# Catwoman (comic book)

Catwoman is an American comic book series featuring the DC Comics character Catwoman as its protagonist. The title was first released in 1989 as a limited series written by Mindy Newell, and was since published as an ongoing series starting in 1993 with its second volume.

## Publication history
### Volume 1 (1989)

Because of satisfactory reception to Mindy Newell's 1988 Action Comics arc featuring Catwoman, "The Tin Roof Club", in February 1989, DC Comics released a four-issue Catwoman limited series penned by Newell, with art by Joe Brozowski and Michael Bair. A spin-off of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One, the miniseries expanded on Year One's scenes through Catwoman's perspective and explored Catwoman's established origin as well as her established past as a prostitute in Year One. The series also introduced Catwoman's nun sister, Magdalene. While the series' editor teased to a fan of Newell's Action Comics arc the possibility of Newell writing a Catwoman monthly series given adequate sales, the audience for the comic was lacking and its last issue was Catwoman's last major appearance for years.

### Volume 2 (1993–2001)

DC launched Catwoman's first ongoing series in 1993, originally written by Jo Duffy, pencilled by Jim Balent, and inked by Dick Giordano. Balent drew for the series for six years straight, with Bob Smith providing most of the series's inks, until its 77th issue, after which they were replaced by penciller Staz Johnson and inker Wayne Faucher. Other writers who took on the series include Doug Moench, Deborah Pomerantz, Chuck Dixon, Devin Grayson, John Ostrander, Bronwyn Carlton, and John Francis Moore. The series put the character on a new direction, moving away from grittiness towards flamboyance: her design was changed to consist of lengthy hair and a vibrant purple costume from her previous buzz cut and gray color palette established in Year One, and her stories consisted of action and extravagant heists in place of "grim realism". The series focused on Catwoman's adventures and heists, often international, with a revolving cast of characters, and also tied in to various comic crossover events, such as 1994's "Knightfall". In the series, Catwoman's Year One origin was minimized, with her time as a dominatrix only appearing on a short portion of a single page in the origin retelling Catwoman #0, and was altered in one of its annuals, showing Catwoman's former prostitution as a way for her to deceive and rob clients, and integrating a subplot involving martial arts with Catwoman tangling with a group of ninjas. The series also told her tragic backstory, with Catwoman's parents having died when she was a child, with her mother dying by suicide and her father from alcohol poisoning; Carlton in the series's 81st issue added to it, depicting her mother as a dark-skinned Latina, making Catwoman a half-Latina. In July 2001, the series ended in its 94th issue because the editorial team decided to cancel and relaunch the series for writer Ed Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke's different take on the character.

### Volume 3 (2002–2010)

Brubaker was offered to write Catwoman by editor Matt Idelson after Idelson asked him for his opinion on the series at the time, which Brubaker thought was "kind of insulting to women readers" after having read advance copies of the comic which featured Catwoman in "naked shower fights", mentioning that he preferred Catwoman in the 1960s and 1970s comics as well as in Batman: Year One, and suggested to Idelson to take the character back to her "East End roots" while incorporating the "classiness of the high-society thief". Brubaker later accepted Idelson's offer to write the series, under the condition that they change Catwoman's design and artist, describing the previous artist as a "cheesecake artist". After searching for artists to draw the series, Brubaker sought Cooke after seeing advance copies of Cooke's art on Batman: Ego. Cooke agreed to draw the series, but mentioned that he would only draw for the first storyline given the short space in his schedule from a delay in Cooke's then-current project, DC: The New Frontier. Cooke's pencils on the start of their tenure on the series, initially Catwoman #95, impressed DC; DC decided to postpone its release for six months then relaunch it with Brubaker and Cooke's Catwoman, making the series' writer at the time rewrite their final issue with Catwoman's seeming death and having Brubaker and Cooke write a backup story for Detective Comics that would lead into the relaunched Catwoman comic. The backup centered on Slam Bradley, a private detective hired to investigate her death.
In writing Catwoman, Brubaker considered the character's background and motivations of having been an orphaned child "raised in the system in the worst conditions" and "ended up on the streets", and thought of her compassion for "other people like her", "people who the system doesn't care about, the cops don't care about and who, really, Batman doesn't care about", establishing it as the foundation for the character's stories. In the book's first issue, Catwoman, having seen the police's disregard for the series of murders of prostitutes, declares, "I will speak for them. Because no one else will."
Cooke's Catwoman redesign featured a black, practical catsuit with a cowl with tiny cat ears and goggles resembling the eyes of a cat. Cooke also gave her a short haircut.
Brubaker's Catwoman debuted in January 2002. It differed from the previous series, being a "character-driven crime noir comic" with interconnected story arcs, a permanent supporting cast, and a fixed setting, as well as Catwoman being an antihero, becoming the resident protector of the East End borough. Catwoman's supporting cast consisted of Holly Robinson (Catwoman's teenage friend from Batman: Year One that Brubaker reintroduced as Catwoman's street informant), Slam Bradley, and Leslie Thompkins (a volunteer doctor and ally of Batman who works in low-income neighborhoods), with Batman being a regular guest character. After Cooke, other artists pencilled the series such as Brad Rader, Cameron Stewart, and Javier Pulido. Matt Hollingsworth colored the series. In 2002, the series won its creators the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book for its depiction of a lesbian couple, Holly and her girlfriend, Karon. In 2003, Brubaker and Hollingsworth were nominated for the Eisner Awards for Best Writer and Best Coloring, respectively, for their work on the series. Brubaker's Catwoman ended in January 2005 on its 37th issue. Brubaker planned for Catwoman to die pregnant with a child whose father is unknown as a culmination of a storyline of her taking over the East End, with Holly taking over the Catwoman role; however, DC disapproved of Catwoman's pregnancy being with an unknown father, and with Brubaker having set up the storyline throughout the series and not wanting to "just go back to the drawing board", Brubaker decided to quit writing the series.

