Catwoman: The Third Series (2001-2008)

A new Feline Fatale for a new millenium

By Timothy J. Forbes

This version of Catwoman was the one I was introduced to in the comics. I started to read them in 2002, when the 1966 Batman series began airing on TV Land.

And this comic is clear proof on how a traditional character can change, and (in my view) for the better. More than any other Bat-villain, Catwoman has undergone a radical transformation. This began around 1992, in Batman Returns, when the Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman goes after Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) for his wrongdoing.

But it was Catwoman/Selina Kyle's inner conflict that led to her "end" in 2001. And the timing of the new comic seemed right, coming as it did in the wake of 9/11. The current comics has shown Catwoman's development as a defender of the less fortunate in Gotham's East End. The book, Selina's Big Score, which serves as a transition between the second and third series of comic books, details Selina's hard lessons. The new comic series began as a story line in Detective Comics, then continued that story line.

The comic also acquired a life all its own by using its own special characters. Among them:

• Slam Bradley, a hard-boiled detective first introduced in Detective Comics in the 1930s, before Batman.
• Holly Robinson, a friend of Selina's from way back.

And, of course, Batman appears as well.

Catwoman's character has progressed to where she was not only a protagonist in the 2002-2003 "Hush" story arc in Batman, but also in the "War Games" story arc. In the latter story, she even wears a communicator, so that she can be in contact with Oracle-Barbara Gordon herself. In other words, she has been accepted into the Bat "family." Quite a change from her outlaw days!

The comic ran from October 2001 to August 2008. for a total of 82 issues.

This page updated 29 August 2008.