Ghost in the Sword: Katana Appreciation!

[Energist]

DC Forum Appreciation Thread rules:

1) No negative comments about the honoree of this thread. It's an appreciation thread, not a non-appreciation one.

2) No negative discussion about any competitors of the honoree of this thread (i.e. John Stewart in the Hal Jordan thread). No ifs, ands, or buts. Find another non-appreciation thread to do that, just not here.

3) No negative comments about other versions of the character. For example, if you like the DCU version of Cyborg, but hate the DCnU version (or visa versa), just appreciate the earlier version and keep your comments about the latter to yourself.

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Katana



Did a search, and I was surprised to see that my favorite DC character didn't have an appreciation thread yet. So, with the afternoon mostly free to me, I felt I'd take the time to get one started.

Created by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo, Tatsu Yamashiro (山城 たつ; her surname literally meaning "Mountan Castle") is a woman with a vendetta. After her husband Maseo and their twin sons were murdered by Maseo's sinister brother Takeo, Tatsu took up the cursed Soultaker sword containing her slain husband's soul in pursuit of justice. Traveling to America on the trail of Takeo, Katana soon fell in with Batman's new group of Outsiders, and has been a longstanding member with the team ever since.



For The New 52, Tatsu received a whole new look (her best one yet, in my opinion), as well as a few tweaks to her origin. Nevertheless, she remains at her core the same powerful, self-assured warrior that she's always been. Introduced as a somewhat unpredictable and seemingly unhinged member of the new Birds of Prey team, Katana was later recruited for Amanda Waller's Justice League of America. Around the same time in the publishing world, the character was granted her very own (long overdue) solo series penned by Ann Nocenti, which was, unfortunately, less than stellar.

Still, with multiple media appearances outside of comics in recent years, including as a featured character on the animated Beware the Batman show and a semi-regular on the highly-praised CW live-action Arrow series (played by Rila Fukushima of The Wolverine fame), it's apparent that DC are actively trying to give the character a bigger spotlight than ever before. Will the added exposure lead to added popularity, however? The jury's still out on that one, but it certainly couldn't hurt.



So what's Katana been up to lately in the DC Universe? Not really sure, myself. She hasn't been featured in anything I've been reading lately at least, and I haven't heard much about the supposed Outsiders team that appeared to building last year, either. But with Convergence nearly upon us and DC apparently looking for new avenues in which to feature some of their less popular characters, I think it's only a matter of time before the deadly superhero called Katana emerges from the shadows once again. And when she is, evil better beware!

[colonyofcells]

Beware the Batman cartoon had a great version of Katana.

[billee0918]

Katana is awesome! Loved her since the first days of Batman & the Outsiders and I wish she had a good role in a current book.
I agree, her New 52 look is her very best. Maybe a new Outsiders book soon?

[MajorHoy]

Her New 52 title by Nocenti tanked . . . hard to appreciate that.

[Energist]

Maybe a new Outsiders book soon?

It seemed like DC were building to this there for a while, with hints dropped here and there apparently. Nothing ever came of it, though. I was kind of hoping we'd see something announced coming out of Convergence, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

Her New 52 title by Nocenti tanked . . . hard to appreciate that.

Believe me, no one was more disappointed when that book launched than me. I've been one of Nocenti's biggest critics for years, and virtually all of the excitement I had for a Katana ongoing was immediately replaced by disappointed when it was officially announced that Nocenti would be writing it. And yet I still bought all of the issues (on eBay after the fact, but still), because I'm such a mark for the character.

I only wish DC had gone with Michael Avon Oeming as the artist. To be fair, the art was the least of the book's problems, but his style might have fit the character better. And who knows? Sometimes an artist's touch can change a writer's direction.

Oh, and as for why I'm a fan of Katana: I've always loved strong women in fiction. Jinx, Lady Jaye (G.I. Joe), She-Ra, Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell), and Vasquez (Aliens) were some of my favorite fictional heroes growing up. Likewise, I'm big on Japanese culture and literature, so naturally a character named Katana would grab my attention. Unfortunately, I feel like the amount of material that could be mined from her Japanese heritage has never been fully tapped by anyone over the years, but the prospect nevertheless remains, and it's a key factor in keeping me interested in the character.

[Starchild]

I've always loved Katana. I even liked her New 52 solo, too bad they didn't give her another creative team rather than canceling the book so fast. Proof that DC doesn't have any faith in the character, but at least she'll probably pop up in Green Arrow every now and then.

[The Darknight Detective]

Beware the Batman cartoon had a great version of Katana.

Agreed. Too bad that show isn't on anymore to see her continue to shine there.