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Post by Beth on Apr 7, 2013 3:54:28 GMT -5
Post your reactions to this week's comic here!
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Post by Beth on Apr 7, 2013 10:32:37 GMT -5
I have thoughts! Admittedly ones I need to marshall, but my very first emotion (?) was frustration: I want more than two pages a week! I like how things are getting subverted - Urby isn't actually Farley Grange? And Misper isn't really Misper? And are we supposed to think that Enrique is Misper given the apparent continuity of the two pages or does having just two pages a week make us (me) read more into the comic than what's actually there?
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sophie_ali
Cat People
Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat, How I Wonder What You're At
Posts: 129
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Post by sophie_ali on Apr 7, 2013 11:04:21 GMT -5
I like the little details about Cat that we got from those two pages, like that she plays basketball. I also like that we saw her eating (you rarely see people, especially woman, eating in comic books)- it really makes her seem very human
I had a vague feeling that Enrique might have been Misper and that's getting stronger from these two new pages although I might just be reading too much into it!
Urbanite just gets more interesting. I wasn't sure what to make of him before and now I don't know anymore. Does this mean Urbanite has a double-secret identity in that he has his superhero identity and then his supposed "real identity" of Farley Grange is also another pseudo-identity?.
Also the idea of Urbanite being 'haunted'- maybe his macho persona is just a cover after all - a kind of defense mechanism?
It just gets better and better!
ETA: Just re-reading it I noticed Delilha's comment to Kay about the house he's living in being "a step down from Grange Mannor' On Cat's mindmap Grange mannor is connected by arrows to Farley Grange and Brandow Stewart. Was that just a throwaway comment or does Kay have a deeper connection there? (I might be reading too much into this by the way!)
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Post by Beth on Apr 7, 2013 11:31:16 GMT -5
I also like that we saw her eating (you rarely see people, especially woman, eating in comic books)- it really makes her seem very human Me too! Daisy's really enjoying her spaghetti in last week's pages too, and is making a cat's cradle this week  I really love the details like this that Suze is putting into the comic - it makes the characters seem much more human. Daisy's becoming a fast favourite of mine too. I had a vague feeling that Enrique might have been Misper and that's getting stronger from these two new pages although I might just be reading too much into it! No, I'm getting that feeling too. Whether anything'll come of it I don't know though, but there's the stuff he said about waiting for a guy - his dad/trainer - at the end of issue one, and it seems like a deliberate carrying over of discussion about Misper onto page 4 of this issue... Urbanite just gets more interesting. I wasn't sure what to make of him before and now I don't know anymore. Does this mean Urbanite has a double-secret identity in that he has his superhero identity and then his supposed "real identity" of Farley Grange is also another pseudo-identity?.
Also the idea of Urbanite being 'haunted'- maybe his macho persona is just a cover after all - a kind of defense mechanism? Yeah I'm totally confused about Urbanite too! I wasn't sure what to make of him on Twitter, and I wasn't sure what to make of him last week. This week has just blown any ideas I had out of the water! I'm guessing that he does have a double-secret identity. If Cat's right then Farley Grange isn't really Urby, he's just telling everyone he is (presumably Urby knows about this?). So does that mean the Urby we see in page 2 of this issue, downstairs at Grange Manor, is Farley dressed up, or the actual Urby? And why would Farley want to pose as Urby - wouldn't that be really dangerous in a city full of terrorist attacks? This idea of Urbanite being haunted has really intrigued me though. If it does mean his macho persona is a kind of defence mechanism - which I really like the idea of, by the way - that throws up so many more possibilities for him. Okay, it kinda fits into the whole superhero thing (Bruce Wayne's parents being killed so he becomes Batman, etc.) but it could make for some interesting storylines. Though now I'm writing this I wonder if that actually diminishes him as a character and makes him fit more easily into the superhero tropes than having him do this for some other reason would... It's fun speculating! ETA: Just re-reading it I noticed Delilha's comment to Kay about the house he's living in being "a step down from Grange Mannor' On Cat's mindmap Grange mannor is connected by arrows to Farley Grange and Brandow Stewart. Was that just a throwaway comment or does Kay have a deeper connection there? (I might be reading too much into this by the way!) I took it to be a throwaway comment, like being at a friend's and saying 'Buckingham Palace looks so nice and clean and you wouldn't have to do the washing up because a servant would' and them saying 'yeah, yeah, I know this place isn't the same as Buckingham Palace is'. But re-reading it now it does seem like Dahlia could be implying that Kay used to live at Grange Manor. That would be really interesting. |
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sophie_ali
Cat People
Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat, How I Wonder What You're At
Posts: 129
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Post by sophie_ali on Apr 7, 2013 12:03:35 GMT -5
I agree with you here. If Farley Grane is posing as Urbanite then we have to question whether the "real" Urbanite (whoever they are) knows about it. Like you said if they do then there must be a reason for it. But if it is just a distraction then like you said it's a pretty dangerous thing to be doing given the terroist attacks. Also what's in it for Farley Grange? (the publicity might be one option but then it's surely ust putting him in more danger which must outweight the positives of media coverage surely?)
