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Before I get to the short stories, I thought I'd mention that the part about the other guy, Pavo, spending time with his mom at the hospital was a nice touch. Reminds us that even "bad guys" have families and lives, too.

Hubris, and the need to smack it down, seemed to be a recurring theme in the various chapters:

Chapter 1
The monosyllabic vocabulary of the crooks and their unusual modus operandi caused the Bat to underestimate them the first time and put him off-balance over and over again. It sounds as if he'd been classifying crooks into themed (a.k.a. "hard") and non-themed (a.k.a. "easy"). Facing someone who didn't fall neatly into either category (at first) threw him for a loop. Even though they wound up having "theme" connections in the end, it just goes to show: just because you don't have a major theme and/or are gunning for the Dark Knight, doesn't mean you shouldn't be taken seriously. Thankfully, it didn't take too long for Batman to take a dose of humility.

Chapter 2
Yep, the whole "whose toy is bigger" theme seems fairly prevalent amongst the ridiculously rich. Even if Bruce is above some of that, he still has to "play the game" to maintain his Fop cover. Not to mention that his competitive streak, which fuels his oft-used "my way or the highway" mentality, wouldn't settle for anything less.

After a few paragraphs, I had a feeling that it would refer to the "'real' goddamned Batmobile." Sure enough, there it was. While it may be a little too close to the Batman identity, the Fop's loss is Selina's gain. It also helped win this round against Redford Briggs. The idea of building and expanding one's business empire for nothing more than a pawn in a chess game of bragging rights seems incredibly pompous, arrogant and short-sighted. Bruce sure found a way to derail that, with Selina's help, of course:

"Sorry, Redford. Love to waste time in a pointless pissing contest with you, but I have better things to do. Like buy that awesome Reventón and get a custom paint-job (and who knows what sort of custom gadgets). And give it to my hot, intelligent soulmate (and you know Briggs can't buy that). And engage in all sorts of mind-blowing hijinks (which Briggs can only dream of)."

Chapter 3
It's hard to be objective about your own idea. Still, the way Robin latched onto his solution, after all the training and experience he's had, suggests a teeny bit of hubris. At least he learned his lesson without any harsh consequences.

Another instance of hubris was Sportin' Joe's fantasy league. You could probably find plenty of examples, but the line "Always thought I had it in me to be a big thinker" pretty much clinches it. While Joey's hubris was answered in the form of the Batman, I thought it was interesting to see things from the henchmens' POV: the group that might be halfway intelligent or capable is always being tarred by the same brush used on the dimwit cannon fodder group. While it's a shame they couldn't use their talents for other purposes, it's understandable that they want some recognition for their own talents.

The thing is, they had a reasonably successful thing going here. If Ozzy or someone is smart enough to snap up their services and loan them out on retainer, he or she could make a tidy profit. Batman might want to watch it: this new variable might be here to stay...

Of course, Riddler displayed a fair bit of hubris himself. Like Joey, though, there was a bit of justification. It's hard to learn that, for a moment, the work of a master (yourself) was confused for that of a (cheap and lousy) amateur without feeling a little insulted.

So, a couple new faces introduced in this Cat-Tales. Whether they'll be back for a recurring role or not remains to be seen. Still, their antics made for an entertaining amuse bouche to whet our collective appetites for the upcoming War of the Poses.