In the comic world, Selina Kyle has relinquished the role of Catwoman, and is now the mob boss of Gotham’s Calabrese family. However, the thing about making it to the top of the criminal food chain in Gotham City is that you have to fight very hard to stay there.
In her place as Catwomen, Eiko Hasigawa – daughter of rival mob boss – has taken her role in the suit, much to Selina’s disdain.
However, reading the latest edition of comic – Catwoman#39 – we discover there may have been another reason for that emotion.
Despite some speculation about a scene in The Dark Knight Rises, Selina Kyle’s Catwoman has generally been portrayed as a heterosexual character.
Valentine, who’s been working on Catwoman since October with artist Garry Brown, confirmed to Newsarama that Selina’s “sexually open” with both men and women — something she doesn’t see as a leap for the character, who started her tenure in DC’s “New 52” by bedding Batman.
Selina’s bisexuality is the latest twist in a run by Valentine that’s leaned more toward crime noir and political intrigue than the sexy superhero comic is had been in the past.
Catwoman’s coming out is seen by many as an effort by comic book company to diversify their characters. DC’s Batwoman has identified as a lesbian since 2006, and one Green Lantern, Alan Scott, is gay. In 2013, a trans woman of color was introduced as a character in Batgirl. Marvel’s Northstar, a member of the X-Men, married his partner in 2012.
Catwoman has been around for 75 years (her first appearance was inBatman #1 in 1940), and her relationship to the Caped Crusader is complicated. Despite being enemies, they often work together and are involved in an intense, ongoing romantic relationship.