In some ways having a haunted past is a very stereotypical superhero trop but in some ways I think it makes him more human. We all have aspects of our past that 'haunt' us or drive us/make us who we are. This really changed how I viewed urbanite. Before, I sort of viewed him as being a paraody of a superhero. Especially from twitter, he just appeared so shallow and hyper-macho, but if that persona is just a defence mechanism then that makes him deeper as a character.
To what purpose would acting out this hyper-macho persona have? To protect him personally if he is indeed haunted by his past or is it deeper than that. Maybe he acts "dumb" in order to decieve people- again going back to the idea of a double persona.
I just can't make Urbanite out now- I thought I understood his character but now I'm not so sure. His relationship to Misper is interesting as well. Working from the hypothesis that Enrique is Misper (something I'm more convinced about from one of Urby's tweets talking about Misper sneaking off or something and then Cat eets Enrique in a bar/club) then he seemed quite unhappy when he first met Cat- especially when talking about his Dad. For a superhero duo Urbanite and Misper don't seem to have a great relationship (not anything lik Batman and Robin)
Also Cat says Enrique/Misper seems "hunted" (by the way I loved that piece of writing moving from haunted to hunted)- who is hunting him? Is he in danger and who from? The terroist attacks are one obvious cause but everytime we see him he looks kind of uneasy. He seemed to open up to Cat when she first met him but their meeting was cut off- by Urbanite?
Speculation is so fun!
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Post by Will on Apr 7, 2013 14:08:19 GMT -5
I would join in this fascinating discussion, but... might spoil things!
You are being very clever though and most of the things you're identifying are very much along the right lines.
Interesting guesses about the relationship between Farley Grange and Urbanite, as they are NOT correct.
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sophie_ali
Cat People
Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat, How I Wonder What You're At
Posts: 129
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Post by sophie_ali on Apr 8, 2013 3:54:19 GMT -5
Now that is interesting! Back to the drawing board for Ubranite/Farley Grange theories then!  |
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Post by Beth on Apr 9, 2013 14:10:10 GMT -5
I would join in this fascinating discussion, but... might spoil things! You are being very clever though and most of the things you're identifying are very much along the right lines. Interesting guesses about the relationship between Farley Grange and Urbanite, as they are NOT correct. Hmm, curiouser and curiouser. I agree with you here. If Farley Grane is posing as Urbanite then we have to question whether the "real" Urbanite (whoever they are) knows about it. Like you said if they do then there must be a reason for it. But if it is just a distraction then like you said it's a pretty dangerous thing to be doing given the terroist attacks. Also what's in it for Farley Grange? (the publicity might be one option but then it's surely ust putting him in more danger which must outweight the positives of media coverage surely?) So it looks like this is all wrong! But which bit of our theorising does Will mean - is all of it wrong? So Urbanite has no idea about Farley Grange (which I'd kind of find hard to believe given he's supposed to be a superhero) - or there's a much closer link between them? Could Cat be wrong? Or what if Farley is Urby's twin? Or clone?? In some ways having a haunted past is a very stereotypical superhero trop but in some ways I think it makes him more human. We all have aspects of our past that 'haunt' us or drive us/make us who we are. This really changed how I viewed urbanite. Before, I sort of viewed him as being a paraody of a superhero. Especially from twitter, he just appeared so shallow and hyper-macho, but if that persona is just a defence mechanism then that makes him deeper as a character.
