By [ad_1]
Today, learn how Batman and Catwoman fell in love again after a continuity reboot wiped out their past romance!
This is “Gonna Change My Way of Thinking,” a feature spotlighting notable examples of retcons that don’t fit into the framework of Abandoned an’ Forsaked, which is specifically about stories that outright “overturn” older stories. There are many examples of “retroactive continuity” that do not actively abandon the works of the past (especially cases where the overall continuity was rebooted). Some of them are minor, some of them are major, all of them are interesting enough to me that I figure that they are worth writing about.
Batman and Catwoman have an iconic romance, but the fascinating thing is that their romance has had to deal with a major continuity reboot in the middle of it all, so, based on a request from reader Bill M., let’s take a look at how they initially fell in love and how they did it all over again.
HOW DID BATMAN AND CATWOMAN FALL IN LOVE BEFORE CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS?
As soon as Catwoman debuted in Batman #1 (by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson and George Rousos), Batman and Catwoman had a flirtation going on, although one that exhibited itself in peculiar ways, like Batman threatening to spank her…
When Batman intentionally lets her get away at the end of the story, it is clear that Batman and The Cat/Catwoman are set to have a very unusual relationship.
Soon after their first meeting, they shared their first kiss in Batman #3 (by Finger, Kane, Robinson and Roussos)…
That story really set the mood for the type of stories they were doing at the time. Look at what that kiss does to Batman!
He’s like a lovesick teenager! Throughout the 1940s, the Bat and the Cat flirted with each other, and, in a variety of disguises, Catwoman dated both Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth, almost marrying Bruce Wayne in Batman #15. She was still clearly a villain, but it always seemed as though she was right there on the edge where her attraction to Batman might bring her to the side of the angels at any moment.
That moment finally came in 1950’s Batman #62 (by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Lew Schwartz, and Charles Paris), when Catwoman sees that Batman is about to be killed by a falling piece of a building. She knocks him out of the way, saving his life, but in the process suffers a head injury.
Her injury uncovers hidden memories of her life as Selina Kyle, a law-abiding flight attendant. She had suffered amnesia years earlier and had a psychotic break, where she became the villainous Catwoman.
She went back and forth for a bit (will she stay on the side of the angels or will she break bad again?) before she was just retired period from the comics for almost all of the 1950s and early 1960s. When she returned to comics in the wake of her successful appearances on the Batman TV series of the late 1960s, she was back to being a villain. In fact, during the 1970s, she got sort of intense as a villain.
That changed in 1979’s Batman #308 (by Len Wein, John Calnan, and Dick Giordano), when Selina Kyle visits Bruce Wayne and announced that she was done as Catwoman and now that she was pardoned, she wanted to become a respected citizen. Wein soon had her become a love interest for Bruce.
Even after she went back to being Catwoman, she was back to being a hero, and she and Batman dated on and off during the mid-1980s…
That took us into Crisis on Infinite Earths.
HOW DID BATMAN AND CATWOMAN FALL IN LOVE AFTER CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS?
Things were a bit uneasy when it came to continuity after Crisis on Infinite Earths. In a story clearly set AFTER Crisis, Detective Comics #569 (by Mike W. Barr, Alan Davis and Paul Neary) showed the Joker, annoyed that Catwoman had reformed, brainwashing her into becoming a villain again…
As we saw in the next issue, it worked…
However, soon after that, we got Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, and that story superseded the Barr one, and so even though Catwoman made it through Crisis as still Batman’s love interest, that was all erased when her history was rebooted during “Year One.”
As a result, she and Batman really didn’t have a whole lot of interactions over the next decade or so. When she hitched a ride with Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth as Selina Kyle during Knightfall, Batman didn’t even know she was Catwoman!
Over time, their paths crossed here and there, but it wasn’t until the famous “Hush” storyline by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams that the two really started taking each other seriously again and in Batman #610 (by Loeb, Lee and Williams), the two decide to pursue a relationship…
In fact, in Batman #615 (by Loeb, Lee and Williams), Batman even reveals his secret identity to Catwoman!
The problem is that “Hush” was a whole big ol’ mindscrew on Batman by Tommy Elliot (Hush) and Batman’s mind was manipulated so much that he began to question whether he could really trust that his new romance with Catwoman was for real in the finale of the story in Batman #619. Scarecrow was supposedly involved, messing with his mind, and we saw earlier in the storyline that Poison Ivy was literally messing with people’s minds, so he began to question if he was being manipulated into loving Catwoman. When she saw him struggling, she tried to calm him down, but used the wrong choice of words, as she told him to “hush” and he just lost it and broke up with her…
After the New 52 rebooted continuity again, Catwoman lost the knowledge of Batman’s secret identity, but the two still had a “friends with benefits” deal going on, as shown in 2011’s Catwoman #1 (by Judd Winick, Guillen March and Tomeu Morey)…
Then DC Rebirth altered continuity AGAIN, and in 2016’s Batman #10 (by Tom King, Mikel Janin and June Chung), we learn that Catwoman now DOES know Batman’s secret identity and she writes him a heartfelt letter during the “I Am Suicide” storyline…
The relationship established in that story blossomed into an outright romantic one in Batman #14 (by King and Mitch Gerads)…
And that’s been the case for the Bat/Cat romance ever since!
Thanks to Bill for the suggestion! Okay, folks, feel free to suggest more examples of this sort of thing! Obscure ones, famous ones, whatever! Send your suggestions to brianc@cbr.com!
About The Author
[ad_2]
