The Dark Knight Rises – A Brief History of Selina Kyle

I’m giving you all this contradictory background for two reasons – first, this is stuff that’s in my head all the time.  Second, you can see that there are already five or so versions of Selina Kyle/Catwoman, giving Christopher Nolan quite a lot of leeway.

Anyway, in the 90s, Catwoman had her own series.  While she was still portrayed as a thief, her solo series usually pitted her against more dangerous villains or people looking for revenge.  This series ran for 94 issues, which is a pretty good run.  After the series ended, Selina had a low profile for a year or so, and then the book was relaunched by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke.  This series was a favorite of mine, and in addition to giving her more of a noir flavor, it also updated her design.  Gone were the triple-D breasts that had made her previous series a bit of a laughingstock – she had a new, more functional costume, and a physique that suited her character much better.  You can’t be that top-heavy and still slink under automated security systems, after all.