### Annuals
## Collected editions

| Title | Material collected | Pages | Publication date | ISBN |
| Volume 1 (1989) ||||||
| Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper | Catwoman vol. 1 #1-4 | 108 | July 1991 | 978-0930289973 |
| Volume 2 (1993-2001) ||||||
| Catwoman: The Catfile | Catwoman vol. 2 #15-19 | 132 | March 1996 | 978-1563892622 |
| Catwoman by Jim Balent Book One | Catwoman vol. 2 #1-13 | 328 | 2017 | 978-1-4012-7363-7 |
| Catwoman by Jim Balent Book Two | Catwoman vol. 2 #0, #14-24, Annual #2, and Showcase '95 #4 | 360 | March 2019 | 978-1-4012-8820-4 |
| Volume 3 (2002-2010) ||||||
| Catwoman: The Dark End of the Street | Detective Comics vol. 1 #759-762 and Catwoman vol. 3 #1-4 | 134 | 2002 | 9781563899089 |
| Catwoman: Crooked Little Town | Catwoman vol. 3 #5-10 and "The Many Lives of Selina Kyle", "The McSweeney Case" and "Why Holly Isn't Dead" from Catwoman Secret Files and Origins #1 | 167 | 2003 | 9781401200084 |
| Catwoman: Relentless | Catwoman vol. 3 #12-19 and "Proper Planning" from Catwoman Secret Files and Origins #1 | 188 | 2004 | 9781401202187 |
| Catwoman: Wild Ride | Catwoman vol. 3 #20-24 | 128 | 2005 | 9781845761905 |
| Catwoman: The Replacements | Catwoman vol. 3 #53-58 | 135 | 2007 | 9781401212131 |
| Catwoman: It's Only A Movie | Catwoman vol. 3 #59-65 | 158 | 2007 | 9781401213374 |
| Catwoman: Catwoman Dies | Catwoman vol. 3 #66-72 | 156 | 2008 | 9781401216436 |
| Catwoman: Crime Pays | Catwoman vol. 3 #73-77 | 123 | 2008 | 9780329683184 |
| Catwoman: The Long Road Home | Catwoman vol. 3 #78-82 | 123 | 2009 | 9780329647124 |
| Catwoman Vol. 1: Trail of the Catwoman | Catwoman: Selina's Big Score, Detective Comics #759-762, and Catwoman vol. 3 #1-9 | 336 | 2011 | 9781401233846 |
| Catwoman Vol. 2: No Easy Way Down | Catwoman vol. 3 #10-24 and Catwoman Secret Files #1 | 400 | 2013 | |
| Catwoman Vol. 3: Under Pressure | Catwoman vol. 3 #25-37 | 312 | 2014 | 9781401245924 |
| Catwoman Vol. 4: The One You Love | Catwoman vol. 3 #38-49 | 240 | 2015 | 9781401258320 |
| Catwoman Vol. 5: Backward Masking | Catwoman vol. 3 #50-65 | 232 | 2016 | 9781401260736 |
| Catwoman Vol. 6: Final Jeopardy | Catwoman vol. 3 #66-83 | 424 | 2017 | 9781401265588 |
| Catwoman of East End Omnibus | Detective Comics #759-762, Catwoman vol. 3 #1-37, Catwoman Secret Files #1, and Catwoman: Selina's Big Score #1 | 1064 | June 21, 2022 | 9781779515032 |
| Volume 4 (2011-2016) ||||||
| Catwoman Vol. 1: The Game | Catwoman vol. 4 #1-6 | 138 | 2012 | 9781401234645 |
| Catwoman Vol. 2: Dollhouse | Catwoman Vol. 4 #7-12 | 144 | 2013 | 9781401238391 |
| Catwoman Vol. 3: Death of the Family | Catwoman Vol. 4 #13-18, story from Young Romance #1 | 176 | 2013 | 9781401242725 |
