The Ultra Fem

'The Scratch' redesigned - -

This strange lady was the third character I invented for the Ultra Fem team. Like Night Mistress, she grew naturally out of necessity. I needed something that was different yet again from the two existing characters. They were both tall and busty, with stunning good looks, so I thought I'd go 'opposite' of that.

'The Scratch' is what happened! She's little, wiry, NOT traditionally pretty... and MEAN AS HELL! Her invention happened very quickly, and her name just popped out of thin air. I didn't want a predictable 'cat-name,' or any other silly animal for that matter, so after a few minutes of thought, 'The Scratch' came to me.

Her look was easy, too. Again, she's the opposite of Night Mistress. Short, spiky hair, no fancy outfit, barefoot, BOOBLESS. So she didn't need to be redesigned from the bottom up (or 'from SCRATCH' haha), she just needed more finishing. I never felt like I got her just right before. She needs to look SCARY. I don't want her to be ugly, but I don't want her to fit any typical comic-book stereotype, either.

I think the latest sketch above does it pretty well. She's lanky, bony, and mean-looking, with ropey muscles and clawed hands... and she's also quite beautiful I think!

The other interesting thing I did when I created The Scratch was to make her and Night Mistress lovers. Again, it just seemed like the natural thing to do. They're so different! According to the back-story I have in my head, the two have been together since long before joining the Ultra Fem Five, when they were a vigilante duo. NM is bisexual but loyal to Scratch, while Scratch is aggressively and exclusively lesbian.

This character was definitely the least favored among my few readers back in 2005-06, but when she finally got to have some strong scenes in episode 3, people changed their minds. The Scratch has always been one of my favorite inventions, and out of all my characters, she has the most complete and complex back-story. I know her full name, her origin, her family, everything. And I know her future, too.

Here are two other sketches that helped me get to this point.