Creation Story
Catwoman is one of the most consequential Golden Age supporting characters in DC’s publishing history. Batman #1 (April 1940) introduced her alongside the Joker, making the issue one of the most important dual-first-appearance books in comics. Bill Finger wrote the debut script; Bob Kane received the byline per his DC contract. Finger’s Catwoman (originally “The Cat”) was a cat burglar whose framing deliberately mixed antagonism with a specifically romantic tension: Batman catches her, she escapes, and there is an explicit mutual attraction that Finger wrote as a complication rather than a resolution.
Batman #2 (June 1940) named her Catwoman for the first time (or “The Cat Woman” in the earliest framing), and the identity became permanent. Selina Kyle, her civilian name, was established in later Golden Age stories. The character has run continuously since 1940 with various interpretive shifts but no extended absence from DC’s publishing lineup.
The Miller era
Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One (Batman #404 to #407, 1987) is the most consequential modern Catwoman reframing. Miller positioned Selina Kyle as an East End sex worker whose survival skills propel her into cat-burglar work. The framing is grittier and more socially-grounded than any prior Catwoman portrayal. Miller’s Year One Catwoman informs virtually every subsequent film, television, and comics version.
Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns (1992) is a fundamentally different reinvention: a psychologically shattered office worker brought back to life as an avatar of vengeance. Pfeiffer’s performance is widely regarded as the best film Catwoman, though the Burton framing is tonally distinct from the Miller-era comics.
The Brubaker era
Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke’s Catwoman #1 (2002) launched one of the strongest Catwoman runs in the character’s publishing history. Brubaker wrote Selina as a full protagonist rather than as a Batman-adjacent supporting character, with Cooke’s animated-inspired visual style giving the book a distinct identity. The run built out Selina’s East End Gotham operational base and her supporting cast (Holly Robinson, Slam Bradley) substantially.
Matt Reeves’s The Batman (2022) with Zoe Kravitz draws directly from the Brubaker-Cooke framing.
The Bat-wedding
Tom King’s Batman run (2016 to 2019) built toward a Bruce-Selina wedding across three years of issues, culminating in Batman #50 (July 2018). Selina calls off the wedding at the last moment, arguing that Bruce’s heroism depends on his grief and that marriage would weaken Batman. The anticlimactic framing was controversial at the time; it remains canonical in current DC continuity.
Collector context
Batman #1 is one of the most valuable Golden Age DC books. High-grade CGC 9.0+ copies have crossed $2 million at auction. The book’s value is driven by compounded first-appearance weight: Catwoman, the Joker, and Batman’s first solo title all in one issue. It sits alongside Action Comics #1 and Detective Comics #27 at the top tier of Golden Age collector demand.
Secondary keys: Batman #2 (first named Catwoman). Batman #62 (1950, first origin). Batman: Year One issues (1987). Catwoman #1 (1993, first ongoing). Catwoman #1 (2002, Brubaker-Cooke relaunch).
