideon on the roof of the casino and the two fought before Nightcat flipped her foe over the edge of the building. Gideon tried to grab Nightcat's hair, but ultimately fell to her death. With the drug ring busted, and Gideon dead, Nightcat vowed to use her new powers to fight other crimes."

Above:  I own copies of not only the one shot comic, but the CD and cassette release of Nightcat's debut (and only) album.  Why?  Because I'm a weird comic book fanboy who also has a soft spot for really bad pop music...like, in a really well-produced knock-off of Paula Abul-sorta way.  The music's not bad...it's just kinda...repetitive and telegraphed.  It sounds as if it were equally fueled by cocaine, Ecstacy, and greed.  Y'know....like every other dance club hit from 1991.

Stan the Man's editorial thoughts on Nightcat

From what I've been able to gather about the real Ms. Tavarez, she was a young model hired by Marvel Comics to fill a role.  When Nightcat didn't prove to be a hit, she dove back into modeling for a short time, then attempted acting, appearing in one film, Troma Studio's TROMEO & JULIET (which was the directing debut of DC Studios showrunner James Gunn, the brains behinds Marvel Studios immensely successful GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY franchise,  which fueled rumors of a possible Nightcat Easter egg in one of those films that no one has actually proven exists), and now has settled into a happy life as an airline attendant.

Ms. Tavarez today

Seriously.....Politics and Religion

 A lot of talk these days about opposing political views...as a practice I don't talk about my own personal political or religious views.  This is because I'm of the opinion that they're exactly that: personal, and at the end of the day, the only person who benefits and/or loses anything because of them is you. I find the terms "views", "ideas", and "opinions" a better way to describe what I have as opposed to "beliefs".  You approach views, ideas and opinions in a more open minded fashion....because they can be changed, they can evolve.  Got a better idea than me?  Fine, I'll take it into consideration.  You believe something that I don't?  That's trickier.  By definition, beliefs are supposed to be based in the concrete and tangible.  This is why the stop sign at the end of my street is easier for me to believe in than, say....ghosts. Or the Loch Ness Monster.  I can see the sign....Casper and Cecil are nowhere in sight.

"A friendly ghost?  You probably believe we landed on the Moon, too..."

I'm comin', Beany Boyyyyyy!

Now, this does NOT mean that I dismiss the existence of God.  But, I have FAITH and HOPE that he is out there, somewhere...something doesn't have to be visible or tangible for you to have an opinion or idea about it.

To whom it may concern-  I was christened Catholic as an infant and followed that faith until I was around 12 or 13, when I began to have different ideas and questions, like: "Why does Heaven need a managerial chain, a corporate ladder,... here on Earth and Heaven? I like to think my relationship with God is personal.  That He's my friend, and if He is my friend, why can't I approach Him in the same way I do my own friends here on Earth, with an equal amount of informality and respect?  I find that if I approach God like He's one of the gang, it makes Him more identifiable...approachable, even.  I'm more comfortable doing that."

This was followed by short experimental stints in Southern Baptist, Nazarene, Pentecostal churches...hell, one night I checked out some snake handlers out of curiosity....but nothing clicked the way my "personal approach" did.

 That's my religious views, in a nutshell...

Politics?  Let me give you a little history lesson:   I wasn't a "straight ticket" Democrat from the ages 18 to 42 (1992-2016), but I did subscribe to a lot of their philosophy and views...when it came to voting, I wasn't party driven....I made up my own mind and voted for whoever I felt could do the best job, regardless of political affiliation.  The 2016 campaign and election disgusted me with both parties, and now I find my views lean more towards a Libertarian path.  We need a change, and sadly that change ain't coming from the two dominant parties.  So, I don't really give a fuck about either the Republican Party or the Democrats.  If they want to dismantle democracy infighting amongst themselves, mudslinging each other back to the Stone Age, then so be it.  Good riddance.  As far as if you're butthurt over how the elections have went...my opinion is voters get the candidate they deserve.  And, trust me, America deserves everything it's got...because we're a capitalist society, so we've earned it, right?

As far as political views and opinions, sadly I'll admit that I learned everything I know from reading CAPTAIN AMERICA comics books when I was a kid, so I don't know whether to blame Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, or Stan Lee for any flaws in my logic.  Before you dismiss this as a childish or naive notion, let's review what I learned and took to heart:

1.) Never dismiss the voices of those who society might view as weak or small, because sometimes those voices possess the most conviction, resolve and courage.  Remember...Steve Rogers was a 98 lb. weakling before he got scienced into Captain America.

