Catwoman Roars Forward

Stanley Lau’s ferocious variant cover
for Catwoman #11. The image is used
here with the artist’s permission.

Michelle Pfeiffer famously introduced her character in 1992’s Batman Returns by announcing, “I am Catwoman. Hear me roar.” In the 27 years since that movie’s release, some portrayals of the character have heard that roar. Still, a sense of unfulfilled promise has lingered over what could have happened for Catwoman after she stole the show from Max Shreck, the Penguin, and even the titular Batman. With a new run of the Catwoman comic book, Selina Kyle appears ready to make the leap toward that potential.

Catwoman proved so popular in Batman Returns that plans took shape for the film’s director, Tim Burton, to direct Pfeiffer in a spinoff. Similarly, according to writer and critic Tim Hanley, Catwoman almost received her own animated series in the 1990s. She had become one of the most coveted characters in the comic-book genre. However, neither the spinoff movie nor the animated series materialized, and although her popularity never completely faded, she struggled during the next two decades to regain the momentum Batman Returns had given her.

As soon as DC Comics announced in 2018 that Joëlle Jones would revive the Catwoman comic book and take the reins on the book’s writing and art, a buzz started building about the possibilities. It was as if the echoes of that 1992 roar had returned to voice their approval. Jones’ lauded work on comic books like Batman and especially her Lady Killer indicated the talent she could bring to Catwoman.

By redesigning Catwoman’s suit, Jones made an immediate and reverberating impact. The new design made clear its intention to honor the character’s look in Batman Returns, literally drawing on the power of that past portrayal. As much as it looked to the positives of the past though, the design moved Catwoman ahead even more. In The Many Lives of Catwoman, Hanley points out that the character has long suffered from over-sexualized portrayals. Hanley highlights the 1990s Catwoman art by Jim Balent as a classic example. Even the suit that replaced Balent’s, a change that Hanley commended, turned ridiculous. A zipper down the front allowed artists to depict the post-Balent Catwoman in downright laughable ways. Why would any superhero go into battle with an unzipped suit, particularly if that superhero is a woman who isn’t wearing a bra? Such a portrayal only serves to sexualize, and it detracts from the character’s credibility. Jones gave Catwoman’s suit an inspired design and a beautifully liquid-like coloring, and her most important contribution to the overhaul was certainly the repositioning of that zipper. Moving it from the body of the suit to the headpiece, she effectively eliminated its use in creating absurdly sexualized depictions.

For the first six releases of the comic, Jones’ writing built up Catwoman with character development and narrative construction. She explored Selina’s psyche and emphasized her connections with loved ones, filling out her personality and allowing for growth. The narrative made contributions to Catwoman’s development by giving her new supporting characters and antagonists that were all her own, not dependent on Batman’s mythology.

While Jones breathed life into both the writing and the art, Stanley Lau added to the power of Catwoman with a series of stunning variant covers. All told, the work put into the book made it compelling and began clawing out new space for Catwoman as a comic-book character. Each issue reinforced the impression that something special was developing.

Mustering all the potential and momentum, Catwoman leaped to a whole other level in February. First, Lau, who had taken a couple of issues off, previewed his art for the March, April, and May variant covers. They all looked fantastic and continued his string of quality releases. The cover for Catwoman #11, due in May, stood out though. It featured a crouching Catwoman, claws out, teeth bared, and her whip swinging behind her like the tail of a cat about to pounce. It was menacing and ferocious. A character once sold almost completely on sex appeal now commanded attention for the power she possessed. Her essence so infused the art that the rainy alley in which she crouched could hardly contain it. Catwoman was roaring once again. Then, DC Comics released Catwoman #8 on February 20. In Catwoman #7, Jones teased a burglary caper in which the Penguin hired Selina to steal something. Such a story would fit nicely and a bit predictably within Catwoman’s history. However, in Catwoman #8, Jones surprised with themes, events, and supernatural elements that made clear the story ran much deeper than a simple heist: Catwoman’s roars will confront a big, wild world befitting a superhero who has come into her own.

In a media landscape saturated by superheroes, Catwoman may never achieve the same popularity she had after Batman Returns, but the work currently taking place on the Catwoman comic has set the stage for her to fulfill the potential encapsulated in Pfeiffer’s famous line. Her roar comes through in the work of Jones, Lau, and the others contributing to the book, and it’s good to hear it calling so boldly again. She challenges the powerful and the status quo and champions the powerless, and our world needs a character like that operating at her maximum capacity.

Note: This post is obviously a departure from the usual themes of envirofinn, but it is something I really wanted to write. Besides, Catwoman is a known defender of animals, so she isn’t too out of place here.