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In 1982 DC tested the waters for a new Catwoman series by publishing short, seven page stories, as back-ups in the regular Batman title, beginning with Batman #345 and ending in Batman #351. Trevor pencilled the first four chapters, all written by Bruce Jones and inked by Pablo Marcos and Larry Mahlstedt, but, sadly the concept didn't quite catch on and it's take another ten years before the character would debut in her own series proper. The remaining stories in this launch were drawn by Adrian Gonzales and Tony DeZungia.
The first story presented here was taken from two UK reprints of Batman. Unlike the Australian reprint (which we'll discuss shortly), these stories remain faithful to the original with only the colour being enhanced for more contrast. The story, Terror Train, and the second part, In The Land Of The Dead, were originally published in Batman #345 and #346 and subsequently reprinted in The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told Vol 2.
The second two part story, presented here, is from a reprinted version as published in Australia in the early 1980s. The original of this story ran in Batman #348 and #349 as a two part back-up story, with each chapter being seven pages long. In Australia those two chapters were compressed to the one thirteen page story, via the second chapter splash page being dropped entirely. This was a common practice in Australia for reprints, resulting in a seamless story with no interruptions and also showcasing a very unique presentation of the art.
Contents & Editorial © Copyright & ™ 2009 ACAB
Art & Text © Copyright &™ 2009 Trevor Von Eeden
All characters © Copyright &™ DC Comics
Bat-Villains. The cover to the Australian reprint comic where the above story appeared in it's edited form.
satisfying to the reader, as a result. The memories of these years, for me--22 years old, living in my studio apartment in Flushing, Queens (my drawing table shared a space with my kitchen), having long since moved out of my Mom's house in the Bronx at 18--and still reeling from the Grand Adventure that is growing up in New York City--AND getting paid to be/become an artist!!--All a literal dream come true--and an opportunity I didn't plan to let go to waste!
TREVOR VON EEDEN: I do remember "Terror Train" two-parter, that was probably my all-time favorite Catwoman job, of all!
I don't recall if that was the first Catwoman job that I'd done, but it was definitely done in the period that was the most fun in my career--when I created my own Art style, in which design became an integral part of the story-telling process itself. This challenges the artist on both an aesthetic, and intellectual level--and the artwork is that much more
TREVOR VON EEDEN: When Dick Giordano eventually decided to give me a shot at the "big time", with The Batman Annual #8, "The longest single adventure of the dread Batman" (42pgs.), I saw the chance to create something totally original--so I did. It was probably the hardest work, and the most fun I've ever had in my life. It was like literally creating your own self-respect, bit by bit, day by day, motivated by the constant realization that true freedom takes a certain amount of courage to express.
To this day, I'm still slightly surprised that they actually did have the guts to publish it.
I've spent some of the happiest days of my life here in New York City.
And so far, that hasn't changed.