Cat Claw - History

History

The publisher Dečje Novine and editor Sibin Slavković, called for comic strips that would resemble American superheroes for their magazine YU Strip. Of the creators solicited, only Branislav Kerac and Svetozar Obradović responded. Their suggestions included Gea, a Red Sonja-type character, Cyborg, a Terminator-type character (even though that character did not appear until 1984), and Cat Claw, a female version of Spider-Man. Kerac pencilled several pages and they were shopped around the Belgrade inkers, but none accepted the position. Kerac ended up performing both duties. He was busy with his Kobra comic book, so one of the characters had to be dropped. Bane chose to retain Cat Claw, which allowed him to emulate the work of one of his idols, John Romita.

The first episode, "Bane Claws", written by Obradović, was very much in the Marvel Comics style. It even included a cameo appearance of Peter Parker (on a bench in the park). Carol Connor, an introverted university biology student, was scratched by a cat which had been used in an experiment. Later that same evening, when she attempted to shut down an experiment in Dr. Baker's lab she was exposed to "Sigma radiation." As a result, Carol found she had developed a cat's agility and claw-like fingernails. She was also superhumanly strong and could see in the dark almost as well as during the day.

At first, Carol just used her powers for her own amusement. However, when she heard her roommate Jenny Jones being attacked outside their apartment building, she (literally) jumped to her defense and drove the attackers off. Carol enjoyed the experience and decided to create a costumed identity. Carol "borrowed" some special fabric, woven from metal, to create her mask, gloves, and boots from the Gray's Institute. There was insufficient fabric to create a complete costume, so Carol used a black bikini Jenny had given her (but she had never dared to wear) and fishnet pantyhose. (The ordinary fabric of the bikini and hose got torn up and had to be replaced after every fight. Later, Carol adopted a black leotard and black leather jacket to replace the bikini.) Kerac stated in a 1991 interview: "I tried to imagine what the wet dream of every male pig would look like, and Cat Claw was the answer."

Cat Claw went on to battle ordinary criminals and her own Rogues Gallery: Xtremity (aka Renate Roseblood), Berthold Schwartenberger (aka Catminator and, later, Grgur the monster), Dr. Sigismund Morse (Grgur's creator), Dr. Bruce Baker (who also turns into a monster), Ninja Deathbringer, and the Helloweeners.

In the late 1980s, Malibu Comics's imprint Eternity Comics republished 9 issues of Cat Claw's adventures. Cat Claw was also translated and published in France, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Turkey and some other countries.

In 2006 Cat Claw was published in hardcover albums as "Cat Claw Ultimate Collection".