Real Name: Elektra Kyle

Identity/Class: Extra-dimensional (Earth-Amalgam) human (possibly enhanced)

Occupation: mercenary / assassin-for-hire

Affiliations: Dare (Slade Murdock); Dark Claw (Logan Wayne); Dr. Strangefate (Charles Xavier); Nabu the Ancient One (possibly)

Enemies: The Big Question (Edward Nigma Fisk); Deadeye (Bill Lawton); Lethal (Sergei Minerva); Thanoseid; Tombstone the Ravager; Wired (Nathan Chase)

Known Relatives: unnamed father (deceased)

Aliases: none

Base of Operations: (currently) New Gotham City; (formerly) Egypt

First Appearance: Assassins#1 (April, 1996); Dare the Terminator#168 (in Amalgam continuity)

Powers/Abilities: A highly skilled assassin, Catsai has trained herself to be an Olympic level athlete and gymnast.  A consummate practitioner of the martial arts, Catsai is most proficient in the use of her deadly sais (three-pronged daggers) and her blade-tipped whip.  She is almost always accompanied by her per cats, which she trained to perform a variety of tasks, including tripping-up unsuspecting opponents.

The headdress Catsai wears is molded from an ancient artifact, the ceremonial wear of the handmaidens of the great deity Nabu the Ancient One -- an earlier incarnation of the being who trained Dr. Strangefate (Charles Xavier).  It is unknown whether the headdress grants Catsai any powers -- although she is rumored to have "nine lives."

History:

(Dare the Terminator#168) - An American born in Egypt, Elektra Kyle witnessed her father's murder.  Surviving by her wits and quick fingers, she became the protégé of a cat fancier -- big cats.  After training both her pets and her body until either would obey her every command, she began her life in New Gotham as the assassin known as Catsai (where she eventually began a romantic relationship with New Gotham's vigilante protector Dark Claw (Logan Wayne)), accompanied by her lethal cat companions and her deadly "claws."

When the criminal known as Tombstone the Ravager found that having two new mercenaries in town was too much trouble, he thought he had found a unique way to take care of this nuisance: hire Catsai to kill rival assassin Dare (Slade Murdock) and hire Dare to kill Catsai.  Then, with the survivor wounded, his personal guards could complete the job.  But instead of hurling taunts, the two female assassins shared information and took the job back to their mutual employer, resigning in lethal style.  Catsai and Dare later became trusted allies.
 

(Dare the Terminator #181) - After a climactic battle, Catsai was "killed" by rival assassin Deadeye (Bill Lawton).  But Catsai, who proved to have as many lives as her namesake, returned to the world of the living soon after.
 

(Secret Crisis of the Infinity Hour#7) - Both Catsai and her partner Dare were transported to Apokolips by Dr. Strangefate (Charles Xavier) to assist in preventing the evil Thanoseid's plan to warp reality by using the Infinity Links.  Both assassins were present when American Girl (Carol Barnes), the former sidekick of Super-Soldier (Clark Kent), heroically sacrificed her life to further the heroes' cause.
 

(Assassins #1 (bts)) - Facing mounting rumors that he was under the influence of the mysterious mystic known as Doctor Strangefate (who also resided within New Gotham's Arkham Tower), the Big Question (New Gotham's corrupt mayor) devised a brilliant plan to rid himself of Dare and Catsai while at the same time save his tarnished reputation.  Keeping his identity a secret, he hired Dare and Catsai to come to Arkham Tower and assassinate the Big Question.  He would then have Dare and Catsai killed and claim that Dr. Strangefate enchanted them to murder the Big Question.  By butchering Dare and Catsai, the Big Question would thus cause his reputation to be reborn and prove to New Gotham's public that he was New Gotham's true power.  And even if Dare and Catsai did manage to kill him, then at least the Big Question would be killed in a fight and not as some magician's stooge.  To make things more interesting, the Big Question then hired three of New Gotham's top mercenaries, Deadeye (Bill Lawton), Lethal (Sergei Minerva), and Wired (Nathan Chase), and instructed them to kill Dare and Catsai when they came to Arkham Tower to make their hit.
 
 

(Assassins#1 ) - "Political Suicide" - On their way to kill the Big Question, Dare and Catsai got the jump on Deadeye in the lower levels of Arkham Tower.  As Dare looked on, Catsai gladly plunged one of her sais into Deadeye's back, leaving the assassin for dead.  As the female assassins continued on their way, Dare criticized Catsai for taking so much pleasure in stabbing Deadeye, their twelfth victim thus far on this mission -- despite the fact that Deadeye was the one responsible for nearly killing Catsai and permanently damaging Dare's right eye.  Little did the deadly duo know that their every move was being monitored by the Big Question from his 107th floor Arkham Tower suite

Dare then stood guard as Catsai attempted to pry the elevator doors open with one of her sais.  But as Dare used her hypersenses to "read" the surroundings, she heard the faint grunt of high-pitched breath in the elevator shaft and smelled the chemical stink of heavy explosives -- sure signs that the elevator was rigged to explode.  Dare pulled Catsai away to safety just as a violent explosion engulfed the elevator doors.

When the smoke cleared, the feral assassin known as Lethal was ready to pounce on his prey.  Dare avoided Lethal's initial attack by using her "internal radar" sense to track and catch his throwing blades in midair.  Catsai's pet cats then tripped Lethal, but he soon recovered and began to open fire on Catsai.  Catsai gracefully dodged the barrage of bullets and used her blade-tipped whip to ensnare Lethal while Dare delivered the deathstroke with her sword.  The female assassins then left Lethal for dead and proceeded to climb up the elevator shaft.

