Catnapped, by John Ostrander

John Ostrander

John Ostrander started his career as a professional writer as a playwright. His best known effort, Bloody Bess, was directed by Stuart Gordon, and starred Dennis Franz, Joe Mantegna, William J. Norris, Meshach Taylor and Joe Mantegna. He has written some of the most important influential comic books of the past 25 years, including Batman, The Spectre, Manhunter, Firestorm, Hawkman, Suicide Squad, Wasteland, X-Men, and The Punisher, as well as Star Wars comics for Dark Horse. New episodes of his creator-owned series, GrimJack, which was first published by First Comics in the 1980s, appear every week on ComicMix.

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14 Responses

  1. John Tebbel says:

    What's Michael is essential cat lore, funniest comic from Japan I've ever read. Up there with The Cowboy Wally Show and Dork on the lolometer.

  2. Martha Thomases says:

    Dan Greenberg, author of (among other things) HOW TO BE A JEWISH MOTHER, said that cats exist to give writers an excuse not to write. It's always much more important to see what the cats are doing.

  3. Linda Gold says:

    Here's a great cat film-"The Cat Returns". Same cat also originally appears in "Whispers of the Heart" another excellent film.

  4. Marc Alan Fishman says:

    John,I grew up in a pet-less house. With my folks working full days, and being up and out of the house in the wee hours of the morning they never sought to get any pets. As an only child, I longed for a companion, but never "craved" a cat or dog. My friends had pets, and they always seemed to just be a bother rather than best friend.Then I met my now Fiance. On what would be our second date, her cat had 5 kittens. Soon after their birth, I was rooming with her, and we kept 1 kitten. She gave him to me. I named him Lynxo (when I first saw him as a kitten, I said "hey, he's blind!", not knowing that all kittens are born that way…)((Lynxo for those not-in-the-know, was the blind Thundercat)). Over the next 5 years, I became a cat person. Lynxo eventually succomed to renal failure, and I was forced to put him down. Never the less… I remain a cat person now, steadfast.Your comment about artists being cats I should note, also made me laugh out loud. ("I'll do pages when I said I'll do pages!") I should note my penciler also can pound me into poo. Funny how that is.

  5. Dave says:

    "The Cat from Outer Space" – sappy Disnay fare from the late 1970s, but fun.

  6. mike weber says:

    Bill Cosby once explained the essential difference between a dog and a cat – dogs have a sense of shame.You catch the dog dragging the pot roast you left on the counter when you had to go answer the door away, and as soon as he sees you, he flops down, cringes, rolls over to show you his belly and cries out "Kill me now, master, I am unworthy of your trust." The cat u on the counter eating the pot roast etc. cocks her head to look at you and estimate how many more bites she can take before she has to run.

    • John Ostrander says:

      I have a similar version. If you yell at a dog, it's universal answer is "But i love you!" whereas if you yell at a cat — and the cat deigns to notice you're yelling at it — it's universal answer is, "But you love me."

  7. Russ Rogers says:

    I think you missed "The Aristocats." Certainly not the greatest of Disney animated works, but it's not without merit. And any discussion of Cats in Literature would not be complete without mentioning "The Cat in the Hat," by Dr. Seuss. It's one of the most influential books of the 20th Century, changing forever how children's books are written and published and how reading is taught! I'm proud to have an annotated version on my bookshelf. It's not the most realistic portrayal of cats. But it does capture that feline sense of logic and respect for the rules quite well.

    • John Ostrander says:

      Russ, I was talking about GREAT films with cats and, whatever else it is, "The Aristocrats" is not that. Nor is "Gay Puree". Certainly not on the level of the films cited. There's lots of great cats in Lit but, again, I was only dealing with the movies. You're not suggesting the FILM version of "Cat In the Hat" is something to purr about?

      • Russ Rogers says:

        I would pick Aristocats over the Garfield movies any day. And "The Cat in the Hat" TV Special was much better than say, "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown!" Oh, you mean the theatrical release with Mike Meyers! How could that offal have slipped my mind! Painlessly. Oof! What a stink-burger! That Cat movie was a DOG! As bad or worse than the Garfield kitty litter films.

      • mike weber says:

        "Shinbone Alley" with Eddie Bracken as Archie and Carol Channing as Mehitabel and John Carradine voicing an old-fashioned ham actor cat.

    • Mike Gold says:

      Well, I saw The Aristocrats, but there was a dog in that, not a cat.

  8. Matt Lazorwitz says:

    After nearly 30 years of never having a pet, I have been adopted by my fiancee's cat, Felix (the name he had when she adopted him), and I find I too am a cat person. The cranky, contrary nature, the love when they feel like it, it's just fun. There's a wonderful picture book called Magic Thinks Big that truly captures the essence of being a cat, I think. It's easily available on Amazon or at Borders, and is well worth a high place in the annals of cat literature.

  9. Chris Lisy says:

    There are 2 statements that I think sum up cats fairly well:1) Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods by the Egyptians. They have never forgotten this.2) Dogs have owners, cats have staff.I actually used to be fairly anti-cat until I started dating the woman who is now my wife, Beth. Her cat Benny is why I started to love cats. (Note, at the time, Benny was approximately 15 pounds. He's almost 18 now.)At the time we were dating, we were living about 2 1/2 hours apart. I was also working a job Sunday to Thursday, generally getting down about 2:30 or 3am. Most Friday mornings I would drive down after work, getting there about the time Beth would be waking up to get ready for work. One night/morning, I got done somewhat early, and got to Beth's place about an hour earlier than I normally did. Benny was in his usually spot next to Beth. As I crawl into bed and are just starting to get comfortable, Benny puts all four paws against Beth's arm, places his back against my arm, and tries to push my out of bed and away from "his" woman. I just looked at him and said "Ain't gonna happen, cat."But that's about the time I really started to like cats. Now, I'm owned by one, have nominal ownership of another, and am liked by two more.