To what purpose would acting out this hyper-macho persona have? To protect him personally if he is indeed haunted by his past or is it deeper than that. Maybe he acts "dumb" in order to decieve people- again going back to the idea of a double persona. Yeah, I do know what you mean. It is kind of tropey but then like you said it opens up Urby's more human side and allows us (in theory anyway - depends on what's haunting him!) to connect with him more. I'm curious as to what he's being haunted by. What do you reckon? If the hyper-macho stuff is just a defence mechanism, what could he be defending himself against? What do you think could make it deeper than just being haunted by his past? I like the idea of acting dumb in order to deceive people, and looking at some of his tweets there's some clever wordplay going on, which makes me think perhaps he is more intelligent/less dumb than we give him credit for. But again the question is why? Also Cat says Enrique/Misper seems "hunted" (by the way I loved that piece of writing moving from haunted to hunted)- who is hunting him? Is he in danger and who from? The terroist attacks are one obvious cause but everytime we see him he looks kind of uneasy. He seemed to open up to Cat when she first met him but their meeting was cut off- by Urbanite? I love that in Will's writing - the movement and fluidity between words and meanings. To me it comes across really clearly in his academic and creative work (yes, I'm drawing problematic distinctions between the two!) and I really like the effect it has on the text. As for who's hunting Misper though. Good question. Him and Urby don't have a good relationship, like you said. Could it be they knew each other before becoming Urby and Misper and what Urby's haunted by is what hunts Misper? Their meeting was cut short by Urbanite too, which makes me wonder if that was coincidence or if Urby knew that Misper was potentially getting too close to Cat. |
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sophie_ali
Cat People
Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat, How I Wonder What You're At
Posts: 129
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Post by sophie_ali on Apr 9, 2013 14:52:44 GMT -5
Maybe Farley Grange is pesudo-identiity? I mean we've focused on Urbanite's identity but maybe Farley Grange is a cover or ploy or something. He doesn't 'exist' really...I don't really know where I'm going with this now  (I keep expecting someone to pop up and explain the nature of reality Matrix style!) I was reading Urbanite's tweets again this evening and I do reckon he's more clever than he portays himself. I agree that there's some clever wordplay going on. Playing dumb might give him an advantage- people might think he's a push over and underestmiate him giving him an advantgage when fighting criminals (they don't expect him to be brainy as well as brawny?). If he is clever then that would suggest he has more in common with Cat than we first thought- smart really might be the ultimate superpower! Urbanite and Misper do have an interesting relationsip. Fro that mindmap in issue 1 I assumed they'd be something like Batman and Robin like a super duo or something but their relationship seems a lot more strained. Enrique seemed a little bitter (if that's not too strong a word) towards Urbanite when he was talking to Cat. Do we assume they had a good relationship which has now gone sour or has it always been strained? Also are Misper and Urbanite really Father and Son (biologically) or was Enrique just semi-lying and his Dad is someone else but his trainer is Urbanite? Like you said maybe the haunted/hunted thing brought them together but is at the same time driving them apart? (if that makes sense?) Also maybe its what made them become superheros in the first place ir at least forced Urbanite to develop this hyper-macho defence mechanism That's an interesting idea of your Beth that Urbanite broke up the meeting between Enrique and Cat because Enrique was getting too close to Cat. I'd just assumed he was out to 'retrieve' Enrique but bringing Cat into the equation changes how I read that scene. I do wonder, like you, if that was just a coincidence or not... |
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Post by Beth on Apr 11, 2013 15:37:52 GMT -5
Maybe Farley Grange is pesudo-identiity? I mean we've focused on Urbanite's identity but maybe Farley Grange is a cover or ploy or something. He doesn't 'exist' really...I don't really know where I'm going with this now Okay, I like the sound of that. It's kind of a twist on the 'superhero being a regular person's secret identity'. What would be the purpose of it though? What would Urbanite get from Farley Grange being a pseudo-identity? If he is clever then that would suggest he has more in common with Cat than we first thought- smart really might be the ultimate superpower! That would be interesting! At first glance they seem like total opposites so to have them both as really intelligent, but having to hide (or having hidden) that intelligence does make them far more similar. If that is the case it'd be really interesting to see how that develops and what that means for the storyline. Urbanite and Misper do have an interesting relationsip. Fro that mindmap in issue 1 I assumed they'd be something like Batman and Robin like a super duo or something but their relationship seems a lot more strained. Enrique seemed a little bitter (if that's not too strong a word) towards Urbanite when he was talking to Cat. Do we assume they had a good relationship which has now gone sour or has it always been strained?
Also are Misper and Urbanite really Father and Son (biologically) or was Enrique just semi-lying and his Dad is someone else but his trainer is Urbanite?
Like you said maybe the haunted/hunted thing brought them together but is at the same time driving them apart? (if that makes sense?) Also maybe its what made them become superheros in the first place ir at least forced Urbanite to develop this hyper-macho defence mechanism I don't think they're father and son. I have no idea what I'm basing that on, but I don't get that from them. I wonder whether they have some kind of relationship like mentor/mentee - could Urbanite have taken Enrique under his wing when he was younger maybe? I think their relationship is definitely strained, though I'm not sure why. I like the idea of the things that haunts/hunts them being what brought them together while also driving them apart (that does make sense!). And having it be the thing that forced Urby to develop this hyper-macho defence mechanism would contribute to that strained relationship too I think. |
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I really love the details like this that Suze is putting into the comic - it makes the characters seem much more human. Daisy's becoming a fast favourite of mine too. 
(I keep expecting someone to pop up and explain the nature of reality Matrix style!)