Dare and Catsai were next blindsided by Wired, yet another mercenary hired by the Big Question.  Wired cut the cables on which Dare and Catsai were climbing, sending the pair of assassins into a freefall.  But an angry Catsai recovered from the fall and sent Wired crashing through a metal door, impaling the mercenary on his own weapon and leaving him for dead.

Dare and Catsai finally reached the 107th floor where they were confronted by the jovial Big Question, who revealed to them that it was he who hired them to kill him.  The Big Question spelled out his grand scheme: he would kill Dare and Catsai and claim to New Gotham's public that Doctor Strangefate enchanted the assassins to murder their beloved mayor.  By butchering Dare and Catsai, his reputation would be reborn.

An enraged Dare leapt forward with her sword drawn.  But it was another trap -- a metal door slammed shut between Dare and Catsai, leaving Dare and the Big Question alone in one-one-one combat.  The Big Question blocked all of Dare's attacks and then ripped the surgically-implanted horns from her head, leaving the female assassin for dead.  The Big Question then prepared to do the same to Catsai, who was still on the other side of the metal door.  But Catsai had other plans.  She had one of her pet cats sneak through a ventilation duct and plant an explosive device on the other side of the door.  As the Big Question approached the door, the device exploded, shredding the Big Question's clothing and tearing a huge whole in the door.  With the Big Question still reeling from the blast, Catsai used her ninja skills to make short work of New Gotham's corrupt mayor.  But rather than killing the Big Question, Catsai hung him from the antennae at the top of Arkham Tower and called New Gotham news reporter Jimmy Urich.

The negative publicity stemming from Jimmy Urich's front page exposé seriously damaged the Big Question's political career.  As Catsai walked down the street with her cats the next day, she read the front page Gotham Bugle story on the disgraced Big Question and vowed to come up with more creative tortures for the Big Question to endure . . .
 

(Assassins#2) - "Blood is Thicker!" - The fate of Dare was revealed as Catsai received a visit from Dr. Strangefate.
 

Comments: created by Dan Chichester, Scott McDaniel, Barry Kitson, and Derek Fisher

Key:
Marvel characters are listed in regular, or bold black type.
DC characters are listed in bold blue type.
Amalgam characters are listed in bold purple type.
 

One of the indisputable originators of the "Bad Girl" craze of the mid-1990s, Catsai (Elektra Kyle) caused a tremendous sales surge for Dare's title after she debuted in DARE THE TERMINATOR#168, especially the storyline wherein Catsai "died" after a climactic battle with Deadeye (Bill Lawton) in DARE THE TERMINATOR#181 (April, 1982).  CATSAI eventually spun-off into her own limited series, penciled by Jim Balent, who unwittingly created a controversy among Catsai fans by drawing her ears too big.

But Catsai continued to appear regularly in the pages of DARE THE TERMINATOR as well and later issues of the series were created by the popular creative team of writer Dan Chichester, penciler Scott McDaniel, inker Derek Fisher, colorist Pat Garrahy, and editor Kevin Berganza -- the team responsible for the epic "Cat Up a Tree" storyline.  So when Amalgam Comics fans clamored for a new monthly series featuring both Dare and Catsai, Chichester and company were hand-picked to develop the new adventures of the Amalgam's Lethal Ladies in ASSASSINS.
 

In case you're confused, Amalgam Comics didn't really exist beyond those seen in the few DC/Marvel cross-over. The titles you don't recognize are amalgams of similar Marvel and DC comics--Snood.

Amalgam Universe

Earth-Amalgam
 

DARE THE TERMINATOR is an amalgam of Marvel's DAREDEVIL (Marvel's Daredevil debuted in DAREDEVIL (vol. I)#1) and DC's DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR.

Jim Balent is an Amalgam Universe version of Jim Balent (artist of DC's CATWOMAN).

Dan Chichester is an Amalgam Universe version of Dan Chichester (writer of Marvel's DAREDEVIL).

Scott McDaniel is an Amalgam Universe version of Scott McDaniel (penciler of Marvel's DAREDEVIL and DC's BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS).

Derek Fisher is an Amalgam Universe version of Derek Fisher (inker of Marvel's GREEN GOBLIN).

Pat Garrahy is an Amalgam Universe version of Pat Garrahy (assistant editor of Marvel's DAREDEVIL and colorist of DC's BATMAN).

Kevin Berganza is an amalgam of Kevin Dooley (editor of DC Comics) and Eddie Berganza (editor of DC Comics).
 

Special thanks to penciler Matthew Haley for identifying Catsai (Elektra Kyle) as one of the characters present at the death of American Girl (Carol Barnes) in SECRET CRISIS OF THE INFINITY HOUR #7.
 

Special thanks to Ivan Schablotski for providing me with the Amalgam Comics Trading Cards that I didn't already have!
 
 

Profile by Skullogeist

If you like the Amalgam stuff, Skullogeist recommends these two sites:
http://www.geocities.com/schablotski.geo/Center.htm
http://www.io.com/~woodward/chroma/amalgam.html

CLARIFICATIONS:

Also assume that the Amalgam characters have no other connection to any others than whom they are Amalgamated, unless specifically mentioned.

Catsai is an amalgam of:

            Elektra of Earth-616, Elektra Natchios, @ Daredevil (vol. I)#168

            Catwoman of the mainstream DC Universe, Selina Kyle, @ Batman (vol. I)#1
 
 

No known connections to, and not to be confused with:

            Madame Cat, daughter of the Green Skull and member of Hydra, @ Bruce Wayne: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.#1
 

First Posted: 07/19/2003
Last updated: 07/19/2003

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc or DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!