2.) Never tolerate bullies or tyrants...this is why Cap is pictured punching Adolf Hitler in the jaw on the cover of his first issue.  Stand up for yourself, when needed.  Stand up for others, always.  Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER summed it up brilliantly..."I can do this all day."

3.) Be vigilant and unafraid to speak out and rebel if necessary if you feel your elected officials are unjust, immoral or just plain wrong.  This country was forged in the fires of a Revolution that was started because of a difference in political opinions with European overlords.  Cap didn't go off the grid as Nomad or the "Captain" in the comics for his health, nor did he wage a CIVIL WAR in the movies because he was just gonna roll over and give up.

And those are three political opinions that I can believe in....

Hangin' Tough with the Right Stuff.....

 I recently made an incredibly odd eBay purchase...which is pretty par for course for me, but I digress...

I bought a complete run of every New Kids on the Block book published by Harvey Comics in 1990/91.  Originally, I was only interested in obtaining the two Harvey Toon crossover miniseries for novelty's sake, but lucked into an incredibly cheap deal for the whole lot.

 During the summer of 1990, Harvey Comics (they of Casper the Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich, and Sad Sack fame) ponied up for the New Kids on the Block license and began releasing an onslaught of product.

The initial three NKOTB one shots

Disclaimer:  I'm going with cover dates and not actual release dates because it's been nearly 40 years, my memory might be failing me, and I wasn't a boy band fan.  I was more of a thrash/speed metal scene kinda guy at 16...listening to way too much Anthrax, Metallica, Megadeth....and coming to the realization after seeing Glenn Danzig live for the first time, that,...that dude is short.  Like The Artist Formerly Known As Prince kinda short. And, freaky jacked...like, not looking natural.  Kinda steroidy.  

Anyways....In September 1990, Harvey releases three one shot specials:  STEP BY STEP, MAGIC SUMMER TOUR, and VALENTINE GIRL.  There's a concert exclusive variant of MAGIC SUMMER TOUR that for some odd reason has retained some secondary collectors market value.

The concert exclusive variant

Then, in November of 1990, Harvey releases the first of two Harvey Toon three issue crossover miniseries, RICHIE RICH MEET NKOTB...

And, then....it gets nutty...

In December of 1990, Harvey launches four ongoing monthly books (or, rather, they had that goofy every six weeks publishing schedule): NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK, CHILLIN', BACKSTAGE PASS, and COMIC TOUR '90

All four ongoings last no more than 8 issues each...basically about a year.  Then, in February and March 1991 (respectively), we saw the second crossover miniseries released, WENDY THE GOOD LITTLE WITCH MEETS NKOTB and a fifth (!?!?!) ongoing, HANGIN' TOUGH.  The New Kids trend must have been losing steam at this point because the fifth ongoing only lasted one issue...

I've always kind of been a little uncomfortable with the cover of the first issue of WENDY/NKOTB, what with the New Kids all leering at a "dressed up' Wendy, and the cover blurb ("Introducing a NEW CHAPTER in WENDY's LIFE") that might be implying that maybe Wendy's hit puberty and had her first menstrual cycle, or something.  Maybe my weird sarcastic sense of humor is reading way too much into this, I don't know.

 And, to make matters worse, at some point during all this nonsense, Harvey published five issues of a digest reprinting stories from the five ongoings, 3 one shots, and two miniseries.  They accomplished all of this within the span of around 18 months.  And, craziest of all, for about six months of it the first issue of the NEW KIDS ongoing ("Yo, Collectors! First Hot Issue!") was a 30 dollar wall book in most LCSs .  These books bring up two memories from high school- a fellow comic book nerd friend went out and bought every copy of the first issue of NKOTB he could get his hands on when it hit shelves, amounting to around 25 copies, then turned around and sold every copy for ten bucks apiece to teenage fans in our hometown. The previous summer, same guy asked me if he could jump in on a New England Comics mail order I was placing, and ordered ten copies of Revolutionary's ROCK N ROLL COMICS #1 featuring GnR (1st print) and sold the lot of them for around 400 bucks.

