Many Lives of Catwoman: The Felonious History of a Feline Fatale

Tim Hanley

Jul 2017 · Chicago Review Press

About this ebook

For more than 75 years, Catwoman has forged her own path in a clear-cut world of stalwart heroes, diabolical villains, and damsels in distress. Her relentless independence across comic books, television, and film set her apart from the rest of the superhero world. When female-led comics were few and far between, Catwoman headlined her own series for over 20 years. But her unique path had its downsides as well. Her existence on the periphery of the superhero world made her expendable, and she was prone to lengthy absences. Her villainous origins also made her susceptible to sexualized and degrading depictions from her primarily male creators in ways that most conventional heroines didn't face. For good and ill, Catwoman serves as a stark counterpart to the typical evolution of the history of women in comics, and in popular culture generally. Her adventures have charted an inimitably varied journey of empowerment and exploitation. Exploring the many incarnations of this cultural icon offers a new perspective on the superhero genre and showcases the fierce resiliency that has made Catwoman a fan favorite for decades.

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About the author

Tim Hanley is a comic book historian and the author of Wonder Woman Unbound and Investigating Lois Lane. His work on gender in comics appears on his blog, Straitened Circumstances, and his articles have been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Comics Journal, and elsewhere. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.