Paul Gulacy discusses his take on Catwoman at Comic Book Resources:

“I always drew her really sexy, maybe even too over the top, but that’s what people expected. She was this kind of slutty cat burglar. Who are we kidding? [laughter] Every artist wanted to take a crack at her.”

And…

“I know what my readers expect of me and I wasn’t born yesterday that the rise in sales you mentioned just might have a little something to do with the fact that the readers want to know what Gulacy is doing with that woman’s body month to month.”

To quote Daria Morgendorffer, “There are some moments that no shower, no matter the temperature or the duration, can ever erase.”

Lots of people are saying lots of things about the ill-conceived and distasteful IDENTITY CRISIS DC series, much better than I’m able to.

For instance, there’s George Grattan’s assessment of mainstream media coverage of the “event.” He also has some interesting points on the fundamental flaws evident in the choice of central characters.

Badthingus questions the brutality of the driving event in the title. There seem to be a couple of threads devoted to a nice, thorough continuity flog, if that’s your thing.

Some bemoan the ongoing destruction of strong, female supporting characters, particularly those created by the late, great Julius Schwartz. Or how the story would have veered with a different murder victim. And of course there’s speculation.

I don’t intend to read the rest of the mini, offended as I was by the first issue, but lively rac* discussion will be a nice substitute. Of course, it’s seven Important Issues long, so that’s bound to peter out eventually.

Still, I’ll be happy to offer my theory that the villain of the piece is the Martian Manhunter. Able to avoid all kinds of security technology? Check. Incredibly strong? Check. Ironic use of fire as a murder weapon? Check. Ponderous implications of “importance” by having a telepathic hero go rogue and turn on his friends’ loved ones? Fits the tone as I see it. Renders central argument moot as antagonist can read minds, thus negating effectiveness of secret identity even if the characters in question had chosen to establish them? Checkity check check check.

Meh.

Hopefully, this week’s comics will offer some cheer. Since SHE-HULK is in the stack, chances are good. And, hey, I’m sure we’ll add another name to the list of Arsenal’s sexual conquests in the next OUTSIDERS! That rascally Roy, still plugging away. Maybe he can sire another child by a different psychopathic villainess so his little girl can have a baby brother. Awwww!

I finally had the chance to sit down with IRON WOK JAN! Vol. 1 over the weekend, and I have to say it’s probably the best introduction to manga I could have asked for. As a fan of cooking shows, comedy, and comics, this book really speaks to me.

The premise seems basic: rival trainee chefs butt heads in the kitchen of Tokyo’s best Chinese restaurant. But the stories and characters unfold in surprising ways. Best of all, the rivalry between the two chefs, arrogant Jan and traditionalist Kiriko, stems from a fundamental difference in culinary philosophy.

Jan thinks cooking is a competition, an ongoing opportunity to outdo and surprise. Kiriko thinks it’s about devotion and commitment. They’re both right, obviously, and they’re both flawed enough to make the proceedings an engaging, evenly matched battle.

Hopelessly arrogant, Jan is also wonderfully enthusiastic and focused. He may view the kitchen as a battleground, but he comes alive at the stove. Underneath her beliefs on tradition and emotion, Kiriko is almost as conceited and competitive as Jan. So while she may have a nobler take on the culinary arts, she isn’t a plaster saint. And both seem to spark at the presence of a worthy rival; they don’t cut each other any slack, but they’re delighted to have someone at their level as a sparring partner. It’s a charming and promising relationship.

The supporting cast is nicely rounded, though I particularly love loathesome food critic Otani and the kitchen crew that serves as something of a Greek chorus to the headstrong star trainees. Each is a bit distinct, with passions and proclivities of their own, but their reactions to the wokside antics of Jan and Kiriko are almost always priceless.

The dialogue is hyper-dramatic, which is funny in part but at the same time manages to convey the seriousness of the characters for their craft. It’s a nifty effect, a kind of comic sincerity. The art is marvelously kinetic, a perfect match for the scripts. Basically, it takes kitchen drama to the level of opera, and yet it works perfectly.

IRON WOK JAN! is by Shinji Sayjyo, English translation by Sahe Kawahara, published in the United States by ComicsOne Corporation. I’ll definitely be picking up other volumes of this wonderful story, and I’m grateful (again) to Johanna Draper Carlson at Comics Worth Reading for profiling it. Now that I’ve taken the manga plunge, I can’t wait to see what else is out there.