Goony Bird Blues

 Kenner Toys holds a special place in my heart, not because they manufactured the vintage STAR WARS and SUPER POWERS action figure lines that captivated me as a child, but simply because they're local.

The infamous Goony Bird mascot

Based in Cincinnati, Ohio in the Kroger Building, Kenner was a hop, skip and a jump down the highway from my childhood home of Adams County, Ohio, and there is a lot of regional pride associated with the now defunct toy manufacturer amongst toy collectors and aficionados.

Super Goof #28 (Gold Key, December 1973)

 While recently browsing through a copy of SUPER GOOF #28 (I'm a longtime sucker for anthropomorphic funny animal super hero parodies), i came to discover it contained a 16 page insert, the 1973 Kenner Fun Catalog...

I have very vague early childhood memories of having a lot of fun with Kenner's SSP (Super Sonic Power) brand of rip chord powered cars...especially the later break apart "Smash Up Derby" style cars.  I also have memories of the Snoopy Power Tooth Brush (an early Christmas gift from my maternal grandmother)...

I've taken the liberty of creating a CBR file dedicated to the entire catalog, and available for download at the Internet Archive....

Download Here

Super Goobers!

 One of my favorite conventions/tropes of American super hero comic books has always been the anthropomorphic funny animal super hero parody....characters such as DC Comics' CAPTAIN CARROT (and his Amazing Zoo Crew) and Marvel's PETER PORKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-HAM have amused and fascinated me since childhood, and this fascination stretches back to the Golden Age.  Admittedly, I've spent way too much time and money tracking down back issues of Fawcett's HOPPY THE MARVEL BUNNY, Charlton's ATOMIC MOUSE, and DC's FUNNY STUFF (home of Golden Age Flash parody, The Terrific Whatzit!)...

Electric Tiki's fantastic mini maquette from 2014 that's way too expensive for my tastes these days.

From Wikipedia:

"Super Goof is Goofy's superhero alter ego who gets his powers by eating super goobers (peanuts). Goofy became the first Disney character to also be a superhero, but several would follow, including Donald Duck as Paperinik.

The initial concept was developed by Disney Publications Dept. head George Sherman and Disney United Kingdom merchandising representative Peter Woods. It was passed on to Western Publishing scripter Del Connell who refined it, including the eventual device of peanuts providing superpowers.

The initial version of Super Goof appeared in "The Phantom Blot meets Super Goof", in Walt Disney's The Phantom Blot No. 2 (Feb. 1965) by Connell (story) and Paul Murry (art).  There Goofy mistakenly believes he has developed superpowers.  A second version appeared as an actual superhero in the four-page story "All's Well That Ends Awful" in Donald Duck No. 102 (July 1965), also by Connell and Murry."

The first two appearances of Super Goof

As I mentioned above, Gold Key's SUPER GOOF was a childhood favorite that slowly became the comic book equivalent of comfort food for me.  Any time I ran across a copy of the book in the wild, whether it be at an LCS, used bookstore, flea market, wherever...especially if it was cheap (it always was), I'd make the purchase.  Recently, I began the task of acquiring a complete run of the book, actually making a concentrated and focused effort to obtain the issues I need (at this point I own around 40 issues, including the first two appearances outside the ongoing solo series, a little over half of the book's 74 issue run).

Super Goof #1 (October 1965, Gold Key/ Western Publishing)

Most issues are fairly affordable, many lingering in LCS dollar boxes for decades gathering dust, wth one exception: Issue #61 from 1980...

Super Goof #61 (1980, Whitman/Western Publishing)

SUPER GOOF #61 has the distinction of being possibly the rarest Western Publishing book from their decades long history due to it having had no newsstand distribution at all, available only in select "Whitman 3 Packs" distributed primarily to toy stores in 1980, and  nobody really knows how many were printed and distributed for each title sold in this manner...or how many copies actually survive today.

High grade condition graded and slabbed copies tend to command prices in the $400 to $500 range these days.  

Hubba Hubba Hubba, Money Money Money,....Who Do Ya Trust?

36 years ago, June 23, 1989, I was sitting in a theater somewhere near Blue Hole, WV watching this....the 1989 Tim Burton directed BATMAN...

My parents were vacationing there, and they had drug 15 year old me and my younger sister along for the ride. After the day's vacation activities, instead of watching THE TERMINATOR for the fifth time on our motel's cable TV, I opted to walk down the street to a local cinema and watch the film I'd been eagerly awaiting for months. It was well worth the 4 dollar ticket price.

