Unlike the film adaptations of Spider-Man and X-Men, Halle Berry's Catwoman pays little homage to its source material.Toronto-based comic artist Cameron Stewart should know. Drawing the DC comic-book character was one of his first jobs as an artist.
"There's nothing in the Catwoman movie that ties it to the comic in any way - it's in name only," Stewart says. "They've invented an entirely new cast of characters and it's no longer set in Gotham City. In the movie, she has actual superpowers, but in the comic she's just like Batman . . . she's just an athletic person in a costume."
Stewart began working on the Catwoman comic series after it was relaunched by DC Comics in 2002. He stayed with the series for a year and a half before moving on to other DC projects.
"The comic was gearing down and heading in a kind of sleazy direction - they wanted to interject some new life into the character," he says of DC's decision to revamp the series as a dark crime noir.
As part of the renewal process, DC designed a new costume for its anti-heroine. "Before she kind of looked like a stripper - she had high-heeled boots and enormous breasts and it was kind of embarrassing," he explains. "For the new design, they wanted something that hopefully both men and woman would find appealing."
Stewart says he's surprised the film didn't use the current ink-based costume as a model. "In the comics, Catwoman wears a heavy leather cat suit with goggles, motorcycle boots and an aviators' helmet modified to look like cat ears. It's kind of in vogue from X-Men and The Matrix for superhero costumes to be all about industrial zippers and belts."
Halle Berry's costume seems to have more in common with her comic counterpart's former "stripper" image. Berry's body is covered in slinky pieces of black leather - strategically placed rips show off slivers of skin and leave very little of her upper body to the imagination. A leather cat cap also covers the top half of Berry's face.
The new film's "loose" connection to the comic is largely being attributed to Pitof, its French director. While Spider-Man was directed by Sam Raimi - a self-professed fan of the webslinger - Pitof is apparently not a comic-book fan, Stewart explains. "Spider-Man stayed as close to the material as it could within the confines of a two-hour movie," he says. "The Catwoman director had little interest in the comic books and wanted to do something new."
Stewart says there are some benefits to Pitof's approach, despite the fact it has attracted the wrath of comic fans on Internet chat groups and websites. "They're not taking existing characters and being unfaithful to them, they're making something entirely new."
The 28-year-old Stewart got his break when DC comics took interest in his portfolio at a 1999 comic-book convention in San Diego. Until then, he had been working two Toronto-based jobs - at a comic-book store and video store - while using his limited spare time to develop his artistic abilities.
He began working on titles for DC's Vertigo - a line of comics that is more adult-oriented. But he was eventually conscripted to help ink Catwoman from the beginning of 2002 to mid-2003.
The job was a dream come true for Stewart. An avid fan of DC superheroes as a young boy, he even got to draw the legendary Batman when the Caped Crusader made some guest appearances in the pages of Catwoman.
Today Stewart is primarily working on Seaguy, a limited series for Vertigo. The series stars a powerless superhero who drives a boat and wears a scuba suit. His sidekick is a cigar-smoking tuna fish that floats in midair named Chubby Da Choona. "I like the corporate-owned characters, but I find it far more rewarding to work on creative characters I've developed."
Stewart submits most of his work by e-mail or FedEx. He shares a studio with four other Toronto-based comic artists called The Royal Academy of Illustration and Design.
When inking a comic, Stewart is initially sent a script with a panel-by-panel breakdown of the expected dialogue. Leaving room for the anticipated script and word balloons, Stewart proceeds to ink the comic frame by frame. Dialogue and colouring are added after he has submitted his work to DC.
"If a character is giving a big long speech, I have to leave enough space for the script," he says. "After a while, you learn to anticipate where the [dialogue] balloons will be."
There's often a large backlog of source material to consider when making a comic-to-film adaptation, Stewart explains, noting the perils involved in pleasing fans. But Spider-Man's popularity gives him a natural edge over Catwoman. "Spider-Man has the advantage of being a highly visible character, where as Catwoman is a minor character," he explains. "Most people just remember Michelle Pfeiffer from Batman Returns."
Of growing concern to Stewart is a new trend in the comic-book world. While hesitant to name titles, he says many revamped comic series and new characters are being produced to cater to filmmakers.
"I think a lot of comic books are being made to appeal to Hollywood studios -- they're being written and illustrated as a film pitch," he explains. "They're writing comic books in anticipation of what can be done on a film budget . . . as a result you get superhero comics that aren't quite as superhero any more."
