Elektra + Catwoman and Daredevil + Deathstroke = Assassins

Assassins #1
“Political Suicide”
Writer: D.G. Chichester
Penciller: Scott McDaniel
Inker: Derek Fisher
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Colorist: Pat Garrahy
Associate editor: Eddie Berganza
Editor: Kevin Dooley
Cover: McDaniel and Fisher
Published by: DC
Released: Feb. 29, 1996

I read this one years ago but couldn't remember what the Amalgam ingredients for the main characters were. I thought the one on the left was part Cheshire, but I was going too obscure. Even before opening the issue, I came to my senses and recognized her as a cross between Marvel vs. DC opponents Elektra and Catwoman.

But the lady on the right... I'm pretty sure DC didn't have the rights to Zealot or any other WildC.A.T.s at this point. Then I recognized the eye patch and white hair and thought, oh, Deathstroke. But who's the lady from Marvel? Wait, she has devil horns, her eye is white, suggesting blindness...

Daredevil?

Yes, in the opening pages we're introduced to Catsai and Dare the Deathstroke. The initial splash page finds Catsai driving her sai through the chest of Deadeye (Deadshot + Bullseye) in a reversal of Bullseye's infamous murder of Elektra. He's the 12^th foe they've dispatched on their way to the top of Arkham Tower, which apparently was built on the grounds of the infamous asylum without actually removing all the inmates.

The deadly duo has been engaged to assassinate Enigma Fisk, aka the Big Question (Riddler + Kingpin), the mayor of New Gotham despite sporting a question mark face tattoo. Next in their way is Lethal, an Amalgam of Kraven the Hunter and Cheetah, whose rendering by McDaniel I fear will haunt my nightmares.

Lethal already appears to be losing when she's tripped up by Catsai's cats, who the narration tells us “are schooled in mayhem, trained to be underhanded – and underfoot.” Except for the suggestion that they were trained instead of acting on natural feline instinct, this may be the most realistic thing I've ever seen in a comic book.

I'm sure the cats would have casually finished her off, but Dare does the honors instead. From there, we jump to a televised editorial by Jimmy Urich,* who fills us in on Big Question's backstory, including rumors he was installed as mayor by Doctor Strangefate. We haven't met the Doc yet in this read-through but he's clearly an amalgam of Howard the Duck and Booster Gold.**

We've reached the point where Dare and Catsai are just carving their way through nondescript foes, followed by a disturbing flashback in which we learn Big Question grafted the horns onto Dare's head while she was wide awake and apparently naked.

Back in the present, Wired, aka Nathan Chase (I'm going to say Stryfe, not Cable, plus Adrian Chase, who I should know from comics instead of “Arrow,” but I don't) cuts the elevator cables Catsai and Dare are scaling. His bloodied, broken body lands in the penthouse in front of Big Question, who reveals he's the one who hired the ladies to kill him in the first place. He planned to let slip that Strangefate sent them after him, so that when he survived, he would be seen as victorious over his puppet master. And if he dies, well, he goes down fighting.

Enraged, Dare lunges at Fisk, who springs a trap, causing a metal door to slam down and separate her from Catsai. Their battle is quick, as Fisk disarms Dare and rips the horns from her head. Even one of Catsai's cats delivering a bomb to blast the door open doesn't qualify as lighthearted after that.

Catsai bests Big Question and decides not to kill him, if for no other reason than the afterlife is already going to be pretty busy with the body count she and the apparently-also-deceased Dare have racked up. Instead, she ties him up and hangs him from a flagpole, leaving him humiliated instead of victorious or dead. Catsai announces she's got a new contract to execute, and that's the end.

Another world-building letters page follows, suggesting Catsai's tumultuous relationship with Dark Claw and ending with a next issue teaser that mixes up who lived and who died and promises an appearance from Strangefate.

As an action-movie pitch, the premise of this issue works. Two over-the-top fighters against a skyscraper full of violent criminals? I don't like relentless violence, but that does promise a lot of excitement and adrenaline. Easter eggs like Catsai saying her killing of Deadeye “just feels right” provide a meta layer of entertainment.

Over-sexualized images of women are hardly new territory for comics, but the utter lack of pants in Dare's costume stand out, maybe because both of the component characters are male. Perhaps that says more about my tolerance for that imagery than anything else, but it was distracting, even by comic standards. Some of the dialogue and narration are a bit much, like Fisk's crack during Dare's surgery that both a beautiful woman and a summer day "taste better with ice cream" or a description of Catsai dodging "with shadow warrior grace" and striking back "with dominatrix passion." I know, comics aren't for kids, but sheesh.

Normally, I'm in favor of stories that don't turn out exactly like you'd expect, but Fisk's brutal victory over Dare just didn't sit well, especially after the flashback revealing their shared history. These Amalgam issues are one-shots, so there's a risk every time of getting either too little information or way too much, but this one left a bad taste in my mouth.

Best Amalgam: Catsai, for the wordplay alone, but bonus points for managing to make her both a homeless street urchin and an ambassador's daughter. I don't know if Selina Kyle ever used cats as combat accessories, but, as the owner of two cats who I believe are at least cool with inadvertently injuring me if not outright plotting to, that part spoke to me. I almost said Big Question. Mixing the Riddler and Kingpin was a solid idea. But his riddles felt more like an annoying tic than a part of his character. Pretty sure Hyena in Legends of the Dark Claw did a better job of leaving clues to his crimes.

Most Confusing Amalgam: I've already said why Dare was hard to follow. I'm not saying they shouldn't have made the character female; it definitely fit the story. I just don't get why. Wait. Maybe because it fit the story?

* - Two Jimmy Olsen Amalgams?

** - You know I'm messing with you, right?***

*** - But how cool would that be?