I've always been more of a fan of the newsstand edition cover of the 1989 DC Comics adaptation

"Partyman" by Prince....proof that not only was MTV a delightfully weird place in 1989, but promotional tie-ins for superhero movies started out being crazy bugnuts bananas....

The backstory on the development of Prince's BATMAN soundtrack album is insane, meaning there was practically none, some stories saying he turned a completed album to Warner Records in under two weeks. The structure of the album itself is chaotic, with no real connecting theme, compiled from a bunch of already recorded material from Prince's vault, in some cases literally Frankensteining 2 or 3 songs together, putting lyrics form one song onto melodies from another. So much so, that supposedly Warner A&R told him that they didn't know how to market any of it and there wasn't any material for breakout singles on it.

Prince's alleged response: "There's your album. Sell it." His work was done, and he had a pretty sweetheart final creative deal.

Then it became one of his best selling albums.

I've always been partial to two tracks on the album, "Electric Chair" and "Partyman". "Batdance" is just goofy enough that it feels fun without feeling like an obvious moneygrab with no thought put into it, and alot of Prince's diehard fans tend to dig the slow jam "Scandalous"....and, I will admit to having g a soft spot for the track "Trust".

"Hubba hubba hubba, money money money....Who do ya trust....."

Crisis on Earth 2!

 I'm a longtime fan of the JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA (or, "JSA" to their friends), the world's first superhero team and inspiration for the more familiar to a general audience and contemporary JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA (Zack Snyder fans please hold your comments).

The 1st appearance of the JSA, All-Star Comics #3 (December 1940, DC Comics)

I discovered the JSA via one of the many now classic annual JSA/JLA crossovers that used to be a staple inside the pages of the JUSTICE LEAGUE's book, but my love for the team was really cemented during what I refer to as the "Roy Thomas Era" of the team's lore and canon.  The Thomas-written ALL-STAR SQUADRON, INFINITY INC., and YOUNG ALL-STARS were must-have regular comic book reading material for me as a child and teenager.  A childhood fascination with anything pop culture and media centric that was produced during the 1930s/1940s....comic books, films, classic radio shows, pulp novel reprints...fueled this obsession with superheroes and comics of the era that continues to this day.

All-Star Squadron #1 (September 1981, DC Comics)

Infinity Inc. #1 (March 1984, DC Comics)

Young All-Stars #1 (June 1987, DC Comics)

Now, being a hardcore fan of the property who has a crazy strong completist urge has caused me over the course of my 46 year-long path of comic book fandom to put together a pretty decent JSA collection, owning nearly everything from the earliest Silver Age appearances forward...

The first two JLA/JSA crossovers, JLA #21-22 and #29-30, from 1963 and '64, respectively

Side note:  One of my favorite issues of Silver Age JLA has always been issue #51, which is the conclusion of the introduction of the character of Zatanna.  I've always felt that it was sort of an "almost JSA crossover" due to the Golden Age connection to Zatanna father, Zatara the Magician.  Also, can this storyarc be considered the first multi-title company crossover being that the first four parts of the story are in four other titles (HAWKMAN #4, THE ATOM #19, GREEN LANTERN #42, and DETECTIVE COMICS #355)?

Recently, I completed a run of the Bronze Age incarnation of the JSA's home title, ALL-STAR COMICS, filling a gap I'd had in my collection for years.  In 1975, after about 25 years of being a defunct title, DC Comics decided to relaunch the book continuing it's original numbering and proceeded to keep it in print for another 17 issues.  This run of the title is of interest due to the first appearance of Power Girl (the Earth 2 equivalent of Supergirl) and the establishment of the focus on the team being generational in nature, with an emphasis on legacy.

All-Star Comics #58 (February 1976, DC Comics)

The reason why it took me so long was simply due to me being an old, forgetful man who'd totally forgotten that I didn't own a complete run of the title.  It was a pretty simple task, the only issue that's slightly pricey is issue #58 due to it being the first appearance of the aforementioned Power Girl, decent copies going for around the $125 to $150 range, and the rest can be had for less than 10 bucks apiece, with exception of the last few issues being slightly higher, probably due to the early appearances of the Bat-family tie-n character of the Huntress.