Chapter 16 | Page 2b: Advance notice

Catnip is miffed that she’s going to lose her commission due to Cassie Cruz’s new policy. To make matters worse, the superheroes seem to have had advance notice on a number of Evil Inc schemes. Evil Inc has a mole. But who…?

Transcript

Evil Inc – January 30, 2025
by Brad J. Guigar

Panel 1:
(Setting: The Evil Inc breakroom where several villains are gathered. Catnip, a blonde woman in a blue catsuit, stands with her hands on her hips. Miss Match, a red-haired woman in red and orange, is making coffee; Lightning Lady, a blonde in a blue costume; Desdemona, a red-skinned woman in a black and red outfit; Giant Tess, a woman in a green and orange suit; and Count Spurlock, a green-skinned man in a vest.)

Catnip: "Think about it! To be inside the building, Captain Heroic had to know about the Mime’s plans in advance!"

Lightning Lady: "That’s odd. When Dreadshade cracked the safe at Fairmount Bank, he got glitter-bombed!"

Count Spurlock: "I saw. The guy looked like he went down on Shirley Eaton.*"

Caption (bottom): "*You’ve got Google. Look it up."

Panel 2:
Catnip: "And don’t forget what happened when Dr. Patchwork heisted that shipment of arms…"

(Dr. Patchwork stands in front of a group of zombie henchmen with no arms. He opens a crate of weapons.)

Dr. Patchwork: "Damn it! These are just guns!"

Panel 3:
(Catnip raises a finger, looking serious.)

Catnip: "Face it. Someone is leaking information about our clients’ schemes to the superheroes."

Panel 4:
(A flashback scene shows Cassie Cruz, a brunette in glasses and a white blouse, packing up her office at the “Silver Agency,” a superhero placement agency that is now closed.)

Narration box: "And it’s been happening ever since 'Little Miss Silver Agency' took over."

Panel 5:
(Catnip clenches her fist, her expression determined.)

Catnip: "The answer is clear… WE NEED TO GET RID OF CASSIE CRUZ."

Oh... and this is Shirley Eaton.

52 Steps: Week Fourteen

52 Steps: Week FourteenI don’t know how I missed it for thirteen weeks, but Comic Book Resources has an excellent series of columns on DC’s “52.”

Written, by Justin Eger, it’s a weekly recap of the latest issue, complete with comment and perspective from a very astute reader of comics even a “Panel of the Week.”

From the latest update: The Metal Men have had a load of continuity and ret-cons because despite their less than stellar success, they are an inexplicable favorite with DC’s writers… ah, who am I kidding, everyone loves them. Just for not very long. They’re kind of a one trick pony. They started out as a scheduling mistake. In 1962, The Atom was appearing in “Showcase.” He was given his own book and there was nothing planned for issue #37 of “Showcase.” “Showcase” was just that, a showcase for new ideas to see if they could carry a book. So, Robert Kanigher knuckled down and scripted the first Metal Men story over a weekend. Ross Andru and Mike Esposito handled the art and they killed off the team in the first story because they figured there would never be a second. Someone up the chain thought they had a chance and asked for three more issues. Issue #38 showed Doc Magnus scavenging for the robots’ parts (especially the responsometers that gave them personalities). Basically the Metal Men died at the end of each issue to be resurrected in the next – this went on for years.