I still haven’t gotten the second half of this week’s comic stack, but they should be in today. Self-important remarks on them (including IDENTITY CRISIS 1) should appear sometime over the weekend.

Of course, I’ve never met a spoiler I didn’t like, so I’ve already heard plenty about who dies in that comic and the many different ways it sucks. I hate being right sometimes.

In the spirit of the moment, why not pop by Gail Simone’s blistering examination of a depressing comic trope at Women In Refrigerators? It’ll make you feel much worse, I promise.

Another annoying thing about the delay in comics gratification this week is that I’ve finally decided to bust my manga cherry this week with the first volume of IRON WOK JAN! Johanna Draper Carlson recommends it on her site, Comics Worth Reading, which I’ve found to be a really reliable source of information on titles I wouldn’t otherwise run across. Books I’ve tried (and really enjoyed) based on Johanna’s reviews include Electric Girl, Amelia Rules!, and Jack Staff.

So, in short, if Big Two summer blockbusters are sapping your will to live, stop by Johanna’s site and try something unusual. I’ll bet you’ll be glad you did.

There’s been some interesting discussion in Usenet lately of why people continue to collect comic titles they actively dislike. The foundation seems generally to be optimism and protectiveness of beloved characters, which I can certainly understand. But, in my case, I think inertia has more to do with it than anything, so I’m making some cuts:

NIGHTWING: Once a reliable action-adventure book, this title has become a relentlessly grim, psychosexual slog, substituting brutality and sensationalism for any genuine narrative innovation or craft. Frankly, Nightwing simply isn’t a character who can carry this level of Sturm und Drang. And since the misery isn’t written very well in the first place, it’s cut. (I’m getting this week’s issue, just because I decided too late to stop the pre-order, so look forward to a few more grumblings on #94.)

DETECTIVE: As I’ve said, I only ever picked up this title because Rucka was the writer, and I admire his work a great deal (BATMAN: DEATH AND THE MAIDENS, QUEEN AND COUNTRY, WONDER WOMAN). Now, it’s a mediocre offering in the Batman line, and the money could be better spent trying new titles in different genres.

JLA: Honestly, I don’t know why I stuck around for Byrne’s multi-issue pimp for his new DOOM PATROL series. With #100 serving as a launchpad for the spin-off title and the issues after featuring the generally dreadful authorship of Chuck Austen, this is a perfect jumping-off point. While I’ve liked a lot of Joe Kelly’s work (particularly DEADPOOL), I’m not really interested in the premise of JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE. None of the new characters he’s created for this title have caught my interest, and they comprise much of the cast of the spin-off.

X-MEN: Another title where Austen is the deciding factor. Admittedly, anyone would have difficulty following in Grant Morrison’s shoes, and my interest in this group of characters usually depends on the writer in question. I’ll probably swap it out for UNCANNY X-MEN, largely due to Alan Davis’s gorgeous art.

Looking back, that’s not a particularly impressive list, but it’s a start.

I do feel strangely guilty about cutting back my purchases, mostly because I’m very fond of the folks at the two comic shops I frequent. I support small businesses in general and comic shops in particular, and while I know cutting a handful of books from my reserve list won’t put their kids in second-hand shoes, it still twinges in the guilt centers of my brain. Of course, then I remind myself of my complete lack of impulse control, willingness to pick up new titles and trades, and I feel a bit better.

Speaking of new titles and trades, I’m looking forward to the next issue of DISTRICT X, which is much more interesting and promising than any title featuring Bishop has a right to be. Also, for those of you who missed the spectacularly entertaining MY FAITH IN FRANKIE from Vertigo, a collection has been announced. It was a wonderful mini, and I highly recommend it.

If you didn’t see it the first time it aired, I highly recommend Kathy Griffin’s “The D-List,” which airs on Bravo at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, June 9. I didn’t have much use for Griffin prior to this special, but watching her wallow so energetically in her has-been status is good for many, many laughs. There’s something special about a comedienne with absolutely nothing to lose.

There’s also something special about watching Bravo’s continuing evolution into the equivalent of E! for people who read. It is to E! what Entertainment Weekly is to Us Weekly. Upmarket trash that smirks instead of gushes. It’s nothing to be proud of enjoying, but it does induce a little less shame.

