On May 14th, 2016, the comic book industry lost one of its best and brightest stars when award-winning writer/artist/animator Darwyn Cooke lost his battle with an agressive form of cancer at the age of 53. A pioneer in the medium, he first left his mark on a number of the shows in the DC Animated Universe before making it big in comics, especially during his lengthy tenure at DC and his short time at IDW. (He did make a few contributions to Marvel, if you're wondering.) Among his best work produced between those two companies were the illustrated adaptations of Richard Stark's Parker novels; the miniseries DC: The New Frontier, the basis for a later DC Universe Animated Original movie; the 2000 graphic novel Batman: Ego; the Before Watchmen: Minutemen miniseries; and a long run on the Catwoman solo comic with writer Ed Brubaker, during which time Cooke himself wrote and drew the 2002 standalone graphic novel that is the subject of this fancast--Catwoman: Selina's Big Score.
"Broke and back in Gotham, Selina Kyle sets up a multi-million dollar heist, recruiting as her allies a group of professionals, including ex-flame Stark, whom she betrayed in the early days of her Catwoman career."
(For a lengthier summary: http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Catwoman:_Selina%27s_Big_Score)
Having read this book a while back, it really is a well-written, neatly-paced heist thriller, and deserves the animated film treatment, especially to honor the body of work that is Cooke's legacy. Leave it to my fancasting senses to come up with such an idea:
+Director: Lauren Montgomery, who directed Catwoman's entry in the DC Showcase series of animated shorts.
+Special mention in the ending credits: "Dedicated to the memory of Darwyn Cooke".
+The Cast:
-Michelle Dockery as the voice of Catwoman/Selina Kyle
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1890784/?ref_=nv_sr_6
"Reeling from a heist gone wrong in Morocco and in need of a score to get set up again, Selina meets with an associate of 'Swifty' Burgess and learns of a train full of dirty money headed to Montreal in trade for Asian heroin. This intrigues her enough to put a crew together to get the job done just right."
The Downtown Abbey alum turned leading lady of Good Behavior is a perfect fit for comics' most famous feline fatale.
-Jerry Stiller as the voice of Leonard 'Swifty' Burgess
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005467/?ref_=nv_sr_1
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0248461/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"The current squeeze of Frank Falcone, a minor member of the Falcone crime family, Chantel sells Selina on the idea of the train heist after overhearing the gangster discuss the train and the trade in question. Seeing the money as her ticket out of 'the life' is what brings her to convince Selina to attempt the job."
Given her recent involvement in DC-related projects (I.E. the title hero of Vixen), it wouldn't be much of a stretch to see Echikunwoke tapped for a little story like this.
-William Forsythe as the voice of James Stark
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001235/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"A veteran thief who mentored Selina during her early years as a thief, and was romantically involved with her for a brief period of time. Selina tracks him down to Miami to recruit him for the train job, which after much deliberation he agrees to, on the condition that he's in charge and that she does what she's told 'and nothing more'. He also brings in an additional recruit for the job, tech expert Jeff."
Forsythe's lengthy filmography includes a lot of heavies, making him a great fit for the Lee Marvin-looking career crook.
-Matthew Yang King as the voice of Jeff
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0455058/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"Brought on board by Stark, Jeff is pegged by him as the one to figure out how to get them on and off the money train. He comes through with a rocket rail car of his own design built from components he 'procured' from the U.S. Air Force."
I was looking to King's wisecracking Tunnel Rat from G.I. Joe: Renegades inspiration.
-Michael Chiklis as the voice of 'Slam' Bradley
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004821/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"A two-fisted private eye with a long career, he's hired by Gotham's mayor Dickerson to track down Selina. His efforts lead him to meet with Selina all-too-briefly, and in turn put him on track to learn of the heist she's attempting--after finding Chantel beaten and tied up by Frank."
My thoughts on Chiklis' portrayal of Capt. Barnes on Gotham are a bit mixed, but even then I figured he'd work well as the guy to bring DC's first leading character (Slam debuted in the very first issue of Detective Comics in 1935) to life, if his time on The Shield has proven anything.
-Hank Azaria as the voice of Frank Falcone
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000279/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"A minor member of the Falcone family, Frank was originally set to oversee the Montreal job where a train full of money would buy a load of Asian heroin. While Selina, Stark and Jeff finalize their plan in Lake Placid, Falcone lets Chantel (who'd been emailing Selina's crew details on the train routes and personnel involved) know that he's aware of her being up to something, and tortures her to get the info on what exactly that is. He winds up on the receiving end of Slam's interrogation into the train job and Selina's heist."
Given Azaria's portrayal of Legs on The Simpsons, he'd do well to combine it with some of the instability of Moe to give us a visceral portrayal of Frank.
-Keith Szarabajka as the voice of Henri LaPerier
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0843775/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"A 'specialist' brought in by Frank Falcone's associate Kong to safeguard the deal, he encounters Selina, Jeff and Stark when they board the boat Swifty was going to use for their getaway, deciding that he'll probably keep both the money and the heroin, the latter of which he was going to trade for the former."
Szarabajka has a really great impression of Jean Reno--evidenced by his portrayal of Reno's character Phillippe Roache in the animated series spinoff of the 1998 Godzilla--which would be put to good use for LaPerier.
And now ladies and gents, give it up for a band that no doubt might be one of Catwoman's favorites, if their album covers indicate anything (don't believe me, check these out: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&q=rippingtons+album+cover&chips=q:rippingtons+album+cover,online_chips:rippingtons+cat&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjs_qn4qKnaAhWwna0KHZmyCgYQ4lYIKSgB&biw=1366&bih=637&dpr=1#imgrc=_). Of course, I refer to Mr. RUSS FREEMAN and THE RIPPINGTONS:
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