| Catwoman Vol. 4: Gotham Underground | Catwoman Vol. 4 #19-24, 26, Annual #1 and Batman: The Dark Knight #23.4: Joker's Daughter | 208 | 2014 | 9781401246273 |
| Catwoman Vol. 5: Race of Thieves | Catwoman Vol. 4 #25, 27-34 | 232 | 2014 | 9781401250638 |
| Catwoman Vol. 6: Keeper of the Castle | Catwoman Vol. 4 #35-40 and Annual #2 | 192 | 2015 | 9781401254698 |
| Catwoman Vol. 7: Inheritance | Catwoman Vol. 4 #41-46 and DC Sneak Peek: Catwoman #1 | 152 | 2016 | 9781401261184 |
| Catwoman Vol. 8: Run Like Hell | Catwoman Vol. 4 #47-52 | 144 | 2016 | 9781401264864 |
| Volume 5 (2018-) ||||||
| Catwoman Vol. 1: Copycats | Catwoman vol. 5 #1-6 | 160 | 2019 | 9781401288891 |
| Catwoman Vol. 2: Far from Gotham | Catwoman vol. 5 #7-13 and Annual #1 | 216 | 2019 | 9781401294779 |
| Catwoman Vol. 3: Friend or Foe? | Catwoman vol. 5 #16-21 | 152 | 2020 | 9781401299767 |
| Catwoman Vol. 4: Come Home, Alley Cat | Catwoman vol. 5 #14-15, 22-28 | 248 | 2021 | 9781779504517 |
| Catwoman Vol. 5: Valley of the Shadow of Death | Catwoman vol. 5 #29-32 and Catwoman 2021 Annual | 136 | 2021 | 9781779512635 |
| Catwoman Vol. 6: Fear State | Catwoman vol. 5 #34-38 | 128 | 2022 | 9781779515292 |
| Catwoman Vol. 1: Dangerous Liaisons | Catwoman vol. 5 #39-44 | 158 | 2022 | 9781779517289 |
| Catwoman Vol. 2: Cat International | Catwoman vol. 5 #45-50 | 176 | 2023 | 9781779520326 |
| Catwoman Vol. 3: Duchess of Gotham | Catwoman vol. 5 #51-56 | 168 | 2023 | 9781779523327 |
| Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War | Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Battle Lines, Batman #137-138, Catwoman vol. 5 #57-58 and Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Scorched Earth | 272 | 2024 | 9781779525987 |

## Other books

| Title | Material collected | Pages | Publication date | ISBN |
| Miniseries |||||
| Catwoman: When in Rome | Catwoman: When In Rome #1–6 | 147 | November 2005 | 978-1-4012-0717-5 |
| Catwoman: Lonely City | Catwoman: Lonely City vol 1 #1–4 | 224 | December 2022 | 978-1779516367 |
| Team-ups/Crossover |||||
| Gotham City Sirens: Book One | Gotham City Sirens #1–13 | 314 | October 2014 | 978-1779516367 |
| Gotham City Sirens: Book Two | Gotham City Sirens #14–26 | 288 | April 2015 | 978-1401254124 |
| Batman/Catwoman | Batman/Catwoman #1–12 | 272 | December 2022 | 9781779517074 |
| Novels |||||
| Catwoman: Tiger Hunt | original materials | 208 | September 1992 | 978-0-446-36043-2 |
| Graphic novels |||||
| Catwoman: Selina's Big Score | Original materials | 208 | July 2002 | 978-1-56389-897-6 |
| Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale | Original materials | 208 | May 2019 | 978-1401285913 |
| Catwoman: Soulstealer | Original materials | 208 | August 2021 | 978 0399549724 |