I was thinking of adding Vertigo’s “The Witching” to my pull list until I saw writer Jonathan Vankin describe one of his characters as a “cyber-goth rock star” in an interview at Comics Continuum. A pretty handy disclaimer, if you ask me. Maybe they could put that on the cover. “WARNING: This comic contains cyber-goth rock star. Persons with aversion to dated stereotypes strongly cautioned.”

In other trio-of-witches news, Don MacPherson at the 4th Rail has a priceless alternative title for Marvel’s new title, “Witches.” “Mystical Midriffs.” Hee.

I do love the Tony Awards. They make the Oscars look like a Republican fund-raiser.

Not content to be a charismatic presence in a wifebeater in the X-Men movie franchise, Hugh Jackman has decided to launch an assault on Broadway, and his hosting gig, best actor statuette, and high kicking with the Rockettes left the hardened cynics of the New York theatre community offering their only standing ovation of the evening. Surely the gold lame “shirt” and pelvic thrusts alongside Sarah Jessica Parker didn’t hurt, either.

The awards are just so wonderfully gay, and they don’t make a big deal about it. Boyfriends thank boyfriends, producers speak out in favor of gay marriage, people win awards for playing gay pop stars and Nazi-fleeing transvestites. Okay, so Phylicia Rashad seemed to think she was accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, but everyone else pretty much got it. You can’t really go wrong when several major awards go to a musical about dejected, blunt-spoken slacker puppets. (And now that I’ve seen a number from “Wicked,” I’d suggest you just go ahead and read the book.)

This year, they seemed to fold in Hollywood a bit more gracefully. Most of the movie stars on hand — Jackman, Kidman, Linney, even P. Diddy — have actually performed on Broadway in the recent past. There’s no excuse for Jimmy Fallon, but there never has been, so there you have it.

On an entirely unrelated note, I’m plowing my way through the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. How did it take me this long to discover them? I’m in the midst of “Pyramids” at the moment, which suffers a bit in comparison to “Wyrd Sisters,” but it’s still great fun. I picked up the DVD of the animated version of “Wyrd Sisters” at the comic store, and, blocky animation aside, it was great fun. Faithful, with excellent voice casting and a real grasp of the spirit of the book. Don’t know if I’d invest in the other ones (I think “Soul Music” is also available), but I’m glad I saw this.

On another entirely unrelated note, if anyone out there has any experience with Jackson and Perkins bulbs, can you let me know if they’ve ever germinated? I’d really love for those crocosmia and liatris to emerge, but I’m not holding my breath.

I’m still befuddled about a couple of things about “The Day After Tomorrow.” Not the pseudo-science, mind you, because I can always suspend disbelief on that front. I’m actually obsessing about a couple of things on the fringes:

1. So, Sela Ward’s character, the saintly ex-wife, gets to throw in a few gentle barbs about her former hubby’s workaholism. Because she, as a pediatric oncologist, surely doesn’t know anything about long hours, excessive dedication to one’s work, etc. Nope. Nothing is a more convenient career for a dedicated parent than an extremely complicated medical specialty that demands fierce emotional commitment to desperately ill children. Sure, Sela. And, while I’m at it, Sela was better in those long distance commercials than she was here. Was Rene Russo busy?

2. I’m not one of those people to decry Jake Gyllenhaal’s foray into the blockbuster. If he gets tired of dimly lit indy fare and wants to flee from CGI timber wolves on a derelict Russian cargo ship, more power to him. What I do decry is the suggestion that he looks anything like a high school student. Any credit the casting agent might have gotten for giving Dennis Quaid an age-appropriate ex-wife is squandered on passing off this 30-year-old as a teen. Maybe that’s why his character does so well in school. He’s been a senior for 13 years. (On an unrelated note, I was delighted to see Jake’s indie princess sibling, Maggie, in the truly craptacular “Mona Lisa Smile.” While her role was thankless, at least she didn’t seem to think she was doing Ibsen. I’m looking at you, remarkably realistic android Julia Stiles.)

I’m looking forward to seeing what Alfonso Cuarón does with the next “Harry Potter” movie. When comparing director credits, “Y Tu Mamá También” sure beats the heck out of “Home Alone.”

I’m not at all certain about this blog business. But, what the heck. Beats working.