Shirlee Bryant
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Shirlee Bryant was a supporting character in the The Cat comic book series.
character biography
Shirlee Bryant was hired to be the spokes-model for a nationwide chain of health clubs. Her employer Malcolm Donalbain, suffered from severe haptephobia (the fear of being touched). He sought help from Dr. Joanne Tumulo, a University of Chicago professor known for her work on the nervous system and motor responses. There was nothing she could do for him, but he became fascinated with her private project to allow women to totally fulfill their physical and mental potential. Dr. Tumulo had run low on funds, so she agreed to his offer to sponsor her research in return for licensing the techniques for use in his clubs. Dr. Tumulo hired her former physics student, Greer Nelson, as her lab assistant. When the experimental equipment was ready, Dr. Tumulo revealed it to Greer and urged her to sign on as the first subject. However, Donalbain demanded the right to choose the first subject, naming his protegee Shirlee. Upset over the loss of control of her own project, Dr. Tumulo threatened to cancel the experiment. Greer persuaded the professor to continue by volunteering to undergo the procedure as well, in secret. Both women were conditioned to maximize their perceptions of physical and mental impulses. Greer's intensified perceptions were like an embodiment of a sixth sense, intuition or empathy. The effects of the experiment also gave her incredible control of physical power and coordination. Conversely, Shirlee's lack of dedication led to her continual disparagement by the doctor and her assistant. The young blonde bridled and would have resigned, had not her mentor suggested she turn the tables on her antagonists. He told Shirlee they could continue the treatments without the doctor. Using her new abilities, Shirlee memorized Dr. Tumulo's equipment and created blueprints for Donalbain. Using them, Donalbain duplicated the apparatus at his headquarters. Shirlee found that she enjoyed duping the two women and stealing their work. She also enjoyed her newfound strength and sleek, muscular form. Thus, she was amenable when Donalbain suggested she don a cat-themed uniform and undertake a career as a super-powered criminal. When Shirlee presented herself to Donalbain in her yellow outfit, he had her add a cat-eared cowl. Not only did it completely disguise her, it also artificially enhanced her hearing and night vision. Shirlee did not appreciate the disguise, having envisioned making a name for herself as a villainess. Donalbain continued, despite Shirlee's protests that she looked silly, telling her to complete the effect with a studded collar. Thinking it was merely decorative and to placate her employer, she wrapped it around her neck and secured it. The device, which Donalbain termed a "will-nullifier," placed Shirlee in a dissociative state in which she obeyed his orders without question. She had become, as Donalbain described her trimphantly, "the perfect woman." Donalbain ordered Shirlee to perform a series of acrobatic feats to demonstrate her abilities, culminating in a climb up a six-story wall and a leap to the other side of his atrium. Shirlee slipped and fell. Donalbain condemned her as unworthy, but assuaged his disappointment by proclaiming she was but a prototype. Soon he would have hundreds of such "perfect" specimens, created in and working for him in his clubs.
Powers and abilities
Shirlee Bryant developed Olympic-level strength, stamina, and coordination as a result of Dr. Tumulo's experiment. Her uniform also provided razor-sharp claws on her hands and feet, dichroic lenses in the mask's eye-openings for increased night vision, and folded hyperbolic horns in the cowl that connected the cat ear-shaped openings to her auditory canals for enhanced hearing.