By now it’s no secret that the New York Times spoiled the events of Batman 50 yesterday. (Stop reading and go away for a few days if you don’t know this.)

Cat-Tales author Chris Dee quickly posted the following message to the “Batcat” community on social media:

A message for the #Batcat Community from Chris Dee regarding #Batman50, the spoilers in the New York Times, and Cat-Tales. pic.twitter.com/xP0sasr3D5 — Cat-Tales (@cattales0) July 1, 2018

and the promised website launched a little over 24 hours later, BatmanAndCatwoman.com.

Cat-Tales is usually described as fan fiction, though it’s more properly called meta fiction as Chris Dee is no fan of what DC Comics does with the characters it owns. The early stories in particular tend to use the fictional universe as sly subtextual commentary on the way the comics treats heroes, women and other issues. But those editorials never dominate what is primarily good “between the panels” comedy, drama and romance.

Yes, romance, because the Batman/Catwoman relationship has been the heart of the series since its second installment and our recent #CoughDidItFirst infographic charts a few of the milestones where DC almost seemed to be following Dee’s lead.

With DC failing to follow through on what they so clearly promised creating a wedding album, 30+ variant covers, solicitations that all began “The wedding you never thought you’d see” and countless repetitions of “the Batrimony is real” in their promotional material, Cat-Tales recognizes a lot of very upset readers might be interested in a wedding that will happen for the characters, and more importantly, stories of the marriage that follows.

But how many will want to start with Cat-Tale #1 from 2001, 73 stories and a million words ago? Some, perhaps. But for others, some shortcuts have been provided.

BatmanAndCatwoman.com is offered as an introduction and portal for the new Cat-Tales reader, with reading lists for… well, not every attention span, but there are a number of alternatives for the plodding and for the impatient.

Batman and Catwoman are the property of DC Entertainment. Used without permission and for Fair Use purposes of artistic expression and social commentary relating to the use/misuse of these important social icons.