HEROCATS ISSUE #3

OLIVER JONAS LOVE – 23-DEC-2014 Our journey of HERO CATS has taken us to the moment when leading lady Cassiopeia is in basic training to be a Hero Cat. Will she pass the grueling tests?

Some things you will want to know starting out: HERO CATS is one of the best all ages ongoing comics that you could ever ask for. There are lessons learned in each issue. In fact, issue #3 is a perfect example of why. All ages comics haven’t been this great since TINY TITANS.

Created and written by: Kyle Puttkammer
Pencils by: Marcus Williams
Inks by: Ryan Sellers
Colors by: Omaka Schultz
Lettering by: Briana Higgins
Editing: Keek Stewart
Published by: Action Lab Entertainment

My loving aunt, Amber Love, misplaced issue #2. Don’t think I’ve gotten over that. She may be the only one to toss around the paper ball and buy me Star Wars toys, but still, she missed issue #2. What the heck, Auntie?

My auntie told me all about how she went to this BIG place called New York City and met the man who draws my favorite comic book. Marcus Williams was drawing on blank comic covers and my auntie got to watch him!

I also know that when I came to live here in New Jersey, I was a lot like Rocket. I was the fastest thing they had ever seen. New Jersey was new to me. I kept expecting someone to figure out how to get me home – JUST LIKE ROCKET. He’s from outer space. I’m from Pennsylvania which is kind of like outer space only closer.

Rocket has been stuck where he landed but I was able to get into a ship they call an “RV” and visit Pennsylvania again but now, after several months, I’m really fine being with a new family. I hope Rocket will learn to be okay with Earth and his new adopted family too.

Maybe Rocket needs to try a little harder. Like, I’m super helpful around the house. I am so good at helping make the beds! I think Rocket would do really well if he could accept that maybe he’s not going back to where he came from. Maybe he’s like me – adopted. It’s okay. Your new family can love you a whole lot! If you do some chores around the house like making the beds and helping with the trash, humans really like that.

Caico looks just like Belle. I really want to play with Caico. She hates me. I’m not sure how Belle feels about Cass or Rocket either. I mean, I chase ladybugs; I caught a mouse AND a bat (it was released); and I read HERO CATS! I think I’m a good guy and Caico should like me but she’s mad because I play too hard. I don’t think Caico wants to be on a team with me and I don’t know how to behave to convince her that I’m not always a lunatic racing around. Sometimes I can be really good. I bet anything there are other cats and maybe some humans out there like me. Caico is old though and she doesn’t like me at all. Whenever I see her, I try to play and she hisses at me. We’re kept separated all the time because we can’t play nice together like the Hero Cats. They welcomed Cassiopeia to try out for their team. I keep trying to be on Caico’s team but I don’t think she’ll ever give me a passing grade!

I love every single member of the HERO CATS team. It’s important that there is a team to appreciate. Cassiopeia may be the focus of the story but she’s from a loving family. In fact, in issue #3, Ace asks her why she even wants to be a Hero Cat since she has a home and a family waiting for her. She could easily be back there enjoying her life of luxury. Instead, Cass feels the pull of giving back to her world. She feels the need to do more than be a housecat getting plenty of sleep on top of the cushy pillows. For Cass, serving her community matters a great deal.

Cass learns to face challenges and in issue #3, there are plenty. It’s basic training. She is barely making it through when she realizes that studying, even when she’s exhausted physically, might benefit her. She hits the books and finds Sun Tzu’s THE ART OF WAR. Cass learns exactly what she needs to in order to pass her tough third challenge of basic training. The lessons are presented in easy to read, short captions that teach anyone valuable lessons: The wise warrior avoids the battle or great results can be achieved with small forces. Those are lessons that children should learn early so that when they are challenged as teens and adults, they have a different perspective of facing opposition. My auntie hasn’t read this WAR book yet but she cries a lot when things with her team don’t work out. I bet she would do better if she studied like Cass.

Learning how to get through challenges is HARD! Cass seems to have a pretty hard time with the tasks that Ace, Rocco, Bella and Rocket put in her way. I don’t know how she does it. I’m supposed to bring my toys back to Auntie or put them in back in the basket where I found them but I only do that once in a while. Cass can save stuffed kitties from trees and from caves and she can battle robots! She had to save a fake kitty and deliver it to Planned Pethood (Auntie note: Nice!) and I almost never carry my toys back to where I’m supposed to bring them!

It’s also really important to have hobbies. Cassiopeia lives with a family that encourages her to read. I like to take photographs (especially of myself)! Photography is a fun hobby and I bet it would be so helpful to the Hero Cats team. I could do things like scout locations, spy on the enemies, and even run our social media to make sure we have great public relations because I’m so good at it!

Something else that the Hero Cats can teach you is that sleeping and rest are really super important too. That’s just as important as play and going on missions – because if you are too tired, you might make some bad mistakes. Cassiopeia wasn’t used to being so physical. She lived in a comfortable house with great humans. But exercise makes sense for everyone even cats! Going outside for fresh air could be boring but Cass knows she’s brave enough to be a Hero Cat. I know I could be a Hero Cat too if auntie let me go out but she seems to think that there’s too much inside the house that needs my attention.

Since Caico is so old (and really, I don’t think she cares), there’s no one else to make sure there aren’t mice getting into the kitchen cupboards. And, did I mention the bat? Yeah, really. A bat! In the fireplace! It came right down the chimney. If I wasn’t there to guard these humans, they wouldn’t even have noticed it because it made itself scrunched up and tiny.

But being on guard duty all the time isn’t enough. I need auntie to run me through some drills just like Ace and Rocco do with Cass. The exercise makes me sleepy but I get so much healthier.

Even though I’m way bigger than Caico, (she hides under all that hair), I don’t mean to hurt her. Sometimes I just want to play and do stuff and she doesn’t get it. I think Cass and I would get along great though. Cass knows how to be brave and have adventures and complete her missions. She goes out by herself! How many cats do you know can do that? Caico gets carried everywhere or put in a special buggy. I can run but I almost never see her walking. But when I read HERO CATS, I see Cass going through all her challenges like saving the kitten from the tree or the cave or fighting the robot. Cass would be my best friend. I just know it.

The older Hero Cats like Midnight would remind us that the wise warrior avoids the battle. Sure, we could run into the fight, but we could also run around the fight! Sometimes the end result is more important than the battle. I don’t always remember that but I’m not even one year old yet! I’m a baby but I weigh at least two pounds more than Caico but as Sun Tzu said: “Great results can be achieved with small forces.” I sort of get that since Caico is tiny and frail but she’s in charge. The humans do whatever she wants. I’m bigger but she’s older.

So, in case you can’t tell, I’m suggesting you go out to your local comic book store like Comic Fusion or go online to Comixology and order HERO CATS because it’s just the very best thing in the world. And my favorite thing when I’m not playing or hunting is to read this book.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.