Issue 98

THE CAT AND THE PENDULUM

Review by S. K. Pepper

Screenplay (aka Story): Bill Black

Director (aka Penciller): Brad Gorby

Photographer (aka Inker): Mark Heike

Cover Artists: Brad Gorby and Mark Heike

Translator: Mauricio Hunt

Published 1996

Synopsis

• She-Cat meets one of her idols, Verden Fell (aka Vincent Price), a former Horror genre film star, when he opens a new attraction at Pleasure Isle, the FemForce amusement park (see Issue 87). She-Cat finagles herself an invitation to the opening of the horror house over the objections of the host. Once there, she recognizes the three invited guests as famous directors of modern slasher-style horror pix. In true horror movie fashion, each of the three directors and She-Cat soon star in their own movie segment with chilling and life-endangering effect.
• In a sub-plot, Nightveil, Ms. Victory, Synn, and the other FemForce heroines battle the Enigma Cloud, which is charged with antimatter energy and is hovering over central Florida.  Meanwhile, Synn and Buckaroo Betty have to re-capture Krone, who escaped from her cell when lightning short-circuited the cell's force field. During the ensuing encounter with the Enigma Cloud, the gals discover that She-Cat's night at Horror House is the pits after she is strapped to a table under a swinging pendulum.  Ms. Victory comes to Cat's rescue as Nightveil takes care of the Enigma Cloud.
• As an added bonus, this entire issue features a Spanish translation. The introductory page is translated and each page contains a translated synopsis at the bottom.

Story

• Especially liked:
  1. The humour. It is refreshing to read a comic series that doesn't take itself too seriously but still assumes that its readers are literate and intelligent. I like the little touches of humour and whimsy which frequently occur in the background as rewards for the attentive reader. In this issue, such rewards start with the cover and just keep on appearing. The razor-sharp guillotine on the cover is made by "Guillette" - a nice combination of guillotine and Gillette. The story credits for this issue (page 1) add to the movie effect with a nice poke at Ted Turner's colourization. The "Little Gift Shoppe of Horrors" in the background on page 5 is another added bonus. You get the idea.
  2. The overall quality of each of the horror movie tribute sections. Each movie could be easily identified (even without the title at the start of each "feature"). The movie elements blend well with the FemForce plot. Each section is well adapted as a plot for this issue without losing the essence of the movie that gives each segment its distinctive tone.
  3. The Spanish Translation. This was very nicely done. The Spanish synopsis at the bottom of each page was informative without distracting the reader from the story or the art. I also liked the fact that the introductory material at the beginning (inside front cover) was translated for the benefit of Spanish language readers who may be unfamiliar with the FemForce. This is the only FemForce issue that has appeared simultaneously in English with a Spanish translation.
• Didn't like:
  1. The somewhat abrupt insertion of the sub-plot. Yes, it's important to have the FemForce come to She-Cat's aid when she is about to have her whiskers trimmed by the pendulum. But the panels featuring Synn, Buckaroo Betty, Nightveil, and the other gals are thrust at the end of the movie tribute segments or before the segment with She-Cat with little warning or transition. The effect was a little jarring.

Art

• Especially liked:
  1. The high quality of the characters. Anyone familiar with horror movies, past and present, can easily recognize Vincent Price as the host of the horror house and his guests Eddie Romero, John Carpenter, and Dario Argento as well as other supporting players. (I won't give away all of the "cast" who get their own credits at the end on the editor's tribute to Vincent Price page.)
  2. The black and white drawings. The decision to have a colour cover and black and white interior art on many FemForce issues has prompted many a reader to write in to AC with their views pro and con. I personally like the black and white interiors. As with the better calibre of older black and white movies, AC has managed to present images of greater depth and detail in its story which would be lost in a colourized version. A variety of grey tones and ink outlines can convey detail and nuance which would be obscured if covered over by colour or lost entirely if eliminated because of the addition of colour. Black and white images in this particular issue also better recall the black and white movies to which they pay tribute. In "The Raven" segment, the horror of seeing Lenore in all of her gooey, dripping glory and the heart-stopping vision of the raven descending upon the unfortunate victim would be lessened if rendered in colour.
• Didn't like:
  1. The omission of Roger Corman from the list of guests (or at least a supporting role). Given his prominence in directing horror films, with and without Vincent, his omission is a loss.

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